(NOTE: The electronic text obtained from The Electronic Bible Society was
not completely corrected. EWTN has corrected all mistakes found.)
CYPRIAN OF CARTHAGE
ON WORKS AND ALMS.
Translated by the Rev. Ernest Wallis, Ph.D.
ARGUMENT.--HE POWERFULLY EXHORTS TO THE MANIFESTATION OF FAITH BY WORKS,
AND ENFORCES THE WISDOM OF OFFERINGS TO THE CHURCH AND OF BOUNTY TO THE
POOR AS THE BEST INVESTMENT OF A CHRISTIAN'S ESTATE. THIS HE PROVES OUT OF
MANY SCRIPTURES.
1. Many and great, beloved brethren, are the divine benefits wherewith
the large and abundant mercy of God the Father and Christ both has laboured
and is always labouring for our salvation: that the Father sent the Son to
preserve us and give us life, in order that He might restore us; and that
the Son was willing(2) to be sent and to become the Son of man, that He
might make us sons of God; humbled Himself, that He might raise up the
people who before were prostrate; was wounded that He might heal our
wounds; served, that He might draw out to liberty those who were in
bondage; underwent death, that He might set forth immortality to mortals.
These are many and great boons of divine compassion. But, moreover, what is
that providence, and how great the clemency, that by a plan of salvation it
is provided for us, that more abundant care should be taken for preserving
man after he is already redeemed! For when the Lord at His advent had cured
those wounds which Adam had borne,(3) and had healed the old poisons of the
serpent,(4) He gave a law to the sound man and bade him sin no more, lest a
worse thing should befall the sinner. We had been limited and shut up into
a narrow space by the commandment of innocence. Nor would the infirmity
and weakness of human frailty have any resource, unless the divine mercy,
coming once more in aid, should open some way of securing salvation by
pointing out works of justice and mercy, so that by almsgiving we may wash
away whatever foulness we subsequently contract.(5)
2. The Holy Spirit speaks in the sacred Scriptures, and says, "By
almsgiving and faith sins are purged."(6) Not assuredly those sins which
had been previously contracted, for those are purged by the blood and
sanctification of Christ. Moreover, He says again, "As water extinguisheth
fire, so almsgiving quencheth sin."(7) Here also it is shown and proved,
that as in the layer of saving water the fire of Gehenna is extinguished,
so by almsgiving and works of righteousness the flame of sins is subdued.
And because in baptism remission of sins is granted once for all, constant
and ceaseless labour, following the likeness of baptism, once again bestows
the mercy of God. The Lord teaches this also in the Gospel. For when the
disciples were pointed out, as eating and not first washing their hands, He
replied and said, "He that made that which is within, made also that which
is without. But give alms, and behold all things are clean unto you;"(8)
teaching hereby and showing, that not the hands are to be washed, but the
heart, and that the foulness from inside is to be done away rather than
that from outside; but that he who shall have cleansed what is within has
cleansed also that which is without; and that if the mind is cleansed, a
man has begun to be clean also in skin and body. Further, admonishing, and
showing whence we may be clean and purged, He added that alms must be
given. He who is pitiful teaches and warns us that pity must be shown; and
because He seeks to save those whom at a great cost He has redeemed, He
teaches that those who, after the grace of baptism, have become foul, may
once more be cleansed.
3. Let us then acknowledge, beloved brethren, the wholesome gift of the
divine mercy; and let us, who cannot be without some wound of conscience,
heal our wounds by the spiritual remedies for the cleansing and purging of
our sins. Nor let any one so flatter himself with the notion of a pure and
immaculate heart, as, in dependence on his own innocence, to think that the
medicine needs not to be applied to his wounds; since it is written, "Who
shall boast that he hath a clean heart, or who shall boast that he is pure
from sins?"(9) And again, in his epistle, John lays it down, and says, "If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us."(10) But if no one can be without sin, and whoever should say that he
is without fault is either proud or foolish, how needful, how kind is the
divine mercy, which, knowing that there are still found some wounds in
those that have been healed, even after their healing, has given wholesome
remedies for the curing and healing of their wounds anew!
