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useless and unprofitable, even if they are endured with great fortitude, if the things that follow are not built skillfully upon them, so also is there no benefit of this continence, if it does not receive the rest of righteousness that is suitable and follows. Let the fear of God teach the tongue to speak what is fitting, not to speak vain things, to know seasons and measures, and a necessary word and 9.96 a well-aimed reply; to speak rhythmically, not hailing upon those one meets with vehemence. For on account of this, that most delicate membrane which binds it underneath to the lower jaw is called a bridle, so that it may not speak disorderly and ill-regulated things. Let it bless and not revile; let it sing psalms and not blaspheme; let it speak well and not slander; let the rash hand be bound by the memory of God as by a chain. For this reason we fast, because revilings and blows insulted our lamb before the nails. Let us, the disciples of Christ, not therefore emulate the Jewish way. For if we are so disposed, Isaiah will say to us: Why do you fast for judgments and strife and strike the humble with your fists? Learn from the same prophet also the works of the sincere and pure fast: Loose every bond of injustice, undo the knots of forced contracts, break your bread for the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house. But the present time has brought us a great abundance of the naked and the homeless; for a multitude of captives is at each one's doors. And the stranger and sojourner is not lacking and it is possible to see the seeking hand stretched out everywhere. For these, their house is the open air, and their lodgings are colonnades and street corners and the more desolate parts of the marketplace. And like the night-ravens and owls they lurk in holes. Their clothing is rags stitched together; the inclination of those who pity them is their husbandry; 9.97 food, whatever may fall to them by chance; their drink, like that of the beasts, is the springs; their cup is the hollow of their hands; their storehouse is their bosom, and this if it is not torn, but holds what is thrown into it; their table is the pressing together of their knees; their bed is the ground; their bath is a river or a lake, which God has given common to all and unadorned. Their life is wandering and savage, not being such from the beginning, but having become so from calamity and necessity.

Help these, you who are fasting. Be generous towards the unfortunate among the brothers. What you have taken away from your own belly, add to the one who is hungry. Let the fear of God become a just equalizer. Heal with sober continence two conditions contrary to one another, your satiety and your brother's hunger. For thus also do physicians; some they empty, others they fill, so that by addition and subtraction the health of each may be managed. Be persuaded by good counsel; let the word of the wealthy open their doors; let counsel lead the poor man to the one who has; let not talk enrich those who groan; let the pre-eternal Word of God, through a servant's word, give them a house and a bed and a table; cultivate what is needed with your own possessions.

Besides these, there are many other poor who are sick and bedridden. Let each one look around to his neighbors. Do not allow the one near you to be cared for by another; let not another take the treasure that is laid up for you; embrace the one who is suffering as if he were gold; hold in your arms the afflicted one as your own health, as the salvation of your wife, children, servants and of your whole 9.98 household. The poor and sick man is doubly poor; for the needy who are healthy both pass from door to door and go to those who have and sitting at the crossroads call out to all who pass by, but those who are bound by sickness, shut up in their narrow lodgings and tight corners, like Daniel in the den, await you, the reverent and poor-loving man, as they awaited Habakkuk. Become, then, a companion of the prophet through almsgiving; stand by the one in need as a swift and unwearied provider. The gift is not a loss; do not be afraid; the fruit of almsgiving sprouts abundantly. sow

