John Chrysostom, On the Ten Virgins

they renounced the pleasures of the world, they despised luxury, 59.530 they disdained glory, they kept to hard paths, they mastered their passions, they contended against pleasures; and since they did not have oil, they found the keys of the kingdom unopenable. For coming, they were knocking, saying: Lord, Lord, open to us; while from within the Judge fearfully cried out: Truly, truly I say to you, I do not know you. O, the final decision! and He has given the painful reply not through an angel, but through Himself; so that hearing the voice, and not being able to see His face, they might endure a greater torment. Truly I say to you, I do not know you. You do not know us, Master? from the womb we were cast upon You, we have followed after You from our youth, we have guarded our purity, the body which You formed for us, we have kept incorrupt, we did not betray our members to the passions, we expected to receive crowns from Your right hand; and now You have closed the doors and say, "I do not know you?" Yes, truly I do not know you. Why, O Master? The Master: Why? Because I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and you did not give me to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not take me in; naked, and you did not clothe me; sick and in prison, and you did not come to me. In writing I commanded you, saying: Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of these my least and little brothers, you did not do it to me. And they said: In vain then, Master, have we endured the pain and hardship of the flesh? in vain have we wasted ourselves away with vigils and fasts? in vain, having longed for the heavenly bridegroom until the end, have we kept our virginity inviolate? Yes, he says, you are virgins, but you have no dowries; virgins, but you are not arrayed in bridal adornment; you practiced the purity of the flesh, but by inhumanity you have wounded your purity; your body is undefiled, but your character is merciless, not of nature, but of inhumanity.

My bridal chamber is for those who have acquired the oil of good works. Therefore, those betrothed to me must be arrayed in a suitable adornment and character. I cannot take a contentious bride into my chambers; I do not bring war into peaceful bridal chambers. Therefore, depart from me, do not trouble my doors in vain; my kingdom is the dwelling place of the merciful. He easily enters in with me, who has imitated my compassion towards the poor, who became poor in spirit, who inclined his ear to those in need, who made the sufferings of his neighbor his own, who wept over the misfortunes of others, who filled the soul of the hungry with good things, who warmed the shoulders of the naked, who did not ignore the voice of the sick, who lent a word of comfort to the fainthearted, who received the stranger under his roof, who with the sponge of sympathy wiped away the tear of widows, who by his protection lightened the burden of orphanhood. Knowing these things, brothers, do not marvel with the tongue, but imitate them in your deeds. For the hand is the seal of the tongue, and the giving of the right hand interprets it, emulating the words. Let us hold love for the poor in high esteem, let us not spare to scatter our coins to the poor, I beseech you; let us heed the Master's words; having learned the experience of fear, let us turn away from it; let us care for ourselves through the poor.

For the virgins, not having honored philanthropy, are cast out of the bridal chamber. What hope then is left for sinners who have committed outrage by inhumanity? Saying these things to the multitude, I secure the conscience of the more indolent, harming in no way the well-disposed, but even making them more fervent towards piety. Therefore scatter, brother, while the festival of life still continues. Prepare the things for your defense; before the thrones are set, show lamentation; anticipate the coming of the bridegroom; run swifter than sin; forestall the appointed judgment; 59.531 serve the judge; do not consent to stand naked before the judgment seat. Now

τοῖς τοῦ κόσμου τερπνοῖς ἀπετάξαντο, τρυφῆς κατεφρόνησαν, 59.530 δόξης ὑπερεῖδον, ὁδοὺς σκληρὰς ἐφυλάξαντο, παθῶν κατεκράτησαν, ἡδονῶν κατηγωνίσαντο· καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἔλαιον οὐκ εἶχον, εὗρον ἀπαράνοικτα τῆς βασιλείας τὰ κλεῖθρα. Ἐλθοῦσαι γὰρ ἔκρουον, Λέγουσαι· Κύριε, Κύριε, ἄνοιξον ἡμῖν· ἔνδοθεν τοῦ Κριτοῦ φοβερῶς κεκραγότος· Ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, οὐκ οἶδα ὑμᾶς. Ὢ τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀποφάσεως· κἂν οὔτε δι' ἀγγέλου, ἀλλὰ δι' ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ὀδυνηρὰν ἀπόκρισιν δέδωκεν· ἵνα τῆς φωνῆς ἀκούσασαι, καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον ἰδεῖν μὴ δυνάμεναι, μείζονα τὴν βάσανον ὑπομείνωσιν. Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, οὐκ οἶδα ὑμᾶς. Οὐκ οἶδας ἡμᾶς, ∆έσποτα; ἐκ μήτρας ἐπὶ σὲ ἐπεῤῥίφημεν, ἠκολουθήσαμεν ὀπίσω σου ἐκ νεότητος ἡμῶν, τὴν ἁγνείαν διεφυλάξαμεν, ὅπερ ἔπλασας ἡμῖν σῶμα, ἄφθαρτον διετηρήσαμεν, οὐ προυδώκαμεν τὰ μέλη τοῖς πάθεσι, στεφάνους παρὰ τῆς σῆς δεξιᾶς προσεδοκήσαμεν δέξασθαι· καὶ νῦν τὰς θύρας ἐπέκλεισας καὶ λέγεις, «Οὐκ οἶδα ὑμᾶς;» Ναὶ, ὄντως οὐκ οἶδα ὑμᾶς. ∆ιὰ τί, ὦ ∆έσποτα; Ὁ ∆εσπότης· ∆ιὰ τί; Ἐπειδὴ ἐπείνασα, καὶ οὐκ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν· ἐδίψησα, καὶ οὐκ ἐποτίσατέ με· ξένος ἤμην, καὶ οὐ συνηγάγετέ με· γυμνὸς, καὶ οὐ περιεβάλλετέ με· ἀσθενὴς καὶ ἐν φυλακῇ, καὶ οὐκ ἤλθετε πρός με. Ἐγγράφως διεστειλάμην ὑμῖν, λέγων· Ἐφ' ὅσον οὐκ ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν ἐλαχίστων καὶ μικρῶν, οὐδὲ ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. Αἱ δὲ εἶπον· Μάτην οὖν, ∆έσποτα, τὸν πόνον καὶ τὴν ταλαιπωρίαν τῆς σαρκὸς ὑπεμείναμεν; μάτην ἀγρυπνίαις καὶ νηστείαις ἑαυτὰς κατετήξαμεν; μάτην τὸν οὐράνιον νυμφίον μέχρι τέλους ποθήσασαι, τὴν παρθενίαν ἄτρωτον διεφυλάξαμεν; Ναὶ, φησὶ, παρθένοι μέν ἐστε, ἀλλὰ προῖκας οὐκ ἔχετε· παρθένοι μὲν, ἀλλὰ νυμφικὸν οὐ περίκεισθε κόσμον· τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς ἠσκήσατε ἁγνείαν, ἀλλὰ ἀπανθρωπίᾳ τὴν ἁγνείαν ἐτρώσατε· ἀμόλυντον ὑμῶν τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλ' ὁ τρόπος ἀνελεὴς, οὐ φύσεως, ἀλλ' ἀπανθρωπίας.