4. Finally, beloved brethren, the divine admonition in the Scriptures,
as well old as new, has never failed, has never been silent in urging God's
people always and everywhere to works of mercy; and in the strain and
exhortation of the Holy Spirit, every one who is instructed into the hope
of the heavenly kingdom is commanded to give alms. God commands and
prescribes to Isaiah: "Cry," says He, "with strength, and spare not. Lift
up thy voice as a trumpet, and declare to my people their transgressions,
and to the house of Jacob their sins."(1) And when He had commanded their
sins to be charged upon them, and with the full force of His indignation
had set forth their iniquities, and had said, that not even though they
should use supplications, and prayers, and fastings, should they be able to
make atonement for their sins; nor, if they were clothed in sackcloth and
ashes, be able to soften God's anger, yet in the last part showing that God
can be appeased by almsgiving alone, he added, saying, "Break thy bread to
the hungry, and bring the poor that are without a home into thy house. If
thou seest the naked, clothe him; and despise not the household of thine
own seed. Then shall thy light break forth in season, and thy garments
shall arise speedily; and righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory
of God shall surround thee. Then shalt thou cry, and God shall hear thee;
whilst yet thou art speaking, He shall say, Here I am."(2)
5. The remedies for propitiating God are given in the words of God
Himself; the divine instructions have taught what sinners ought to do, that
by works of righteousness God is satisfied, that with the deserts of mercy
sins are cleansed. And in Solomon we read, "Shut up alms in the heart of
the poor, and these shall intercede for thee from all evil."(3) And again:
"Whoso stoppeth his ears that he may not hear the weak, he also shall call
upon God, and there will be none to hear him."(4) For he shall not be able
to deserve the mercy of the Lord, who himself shall not have been merciful;
nor shall he obtain aught from the divine pity in his prayers, who shall
not have been humane towards the poor man's prayer. And this also the Holy
Spirit declares in the Psalms, and proves, saying, Blessed is he that
considereth of the poor and needy; the Lord will deliver him in the evil
day."(5) Remembering which precepts, Daniel, when king Nebuchodonosor was
in anxiety, being frightened by an adverse dream, gave him, for the turning
away of evils, a remedy to obtain the divine help, saying, "Wherefore, O
king, let my counsel be acceptable to thee; and redeem thy sins by
almsgivings, and thine unrighteousness by mercies to the poor, and God will
be patient(6) to thy sins."(7) And as the king did not obey him, he
underwent the misfortunes and mischiefs which he had seen, and which he
might have escaped and avoided had he redeemed his sins by almsgiving.
Raphael the angel also witnesses the like, and exhorts that alms should be
freely and liberally bestowed, saying, "Prayer is good, with fasting and
alms; because alms doth deliver from death, and it purgeth away sins."(8)
He shows that our prayers and fastings are of less avail, unless they are
aided by almsgiving; that entreaties alone are of little force to obtain
what they seek, unless they be made sufficient(9) by the addition of deeds
and good works. The angel reveals, and manifests, and certifies that our
petitions become efficacious by almsgiving, that life is redeemed from
dangers by almsgiving, that souls are delivered from death by almsgiving.
6. Neither, beloved brethren, are we so bringing forward these things,
as that we should not prove what Raphael the angel said, by the testimony
of the truth. In the Acts of the Apostles the faith of the fact is
established; and that souls are delivered by almsgiving not only from the
second, but from the first death, is discovered by the evidence of a matter
accomplished and completed. When Tabitha, being greatly given to good works
and to bestowing alms, fell sick and died, Peter was summoned to her
lifeless body; and when he, with apostolic humanity, had come in haste,
there stood around him widows weeping and entreating, showing the cloaks,
and coats, and all the garments which they had previously received, and
praying for the deceased not by their words, but by her own deeds. Peter
felt that what was asked in such a way might be obtained, and that Christ's
aid would not be wanting to the petitioners, since He Himself was clothed
in the clothing of the widows. When, therefore, falling on his knees, he
had prayed, and--fit advocate for the widows and poor--had brought to the
Lord the prayers entrusted to him, turning to the body, which was now lying
washed on the bier,(10) he said, "Tabitha, in the name of Jesus Christ,
arise!"(11) Nor did He fail to bring aid to Peter, who had said in the
Gospel, that whatever should be asked in His name should be given.