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ἄχρηστα καὶ ἀνόνητα, κἂν σφόδρα καρτερῶς ὑποβληθῶσιν, ἂν μὴ τὰ ἑξῆς αὐτοῖς ἐπιστημόνως ἐποικοδομηθῇ, οὕτως καὶ τῆς ἐγκρατείας ταύτης οὐδὲν ὄφελος, ἂν μὴ τὴν ἄλλην δικαιοσύνην προσφυῆ καὶ ἀκόλουθον δέξηται. φόβος θεοῦ διδασκέτω τὴν γλῶτταν φθέγγεσθαι ἃ προσῆκεν, μὴ λαλεῖν τὰ μά ταια, εἰδέναι καιροὺς καὶ μέτρα, καὶ λόγον ἀναγκαῖον καὶ 9.96 ἀπόκρισιν εὔστοχον· λαλεῖν εὐρύθμως, μὴ χαλαζοῦν τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας τῇ σφοδρότητι. διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ὁ λεπτό τατος ἐκεῖνος ὑμὴν ὁ ὑποδεσμῶν αὐτὴν τῇ κάτω γένυι χαλινὸς λέγεται, ἵνα μὴ ἄτακτα καὶ ἀνοικονόμητα φθέγγηται. εὐλογείτω καὶ μὴ λοιδορείτω· ψαλλέτω καὶ μὴ βλασφημείτω· εὐφημείτω καὶ μὴ καταλαλείτω· ἡ χεὶρ ἡ προπετὴς τῇ μνήμῃ τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς ἁλύσει δεσμείσθω. διὰ τοῦτο νηστεύομεν, ἐπειδὴ τὸν ἀμνὸν τὸν ἡμέτερον λοιδορίαι καὶ ῥαπίσματα πρὸ τῶν ἥλων καθύβρισαν. μὴ τοίνυν τὸν Ἰουδαϊκὸν τρόπον ζηλώσωμεν οἱ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μαθηταί. ἐὰν γὰρ οὕτως ὦμεν διακείμενοι, λέξει ἡμῖν Ἠσαΐας· Ἵνα τί εἰς κρίσεις καὶ μάχας νηστεύετε καὶ τύπτετε πυγμαῖς ταπεινόν; παρὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ προφήτου διδάχθητι καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀδόλου καὶ καθαρᾶς νηστείας ἐνεργήματα· Λύε πάντα σύνδεσμον ἀδικίας, διάλυε στραγγαλίας βιαίων συναλλαγμάτων, διάθρυπτε πεινῶντι τὸν ἄρτον σου καὶ πτωχοὺς ἀστέγους εἰσάγαγε εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου. Πολλὴν δὲ ἡμῖν ἀφθονίαν τῶν γυμνῶν καὶ τῶν ἀστέγων ὁ νῦν ἤνεγκε χρόνος· πλῆθος γὰρ αἰχμαλώτων πρὸς ταῖς θύραις ἑκάστου. καὶ ὁ ξένος καὶ μετανάστης οὐ λείπει καὶ τὴν ζητοῦσαν χεῖρα πανταχοῦ τεταμένην ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. τούτοις οἶκος μὲν ὁ ὕπαιθρος ἀήρ, καταγώγια δὲ στοαὶ καὶ ἄμφοδα καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἐρημότερα. κατὰ δὲ τοὺς νυκτικόρακας καὶ τὰς γλαῦκας ταῖς ὀπαῖς ἐμφωλεύουσιν. ἐσθὴς αὐτοῖς τὰ περικεκεντημένα ῥάκια· γεωργία τῶν ἐλεούντων ἡ γνώμη· 9.97 τροφή, ἥτις ἂν ἐκ τοῦ προστυχόντος ἐμπέσῃ· ποτὸν ὡς τοῖς ἀλόγοις αἱ κρῆναι· ποτήριον τῶν χειρῶν ἡ κοιλότης· ταμιεῖον ὁ κόλπος καὶ οὗτος ἂν μὴ διερρυηκὼς ᾖ, ἀλλὰ στέγων τὰ ἐμβαλλόμενα· τράπεζα ἡ τῶν γονάτων συνέρεισις· κλίνη τὸ ἔδαφος· λουτρὸν ποταμὸς ἢ λίμνη, ὃ ὁ θεὸς κοινὸν πᾶσι καὶ ἀκατάσκευον ἔδωκεν. ἀλητικὸς αὐτοῖς ὁ βίος καὶ ἄγριος, οὐ τοιοῦτος ὢν ἐξ ἀρχῆς, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς συμφορᾶς καὶ τῆς ἀνάγκης γενόμενος. Τούτοις ὁ νηστευτὴς ἐπάρκεσον. περὶ τοὺς ἀτυχοῦντας τῶν ἀδελφῶν γενοῦ φιλότιμος. ὃ τῆς σῆς ὑφεῖλες γαστρός, τῷ πεινῶντι πρόσθες. γενέσθω ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ φόβος δίκαιος ἐπανισωτής. θεράπευσον ἐγκρατείᾳ σώφρονι δύο πάθη ἐναντία ἀλλήλοις, τὸν σὸν κόρον καὶ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ τὸν λιμόν. οὕτως γὰρ ποιοῦσι καὶ οἱ ἰατροί· τοὺς μὲν κενοῦσι, τοὺς δὲ πληροῦσι, ἵνα τῇ προσθήκῃ καὶ ὑφαιρέσει ἡ περὶ ἕκαστον οἰκονομηθῇ ὑγίεια. πείσθητε καλῇ παραινέσει· ἀνοιξάτω ὁ λόγος τῶν εὐπόρων τὰς θύρας· εἰσαγαγέτω ἡ συμβουλὴ τὸν πένητα πρὸς τὸν ἔχοντα· μὴ διάλεξις πλουτισάτω τοὺς στένοντας· δότω αὐτοῖς καὶ οἰκίαν καὶ κλίνην καὶ τράπεζαν ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος ὁ προαιώνιος διὰ λόγου οἰκετικοῦ· γεώργησον τὰ πρὸς τὴν χρείαν τοῖς σοῖς κτήμασιν.

Πρὸς τούτοις ἄλλοι πτωχοὶ πολλοὶ ἀσθενοῦντες καὶ κατακείμενοι. ἕκαστος περιεργαζέσθω τοὺς γείτονας. μὴ ἀφῇς παρ' ἄλλου θεραπευθῆναι τὸν ἐγγύς σου· μὴ λάβῃ ἄλλος τὸν θησαυρὸν τὸν σοὶ παρακείμενον· περίπτυξαι τὸν κακούμενον ὡς χρυσόν· ἐναγκάλισαι τὸν κεκακωμένον ὡς σὴν ὑγίειαν, ὡς σωτηρίαν γυναικός, τέκνων, οἰκετῶν καὶ πάσης 9.98 τῆς οἰκίας. ὁ πένης καὶ ἄρρωστος διπλοῦς ἐστι πτωχός· οἱ μὲν γὰρ ὑγιαίνοντες ἄποροι καὶ θύραν ἐκ θύρας ἀμείβουσι καὶ βαδίζουσι πρὸς τοὺς ἔχοντας καὶ ταῖς τριόδοις ἐπικαθή μενοι πάντας ἀνακαλοῦσι τοὺς διοδεύοντας, οἱ δὲ παρὰ τῆς νόσου πεπεδημένοι, ἐγκαθειργμένοι δὲ τοῖς στενοῖς καταλύ μασι καὶ ταῖς στεναῖς γωνίαις, ὡς ὁ ∆ανιὴλ τῷ λάκκῳ, σὲ τὸν εὐλαβῆ καὶ φιλόπτωχον ὡς τὸν Ἀμβακοὺμ ἀναμένουσιν. γενοῦ δὲ τοῦ προφήτου δι' ἐλεημοσύνης ἑταῖρος· ταχὺς τροφεὺς καὶ ἄοκνος τῷ δεομένῳ παράστηθι. οὐκ ἔστι ζημία ἡ δόσις· μὴ φοβηθῇς· πολύχους βλαστάνει ὁ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης καρπός. σπεῖρον