Ὁ ἐμός ἐστι νυμφὼν κτησαμένων τῆς εὐποιίας τὸ ἔλαιον. ∆εῖ τοίνυν τὰς ἐμοὶ νυμφευομένας κατάλληλον τῷ κόσμῳ περικεῖσθαι καὶ τρόπον. Οὐ δύναμαι τοῖς ἐμοῖς θαλάμοις μαχομένην νύμφην λαβεῖν· οὐκ εἰσάγω πόλεμον εἰς παστάδας εἰρηνικάς. Λοιπὸν ἀπέλθετε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, μή μου μάτην ταῖς θύραις ἐνοχλεῖτε· τῶν ἐλεημόνων ἐστὶν οἰκητήριον ἡ ἐμὴ βασιλεία. Ἐκεῖνος ἐμοὶ εὐκόλως συνεισέρχεται, ὁ τὴν ἐμὴν μιμησάμενος περὶ τοὺς πτωχοὺς εὐσπλαγχνίαν, ὁ πτωχεύσας τῷ πνεύματι, ὁ τοῖς δεομένοις τὴν ἀκοὴν ὑποκλίνας, ὁ τὰ τοῦ πλησίον οἰκειωσάμενος πάθη, ὁ δακρύσας ἐπὶ συμφοραῖς ἀλλοτρίαις, ὁ ἐμπλήσας ἀγαθῶν τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ πεινῶντος, ὁ τῶν γυμνῶν διαθερμάνας τοὺς ὤμους, ὁ μὴ παρακούσας τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ νοσοῦντος, ὁ δανείσας ὀλιγοψύχῳ παρακλήσεως λόγον, ὁ τὸν ξένον ὑπὸ τὴν στέγην δεξάμενος, ὁ τῷ σπόγγῳ τῆς συμπαθείας τῶν χηρῶν ἀποσμήξας τὸ δάκρυον, ὁ ἐλαφρύνας τῇ προστασίᾳ τῆς ὀρφανίας τὸ βάρος. Ταῦτα εἰδότες, ἀδελφοὶ, μὴ τῇ γλώσσῃ θαυμάζετε, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἔργοις μιμήσασθε. Σφραγὶς γὰρ γλώσσης ἡ χεὶρ, καὶ ταύτην ἑρμηνεύει τῆς δεξιᾶς ἡ ἐπίδοσις, ζηλοῦσα τὰ ῥήματα. Τὴν φιλοπτωχίαν περὶ πολλοῦ ποιησώμεθα, σκορπίζειν τοῖς πένησι τοὺς ὀβολοὺς μὴ φεισώμεθα, παρακαλῶ· τῶν δεσποτικῶν φωνῶν ἐπακούσωμεν· τοῦ φόβου μαθόντες τὴν πεῖραν ἐκκλίνωμεν· ἑαυτῶν διὰ τῶν πενήτων φροντίσωμεν.

Αἱ γὰρ παρθένοι φιλανθρωπίαν μὴ τιμήσασαι, τοῦ νυμφῶνος ἐκβάλλονται. Ποία λοιπὸν τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς ἐλπὶς περιλείπεται ἀπανθρωπίᾳ ὑβρίσασι; Ταῦτα πρὸς τὸ πλῆθος λέγων, τῶν ῥᾳθυμοτέρων τὸ συνειδὸς ἀσφαλίζομαι, βλάπτων οὐδὲν τοὺς εὐγνώμονας, ἀλλὰ καὶ θερμοτέρους πρὸς τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἐργαζόμενος. Οὐκοῦν σκόρπισον, ἀδελφὲ, ἕως ἔτι συνέστηκεν ἡ τοῦ βίου πανήγυρις. Τὰ τῆς ἀπολογίας πραγμάτευσαι· πρὸ τοῦ τεθῶσιν οἱ θρόνοι, θρῆνον ἐπίδειξαι· φθάσον τοῦ νυμφίου τὴν παρουσίαν· δράμε τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὀξύτερον· πρόλαβε τὴν ἐμπρόθεσμον διάγνωσιν· 59.531 θεράπευσον τὸν κριτήν· μὴ καταδέξῃ τῷ βήματι παραστῆναι γυμνός. Νῦν