Therefore death is suspended, and the spirit is restored, and, to the
marvel and astonishment of all, the revived body is quickened into this
worldly light once more; so effectual were the merits of mercy, so much did
righteous works avail! She who had conferred upon suffering widows the help
needful to live, deserved to be recalled to life by the widows' petition.
7. Therefore in the Gospel, the Lord, the Teacher of our life and
Master of eternal salvation, quickening the assembly of believers, and
providing for them for ever when quickened, among His divine commands and
precepts of heaven, commands and prescribes nothing more frequently than
that we should devote ourselves to almsgiving, and not depend on earthly
possessions, but rather lay up heavenly treasures. "Sell," says He, "your
goods, and give alms."(1) And again: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures
upon the earth, where moth and rust do corrupt, and where thieves break
through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through
nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also."(2) And
when He wished to set forth a man perfect and complete by the observation
of the law,(3) He said, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou
hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and
come and follow me."(4) Moreover, in another place He says that a merchant
of the heavenly grace, and a gainer of eternal salvation, ought to purchase
the precious pearl--that is, eternal life--at the price of the blood of
Christ, from the amount of his patrimony, parting with all his wealth for
it. He says: "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman seeking
goodly pearls. And when he found a precious pearl, he went away and sold
all that he had, and bought it."(5)
8. In fine, He calls those the children of Abraham whom He sees to be
laborious in aiding and nourishing the poor. For when Zacchaeus said,
"Behold, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have done any
wrong to any man, I restore fourfold," Jesus answered and said, "That
salvation has this day come to this house, for that he also is a son of
Abraham."(6) For if Abraham believed in God, and it was counted unto him
for righteousness, certainly he who gives alms according to God's precept
believes in God, and he who has the truth of faith maintains the fear of
God; moreover, he who maintains the fear of God considers God in showing
mercy to the poor. For he labours thus because he believes--because he
knows that what is foretold by God's word is true, and that the Holy
Scripture cannot lie--that unfruitful trees, that is, unproductive men, are
cut off and cast into the fire, but that the merciful are called into the
kingdom. He also, in another place, calls laborious and fruitful men
faithful; but He denies faith to unfruitful and barren ones, saying, "If ye
have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to you
that which is true? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is
another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?"(7)
9. If you dread and fear, lest, if you begin to act thus abundantly,
your patrimony being exhausted with your liberal dealing, you may perchance
be reduced to poverty; be of good courage in this respect, be free from
care: that cannot be exhausted whence the service of Christ is supplied,
whence the heavenly work is celebrated. Neither do I vouch for this on my
own authority; but I promise it on the faith of the Holy Scriptures, and on
the authority of the divine promise. The Holy Spirit speaks by Solomon, and
says, "He that giveth unto the poor shall never lack, but he that turneth
away his eye shall be in great poverty;"(8) showing that the merciful and
those who do good works cannot want, but rather that the sparing and barren
hereafter come to want. Moreover, the blessed Apostle Paul, full of the
grace of the Lord's inspiration, says: "He that ministereth seed to the
sower, shall both minister bread for your food, and shall multiply your
seed sown, and shall increase the growth of the fruits of your
righteousness, that in all things ye may be enriched."(9) And again: "The
administration of this service shall not only supply the wants of the
saints, but shall be abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;"(10)
because, while thanks are directed to God for our almsgivings and labours,
by the prayer of the poor, the wealth of the doer is increased by the
retribution of God. And the Lord in the Gospel, already considering the
hearts of men of this kind, and with prescient voice denouncing faithless
and unbelieving men, bears witness, and says: "Take no thought, saying,
What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be
clothed? For these things the Gentiles seek. And your Father knoweth that
ye have need of all these things. Seek first the kingdom of God, and His
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."(11) He says
that all these things shall be added and given to them who seek the kingdom
and righteousness of God. For the Lord says, that when the day of judgment
shall come, those who have laboured in His Church are admitted to receive
the kingdom.
