John Chrysostom, On Peter's Denial

running from the gate. And what? Again another servant-girl met him. Oh, what a state of affairs! nowhere a soldier, nowhere a sword, but a lowly little girl met Peter; she confronted him, saying: Why are you alarmed, man? where are you hurrying? why are you distressed? Did I not always see you walking with the Galilean? how then, having come out of the gate, are you running? But Peter no longer answered simply, but says with an oath: I do not know this man. Have you seen God's foretelling, and man's fall? Then, the second denial having been fulfilled, the third denial goes thus: After a little while those who stood by came and said to Peter: Truly you also are one of them; for your speech betrays you. But Peter began to curse and to swear, saying, I do not know the man. Where is Peter's thoughtless promise? you who formerly said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," here say, "I do not know this man"? Perhaps Peter was unwittingly alert about this phrase; he did not say, "I do not know the Word of God," but he said, "I do not know this man." He stumbled over what was seen, not over what was understood. For this reason the Lord, foreseeing, said: Whoever speaks blasphemy against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him. What then of Peter? I do not know this man; and immediately a rooster crowed; the indescribable accuser of Peter, the advocate who proclaims beforehand the Master's declaration, the publicizer of the denial, and the revealer of the foreknowledge, and the chronicler of the tears of repentance. 59.618 3. And let these things have been said sufficiently; but let us set forth the discourse on almsgiving, exhorting your love, and saying as it is said in the Gospel: Make for yourselves friends from the mammon of unrighteousness; so that, when you f[a]il, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. He said well, "Eternal." For here, even if you have a splendid house, it is completely destroyed, being corrupted by time; rather, even before the corruption over time, death, falling upon it, casts you out of this splendid dwelling; and often, even before death, difficulties of certain affairs and the assaults and plots of slanderers have caused one to fall from it. But there it is not possible to suspect any of these things, not corruption, not death, not collapse, not the insolence of slanderers, nothing else, but the dwelling is immovable and immortal. For this reason He called them eternal. Make for yourselves friends from the mammon of unrighteousness. Do you see how great is the Master's love for man, how great His goodness and gentleness? For He did not add this simply, but since for many of the rich, wealth has been gathered from plunder and greed, He says, "It was wrong that you should have collected money this way; but since you have collected it, cease from plunder and greed, and use the money for what is needful." I do not say that you should plunder and show mercy, but that having desisted from greed, you should make use of your wealth for almsgiving and love for mankind. For if someone does not cease from plunder, neither will he perform almsgiving; but even if he lays down countless sums of money into the hands of the needy, while plundering and defrauding others, he is reckoned equally with murderers by God. Therefore it is necessary, having first desisted from greed, then to show mercy to the needy. For great is the power of almsgiving. But let no one consider the continuity of the reminder an accusation of the listeners. For in the contests, the spectators cheer on those of the runners whom they see getting near the prize and having great hopes of victory. And so I, since I always see you receiving the words about almsgiving with much eagerness, for this reason I also more continuously set in motion the exhortation on these matters. The poor are the physicians of our souls, benefactors

