John Chrysostom, On the Synaxis of Archangels

in heaven always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven. And over each Church Christ has appointed guardian angels, as he says when revealing to John: Say to the angel of the Church of Smyrna: I know your poverty and your affliction; but you are rich. What are you saying, O Master? I am rich, being poor? Why do you enrich me with an empty name? For if I am rich, I am not poor; but if I am poor, how am I rich? For great is the distance between wealth and poverty, as you yourself witness, having established a great chasm between the rich man and the poor man. The rich man turns away from the poor man, the poor man looks up to the rich man with suspicion. Their circumstances are opposite, their life is uneven. For the one groans in his sufferings, while the other laughs aloud in his pleasures; this one prays to get bread, that one is stuffed from gluttony; this one cannot afford a cup of wine, that one, carousing and drenched, belches out his drunkenness; this one is clothed in a rag, that one is adorned with colorful garments; this one is cast upon the ground, keeping vigil, that one, being on a couch, snores, dreaming of luxury; this one asks for a coin, that one is buried in gold. For he who lays up treasure, but does not distribute it, is like a poor man awaiting a rich burial. But neither do they rejoice equally in the seasons. For to the poor man, winter is harsh, having no warmth; but to the rich man, summer is burdensome, not enduring the heat on account of his surfeit. How then can the same person be poor and rich? True is the saying, and He who utters it. Poor on account of the lack of money, but rich on account of the treasures of faith. But it is better to be poor in the things of this life, but to be rich in spiritual things; for the end of the former is corruption, but the gain of the latter is inalienable.

For this reason the Son says, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, calling us to lay up heavenly things, to feed the poor, to visit the sick, to shelter the homeless, to release destitute debtors, and to claim the loan from God. For he who has mercy on the poor, lends to God. For angels, seeing these things, report them to the judge of all; and he commands, saying to them concerning the one who does good, Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial for you before God. To Him be the glory and the power, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

οὐρανοῖς διὰ παντὸς βλέπουσι τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ Πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Καθ' ἑκάστην δὲ Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπέστησεν ἀγγέλους φύλακας ὁ Χριστὸς, ὡς ἀποκαλύπτων Ἰωάννῃ φησίν· Εἰπὲ τῷ ἀγγέλῳ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας Σμύρνης· Οἶδά σου τὴν πενίαν καὶ τὴν θλίψιν· ἀλλὰ πλούσιος εἶ. Τί λέγεις, ὦ ∆έσποτα; πλούσιός εἰμι, πένης ὤν; τί με διακένῳ πλουτίζεις ὀνόματι; Εἰ μὲν γὰρ πλούσιος, οὐ πένης· εἰ δὲ πένης, πῶς πλούσιος; Πολλὴ γὰρ πλούτου καὶ πενίας ἡ διάστασις, ὡς αὐτὸς μαρτυρεῖς, χάσμα μέγα μεταξὺ πλουσίου καὶ πένητος ὡρισμένος. Ὁ πλούσιος τὸν πτωχὸν ἀποστρέφεται, ὁ πτωχὸς τὸν πλούσιον ὑποβλέπεται. Ἐναντία τὰ πράγματα, ὁ βίος ἀνώμαλος. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐπιστένει τοῖς πάθεσιν. ὁ δὲ ἐπικαγχλάζει ταῖς ἡδοναῖς· οὗτος ἄρτου τυχεῖν ἐπεύχεται, ἐκεῖνος ταῖς ἀδηφαγίαις ὑπερμαζᾷ· οὗτος οἴνου κοτύλης οὐκ εὐπορεῖ, ἐκεῖνος κραιπαλῶν καὶ καταντλούμενος ἐξερεύγεται τὴν μέθην· οὗτος ῥάκος περιβέβληται, ἐκεῖνος ποικίλοις περικεκόσμηται ἐσθήμασιν· οὗτος ἐπὶ ἐδάφους ἀγρυπνῶν ἔῤῥιπται, ἐκεῖνος ἐπὶ στρωμνῆς ὢν ῥέγχει τὴν τρυφὴν ὀνειροπολῶν· οὗτος κέρμα τι αἰτεῖ, ἐκεῖνος χρυσῷ κέχωσται. Ὁ γὰρ θησαυρίζων, μὴ διανέμων δὲ, ἐπέοικε πτωχῷ πλουσίαν ταφὴν ἀναμένοντι. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τοῖς καιροῖς ἴσως χαίρουσι. Τῷ πτωχῷ μὲν γὰρ ὁ χειμὼν χαλεπὸς τὸ θάλπος οὐκ ἔχοντι, τῷ πλουσίῳ δὲ τὸ θέρος μοχθηρὸν ὑπὸ πλησμονῆς τὸ θάλπος οὐ στέγοντι. Πῶς οὖν ὁ αὐτὸς πένης καὶ πλούσιος; Ἀληθὴς ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ φθεγγόμενος. Πένητες μὲν διὰ τὴν ἔνδειαν τῶν χρημάτων, πλούσιοι δὲ διὰ τοὺς τῆς πίστεως θησαυρούς. Ἄμεινον δὲ πένεσθαι τὰ βιωτικὰ, πλουτεῖν δὲ τὰ πνευματικά· τῶν μὲν γὰρ τὸ τέλος φθορὰ, τῶν δὲ τὸ κέρδος ἀναφαίρετον.

∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησιν ὁ Υἱὸς, Μὴ θησαυρίζετε θησαυροὺς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καλῶν ἡμᾶς θησαυρίζειν τὰ ἐπουράνια, πτωχοὺς τρέφειν, ἀσθενεῖς ἐπισκέπτεσθαι, ἀσκέπους σκέπειν, χρεωφειλέτας ἀπόρους λύειν, καὶ τὸ δάνειον ἐκ Θεοῦ ἀπαιτεῖν. Ὁ ἐλεῶν γὰρ πτωχὸν, δανείζει Θεῷ. Ταῦτα γὰρ ἄγγελοι θεωροῦντες ἐπὶ τὸν κριτὴν τῶν ὅλων ἀναφέρουσιν· ὁ δὲ προστάττει λέγων αὐτοῖς τῷ ἐργαζομένῳ τὸ ἀγαθὸν, Αἱ προσευχαί σου καὶ αἱ ἐλεημοσύναι σου ἀνέβησαν εἰς μνημόσυνόν σου ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.