10. You are afraid lest perchance your estate should fail, if you begin
to act liberally from it; and you do not know, miserable man that you are,
that while you are fearing lest your family property should fail you, life
itself, and salvation, are failing; and whilst you are anxious lest any of
your wealth should be diminished, you do not see that you yourself are
being diminished, in that you are a lover of mammon more than of your own
soul; and while you fear, lest for the sake of yourself, you should lose
your patrimony, you yourself are perishing for the sake of your patrimony.
And therefore the apostle well exclaims, and says: "We brought nothing into
this world, neither indeed can we carry anything out. Therefore, having
food and clothing, let us therewith be content. For they who will be rich
fall into temptation and a snare, and into many and hurtful desires, which
drown a man in perdition and in destruction. For covetousness is a root of
all evils, which some desiring, have made shipwreck from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows."(1)
11. Are you afraid that your patrimony perchance may fall short, if you
should begin to do liberally from it? Yet when has it ever happened that
resources(2) could fail the righteous man, since it is written, "The Lord
will not slay with famine the righteous soul?"(3) Elias in the desert is
fed by the ministry of ravens; and a meal from heaven is made ready for
Daniel in the den, when shut up by the king's command for a prey to the
lions; and you are afraid that food should be wanting to you, labouring and
deserving well of the Lord, although He Himself in the Gospel bears
witness, for the rebuke of those whose mind is doubtful and faith small,
and says: "Behold the fowls of heaven, that they sow not, nor reap, nor
gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them: are you not of
more value than they?"(4) God feeds the fowls, and daily food is afforded
to the sparrows; and to creatures which have no sense of things divine
there is no want of drink or food. Thinkest thou that to a Christian--
thinkest thou that to a servant of the Lord--thinkest thou that to one
given up to good works--thinkest thou that to one that is dear to his Lord,
anything will be wanting?
12. Unless you imagine that he who feeds Christ is not himself fed by
Christ, or that earthly things will be wanting to those to whom heavenly
and divine things are given, whence this unbelieving thought, whence this
impious and sacrilegious consideration? What does a faithless heart do in
the home of faith? Why is he who does not altogether trust in Christ named
and called a Christian? The name of Pharisee is more fitting for you. For
when in the Gospel the Lord was discoursing concerning almsgiving, and
faithfully and wholesomely warned us to make to ourselves friends of our
earthly lucre by provident good works, who might afterwards receive us into
eternal dwellings, the Scripture added after this, and said, "But the
Pharisees heard all these things, who were very covetous, and they derided
Him."(5) Some suchlike we see now in the Church, whose closed ears and
darkened hearts admit no light from spiritual and saving warnings, of whom
we need not wonder that they contemn the servant in his discourses, when we
see the Lord Himself despised by such.
13. Wherefore do you applaud yourself in those vain and silly conceits,
as if you were withheld from good works by fear and solicitude for the
future? Why do you lay out before you certain shadows and omens of a vain
excuse? Yea, confess what is the truth; and since you cannot deceive those
who know,(6) utter forth the secret and hidden things of your mind. The
gloom of barrenness has besieged your mind; and while the light of truth
has departed thence, the deep and profound darkness of avarice has blinded
your carnal heart. You are the captive and slave of your money; you are
bound with the chains and bonds of covetousness; and you whom Christ had
once loosed, are once more in chains. You keep your money, which, when
kept, does not keep you.(7) You heap up a patrimony which burdens your(8)
with its weight; and you do not remember what God answered to the rich man,
who boasted with a foolish exultation of the abundance of his exuberant
harvest: "Thou fool," said He, "this night thy soul is required of thee;
then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?"(9) Why do you
watch in loneliness over your riches? why for your punishment do you heap
up the burden of your patrimony, that, in proportion as you are rich in
this world, you may become poor to God? Divide your returns with the Lord
your God; share your gains with Christ; make Christ a partner with you in
your earthly possessions, that He also may make you a fellow-heir with Him
in His heavenly kingdom.
14. You are mistaken, and are deceived, whosoever you are, that think
yourself rich in this world. Listen to the voice of your Lord in the
Apocalypse, rebuking men of your stamp with righteous reproaches: "Thou
sayest," says He, "I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of
nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor,
and blind, and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire,
that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed,
and that the shame of thy nakedness may not appear in thee; and anoint
thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see."(1) You therefore, who are
rich and wealthy, buy for yourself of Christ gold tried by fire; that you
may be pure gold, with your filth burnt out as if by fire, if you are
purged by almsgiving and righteous works. Buy for yourself white raiment,
that you who had been naked according to Adam, and were before frightful
and unseemly, may be clothed with the white garment of Christ. And you who
are a wealthy and rich matron in Christ's Church,(2) anoint your eyes, not
with the collyrium of the devil,(3) but with Christ's eye-salve, that you
may be able to attain to see God, by deserving well of God, both by good
works and character.
15. But you who are such as this, cannot labour in the Church. For your
eyes, overcast with the gloom of blackness, and shadowed in night, do not
see the needy and poor. You are wealthy and rich, and do you think that you
celebrate the Lord's Supper, not at all considering the offering,(4) who
come to the Lord's Supper Without a sacrifice, and yet take part of the
sacrifice which the poor man has offered? Consider in the Gospel the widow
that remembered the heavenly precepts, doing good even amidst the
difficulties and straits of poverty, casting two mites, which were all that
she had, into the treasury; whom when the Lord observed and saw, regarding
her work not for its abundance, but for its intention, and considering not
how much, but from how much, she had given, He answered and said, "Verily I
say unto you, that that widow hath cast in more than they all into the
offerings of God. For all these have, of that which they had in abundance,
cast in unto the offerings of God; but she of her penury hath cast in all
the living that she had,"(5) Greatly blessed and glorious woman, who even
before the day of judgment hast merited to be praised by the voice of the
Judge! Let the rich be ashamed of their barrenness and unbelief. The widow,
the widow needy in means,(6) is found rich in works. And although
everything that is given is conferred upon widows and orphans, she gives,
whom it behoved to receive, that we may know thence what punishment, awaits
the barren rich man, when by this very instance even the poor ought to
labour in good works. And in order that we may understand that their
labours are given to God, and that whoever performs them deserves well of
the Lord, Christ calls this "the offerings of God," and intimates that the
widow has cast in two farthings into the offerings of God, that it may be
more abundantly evident that he who hath pity on the poor lendeth to God.
16. But neither let the consideration, dearest brethren, restrain and
recall the Christian from good and righteous works, that any one should
fancy that he could be excused for the benefit of his children; since in
spiritual expenditure we ought to think of Christ, who has declared that He
receives them; and not prefer our fellow-servants, but the Lord, to our
children, since He Himself instructs and warns us, saying, "He that loveth
father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he that loveth son
or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."(7) Also in Deuteronomy, for
the strengthening of faith and the love of God, similar things are written:
"Who say," he saith, "unto their father or mother, I have not known thee;
neither did they acknowledge their children, these have observed Thy words,
and kept Thy covenant."(8) For if we love God with our whole heart, we
ought not to prefer either our parents or children to God. And this also
John lays down in his epistle, that the love of God is not in them whom we
see unwilling to labour for the poor. "Whoso," says he, "hath this world's
goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels from
him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?"(9) For if by almsgiving to the
poor we are lending to God--and when it is given to the least it is given
to Christ--there is no ground for any one preferring earthly things to
heavenly, nor for considering human things before divine.
17. Thus that widow in the third book of Kings, when in the drought and
famine, having consumed everything, she had made of the little meal and oil
which was left, a cake upon the ashes, and, having used this, was about to
die with her children, Elias came and asked that something should first be
given him to eat, and then of what remained that she and her children
should eat. Nor did she hesitate to obey; nor did the mother prefer her
children to Elias in her hunger and poverty. Yea, there is done in God's
sight a thing that pleases God: promptly and liberally is presented what is
asked for, Neither is it a portion out of abundance, but the whole out of a
little, that is given, and another is fed before her hungry children; nor
in penury and want is food thought of before mercy; so that while in a
saving work the life according to the flesh is contemned, the soul
according to the spirit is preserved. Therefore Elias, being the type of
Christ, and showing that according to His mercy He returns to each their
reward, answered and said: "Thus saith the Lord, The vessel of meal shall
not fail, and the cruse of oil shall not be diminished, until the day that
the Lord giveth rain upon the earth."(1) According to her faith in the
divine promise, those things which she gave were multiplied and heaped up
to the widow; and her righteous works and deserts of mercy taking
augmentations and increase, the vessels of meal and oil were filled. Nor
did the mother take away from her children what she gave to Elias, but
rather she conferred upon her children what she did kindly and piously.(2)
And she did not as yet know Christ; she had not yet heard His precepts; she
did not, as redeemed by His cross and passion, repay meat and drink for His
blood. So that from this it may appear how much he sins in the Church, who,
preferring himself and his children to Christ, preserves his wealth, and
does not share an abundant estate with the poverty of the needy.
18. Moreover, also, (you say) there are many children at home; and the
multitude of your children checks yon from giving yourself freely to good
works. And yet on this very account you ought to labour the more, for the
reason that you are the father of many pledges. There are the more for whom
you must beseech the Lord. The sins of many have to be redeemed, the
consciences of many to be cleansed, the souls of many to be liberated. As
in this worldly life, in the nourishment and bringing up of children, the
larger the number the greater also is the expense; so also in the spiritual
and heavenly life, the larger the number of children you have, the greater
ought to be the outlay of your labours. Thus also Job offered numerous
sacrifices on behalf of his children; and as large as was the number of the
pledges in his home, so large also was the number of victims given to God.
And since there cannot daily fail to be sins committed in the sight of God,
there wanted not daily sacrifices wherewith the sins might be cleansed
away. The Holy Scripture proves this, saying: "Job, a true and righteous
man, had seven sons and three daughters, and cleansed them, offering for
them victims to God according to the number of them, and for their sins one
calf."(3) If, then, you truly love your children, if you show to them the
full and paternal sweetness of love, you ought to be the more charitable,
that by your righteous works you may commend your children to God.
19. Neither should you think that he is father to your children who is
both changeable and infirm, but you should obtain Him who is the eternal
and unchanging Father of spiritual children. Assign to Him your wealth
which you are saving up for your heirs. Let Him be the guardian for your
children; let Him be their trustee; let Him be their protector, by His
divine majesty, against all worldly injuries. The state neither takes away
the property entrusted to God, nor does the exchequer intrude on it, nor
does any forensic calumny overthrow it. That inheritance is placed in
security which is kept under the guardianship of God.(4) This is to provide
for one's dear pledges for the coming time; this is with paternal affection
to take care for one's future heirs, according to the faith of the Holy
Scripture, which says: "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not
seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed wanting bread. All the day long
he is merciful, and lendeth;(5) and his seed is blessed."(6) And again: "He
who walketh without reproach in his integrity shall leave blessed children
after him."(7) Therefore you are an unfair and traitorous father, unless
you faithfully consult for your children, unless yon look forward to
preserve them in religion and true piety. You who are careful rather for
their earthly than for their heavenly estate, rather to commend your
children to the devil than to Christ, are sinning twice, and allowing a
double and twofold crime, both in not providing for your children the aid
of God their Father, and in teaching your children to love their property
more than Christ.
20. Be rather such a father to your children as was Tobias. Give useful
and saving precepts to your pledges, such as he gave to his son; command
your children what he also commanded his son, saying: "And now, my son, I
command thee, serve God in truth, and do before Him that which pleaseth
Him; and command thy sons, that they exercise righteousness and alms, and
be mindful of God, and bless His name always."(8) And again: "All the days
of thy life, most dear son, have God in your mind, and be not willing to
transgress His commandments. Do righteousness all the days of thy life, and
be not willing to walk in the way of iniquity; because if thou deal truly,
there will be respect of thy works. Give alms of thy substance, and turn
not away thy face from any poor man. So shall it be, that neither shall the
face of God be turned away from thee. As thou hast, my son, so do. If thy
substance is abundant, give alms of it the more. If thou hast little,
communicate of that little. And fear not when thou doest alms; for thou
layest up a good reward for thyself against the day of necessity, because
that alms do deliver from death, and suffereth not to come into Gehenna.
Alms is a good gift to all that give it, in the sight of the most high
God." (1)
21. What sort of gift is it, beloved brethren, whose setting forth is
celebrated in the sight of God? If, in a gift of the Gentiles, it seems a
great and glorious thing to have proconsuls or emperors present, and the
preparation and display is the greater among the givers, in order that
they may please the higher classes; how much more illustrious and greater
is the glory to have God and Christ as the spectators of the gift! How much
more sumptuous the preparation and more liberal the expense to be set forth
in that case, when the powers of heaven assemble to the spectacle, when all
the angels come together: where it is not a four-horsed chariot or a
consulship that is sought for the giver, but life eternal is bestowed; nor
is the empty and fleeting favour of the rabble grasped at, but the
perpetual reward of the kingdom of heaven is received!
22. And that the indolent and the barren, and those, who by their
covetousness for money do nothing in respect of the fruit of their
salvation, may be the more ashamed, and that the blush of dishonour and
disgrace may the more strike upon their sordid conscience, let each one
place before his eyes the devil with his servants, that is, with the people
of perdition and death, springing forth into the midst, and provoking the
people of Christ with the trial of comparison--Christ Himself being
present, and judging--in these words: "I, for those whom thou seest with
me, neither received buffets, nor bore scourgings, nor endured the cross,
nor shed my blood, nor redeemed my family at the price of my suffering and
blood; but neither do I promise them a celestial kingdom, nor do I recall
them to paradise, having again restored to them immortality. But they
prepare for me gifts how precious! how large! with how excessive and
tedious a labour procured! and that, with the most sumptuous devices either
pledging or selling their means in the procuring of the gift! and, unless a
competent manifestation followed, they are cast out with scoffings and
hissings, and by the popular fury sometimes they are almost stoned! Show, O
Christ, such givers as these of Thine(2)--those rich men, those men
affluent with abounding wealth--whether in the Church wherein Thou
presidest and beholdest, they set forth a gift of that kind,--having
pledged or scattered their riches, yea, having transferred them, by the
change of their possessions for the better, into heavenly treasures! In
those spectacles of mine, perishing and earthly as they are, no one is fed,
no one is clothed, no one is sustained by the comfort either of any meat or
drink. All things, between the madness of the exhibitor and the mistake of
the spectator, are perishing in a prodigal and foolish vanity of deceiving
pleasures. There, in Thy poor, Thou art clothed and fed; Thou promisest
eternal life to those who labour for Thee; and scarcely are Thy people made
equal to mine that perish, although they are honoured by Thee with divine
wages and heavenly rewards.
23. What do we reply to these things, dearest brethren? With what
reason do we defend the minds of rich men, overwhelmed with a profane
barrenness and a kind of night of gloom? With what excuse do we acquit
them, seeing that we are less than the devil's servants, so as not even
moderately to repay Christ for the price of His passion and blood? He has
given us precepts; what His servants ought to do He has instructed us;
promising a reward to those that are charitable, and threatening punishment
to the unfruitful. He has set forth His sentence. He has before announced
what He shall judge. What can be the excuse for the laggard? what the
defence for the unfruitful? But when the servant does not do what is
commanded, the Lord will do what He threatens, seeing that He says: "When
the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then
shall He sit in the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered
all nations; and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divideth his sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep on His right
hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them that
shall be on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the
kingdom that is prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I
was an hungered, and ye gave me to eat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me to
drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was
sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came to me. Then shall the
righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, and fed
Thee? thirsty, land gave Thee drink? When saw we Thee a stranger, and took
Thee in? naked, and clothed Thee? Or when saw we Thee sick, and in prison,
and came unto Thee? Then shall the King answer and say unto them, Verily I
say unto you, Insomuch as you did it to one of the least of these my
brethren, ye did it unto me. Then shall He say also unto those that shall
be at His left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
which my Father hath prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was an
hungered, and ye gave me not to eat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me not to
drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me
not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also
answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, or athirst, or a
stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and ministered not unto Thee?
And He shall answer them, Verily I say unto you, In so far as ye did it
not to one of the least of these, ye did it not unto me. And these shall go
away into everlasting burning: but the righteous into life eternal"(1)
What more could Christ declare unto us? How more could He stimulate the
works of our righteousness and mercy, than by saying that whatever is given
to the needy and poor is given to Himself, and by saying that He is
aggrieved unless the needy and poor be supplied? So that he who in the
Church is not moved by consideration for his brother, may yet be moved by
contemplation of Christ; and he who does not think of his fellow-servant in
suffering and in poverty, may yet think of his Lord, who abideth in that
very man whom he is despising.
24. And therefore, dearest brethren, whose fear is inclined towards
God, and who having already despised and trampled under foot the world,
have lifted up your mind to things heavenly and divine, let us with full
faith, with devoted mind, with continual labour, give our obedience, to
deserve well of the Lord. Let us give to Christ earthly garments, that we
may receive heavenly raiment; let us give food and drink of this world,
that we may come with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob to the heavenly
banquet. That we may not reap little, let us sow abundantly. Let us, while
there is time, take thought for our security and eternal salvation,
according to the admonition of the Apostle Paul, who says: "Therefore,
while we have time, let us labour in what is good unto all men, but
especially to them that are of the household of faith. But let us not be
weary in well-doing, for in its season we shall reap."(2)
25. Let us consider, beloved brethren, what the congregation of
believers did in the time of the apostles, when at the first beginnings
the mind flourished with greater virtues, when the faith of believers
burned with a warmth of faith as yet new. Then they sold houses and farms,
and gladly and liberally presented to the apostles the proceeds to be
dispensed to the poor; selling and alienating their earthly estate, they
transferred their lands thither where they might receive the fruits of an
eternal possession, and there prepared homes where they might begin an
eternal habitation. Such, then, was the abundance in labours, as was the
agreement in love, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles: "And the
multitude of them that believed acted with one heart and one soul; neither
was there any distinction among them, nor did they esteem anything their
own of the goods which belonged to them, but they had all things
common."(3) This is truly to become sons of God by spiritual birth; this is
to imitate by the heavenly law the equity of God the Father. For whatever
is of God is common in our use; nor is any one excluded from His benefits
and His gifts, so as to prevent the whole human race from enjoying equally
the divine goodness and liberality. Thus the day equally enlightens, the
sun gives radiance, the rain moistens, the wind blows, and the sleep is one
to those that sleep, and the splendour of the stars and of the moon is
common. In which example of equality,(4) he who, as a possessor in the
earth, shares his returns and his fruits with the fraternity, while he is
common and just in his gratuitous bounties, is an imitator of God the
Father.
26. What, dearest brethren, will be that glory of those who labour
charitably--how great and high the joy when the Lord begins to number His
people, and, distributing to our merits and good works the promised
rewards, to give heavenly things for earthly, eternal things for temporal,
great things for small; to present us to the Father, to whom He has
restored us by His sanctification; to bestow upon us immortality and
eternity, to which He has renewed us by the quickening of His blood; to
bring us anew to paradise, to open the kingdom of heaven, in the faith and
truth of His promise! Let these things abide firmly in our perceptions, let
them be understood with full faith, let them be loved with our whole heart,
let them be purchased by the magnanimity of our increasing labours. An
illustrious and divine thing, dearest brethren, is the saving labour of
charity; a great comfort of believers, a wholesome guard of our security, a
protection of hope, a safeguard of faith, a remedy for sin, a thing placed
in the power of the doer, a thing both great and easy, a crown of peace
without the risk of persecution; the true and greatest gift of God, needful
for the weak, glorious for the strong, assisted by which the Christian
accomplishes spiritual grace, deserves well of Christ the Judge, accounts
God his debtor. For this palm of works of salvation let us gladly and
readily strive; let us all, in the struggle of righteousness, run with God
and Christ looking on; and let us who have already begun to be greater than
this life and the world, slacken our course by no desire of this life and
of this world. If the day shall find us, whether it be the day of reward(1)
or of persecution, furnished, if swift, if running in this contest of
charity, the Lord will never fail of giving a reward for our merits: in
peace He will give to us who conquer, a white crown for our labours; in
persecution, He will accompany it with a purple one for our passion.
Taken from "The Early Church Fathers and Other Works" originally published
by Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. in English in Edinburgh, Scotland beginning in
1867. (ANF 5, Roberts and Donaldson). The digital version is by The
Electronic Bible Society, P.O. Box 701356, Dallas, TX 75370, 214-407-WORD.
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