πυλῶνος τρέχων. Καὶ τί; Πάλιν ἑτέρα παιδίσκη συνήντησεν αὐτῷ. Ὢ τῶν πραγμάτων! οὐδαμοῦ στρατιώτης, οὐδαμοῦ ξίφος, ἀλλ' εὐτελὲς κοράσιον συνήντησε τῷ Πέτρῳ· ἀντέβαλε πρὸς αὐτὸν λέγουσα· Τί θορυβῇ, ἄνθρωπε; ποῦ σπεύδεις; τί ἀγωνιᾷς; οὐχὶ πάντοτέ σε ἐθεώρουν μετὰ τοῦ Γαλιλαίου περιπατοῦντα; πῶς οὖν ἐξελθὼν τοῦ πυλῶνος τρέχεις; Ὁ δὲ Πέτρος λιτῶς οὐκ ἔτι ἀπεκρίνατο, ἀλλὰ μεθ' ὅρκου λέγει· Οὐκ οἶδα τὸν ἄνθρωπον τοῦτον. Εἶδες Θεοῦ πρόῤῥησιν, καὶ ἀνθρώπου ὄλισθον; Εἶτα τῆς δευτέρας ἀρνήσεως πληρωθείσης ἡ τρίτη ἄρνησις, περιέχει οὕτως· Μετὰ μικρὸν προσελθόντες οἱ παρεστῶτες εἶπον τῷ Πέτρῳ· Ἀληθῶς καὶ σὺ ἐξ αὐτῶν εἶ· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἡ λαλιά σου δῆλόν σε ποιεῖ. Ὁ δὲ Πέτρος ἤρξατο καταναθεματίζειν καὶ ὀμνύειν, ὅτι Οὐκ οἶδα τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Ποῦ ἡ παράσκεπτος τοῦ Πέτρου ἐπαγγελία; ὁ πρότερον εἰρηκὼς, Σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος, ὧδε λέγεις· Οὐκ οἶδα τὸν ἄνθρωπον τοῦτον; Τάχα ὁ Πέτρος ἄκων περὶ τὴν λέξιν ταύτην ἐγρηγόρησεν· οὐκ εἶπεν, Οὐκ οἶδα τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον· ἀλλ' εἶπεν, Οὐκ οἶδα τὸν ἄνθρωπον τοῦτον. Περὶ τὸ ὁρώμενον προσέκοψεν, οὐχὶ περὶ τὸ νοούμενον. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ Κύριος προειδὼς ἔλεγε· Πᾶς ὅστις εἴπῃ βλασφημίαν εἰς τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ. Τί οὖν ὁ Πέτρος; Οὐκ οἶδα τὸν ἄνθρωπον τοῦτον· καὶ εὐθέως ἀλέκτωρ ἐφώνησεν· ὁ ἀπερίγραφος τοῦ Πέτρου κατήγορος, ὁ προαναφωνητὴς τῆς ∆εσποτικῆς ἀποφάσεως συνήγορος, ὁ τῆς ἀρνήσεως δημοσιευτὴς, καὶ τῆς προγνώσεως ἐμφανιστὴς, καὶ τῶν μετανοητικῶν δακρύων ὑπομνηματιστής. 59.618 γʹ. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἀρκούντως εἰρήσθω· τὸν δὲ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης λόγον γυμνάσωμεν, παραινοῦντες τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀγάπην, καὶ λέγοντες ὡς ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ εἴρηται· Ποιήσατε ὑμῖν φίλους ἐκ τοῦ μαμωνᾶ τῆς ἀδικίας· ἵνα, ὅταν ἐκλ[ε]ίπητε, δέξωνται ὑμᾶς εἰς τὰς αἰωνίους σκηνάς. Καλῶς εἶπεν, Αἰωνίους. Ἐνταῦθα μὲν γὰρ κἂν λαμπρὰν ἔχῃς οἰκίαν, ἀπόλλυται πάντως φθειρομένη τῷ χρόνῳ· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ πρὸ τῆς κατὰ χρόνον φθορᾶς θάνατος ἐμπεσὼν ἐκβάλλει σε τῆς λαμπρᾶς ταύτης οἰκήσεως· πολλάκις δὲ καὶ πρὸ τοῦ θανάτου πραγμάτων τινῶν δυσκολίαι καὶ συκοφαντῶν ἔφοδοι καὶ ἐπιβουλαὶ ἐκπεσεῖν αὐτῆς παρεσκεύασαν. Ἐκεῖ δὲ οὐδὲν τούτων ἔστιν ὑποπτεῦσαι, οὐ φθορὰν, οὐ θάνατον, οὐ κατάπτωσιν, οὐ συκοφαντῶν ἐπήρειαν, οὐκ ἄλλο οὐδὲν, ἀλλ' ἀκίνητος καὶ ἀθάνατός ἐστιν ἡ οἴκησις. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο αἰωνίους αὐτὰς ἐκάλεσε. Ποιήσατε ὑμῖν φίλους ἐκ τοῦ μαμωνᾶ τῆς ἀδικίας. Ὁρᾷς, πόση φιλανθρωπία τοῦ ∆εσπότου, πόση χρηστότης καὶ ἐπιείκεια; οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς ταύτην ἔθηκε τὴν προσθήκην, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ πολλοῖς πλουσίοις πλοῦτος συνείλεκται ἐξ ἁρπαγῆς καὶ πλεονεξίας, κακῶς μὲν, φησὶν, οὐκ ἐχρῆν σε οὕτω συλλέξαι χρήματα· ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ συνέλεξας, στῆθι τῆς ἁρπαγῆς καὶ τῆς πλεονεξίας, καὶ χρῆσαι εἰς δέον τοῖς χρήμασιν. Οὐ λέγω, ἵνα ἁρπάζων ἐλεῇς, ἀλλ' ἵνα τῆς πλεονεξίας ἀποστὰς, πρὸς ἐλεημοσύνην καὶ φιλανθρωπίαν ἀποχρήσῃ τῷ πλούτῳ. Εἰ γάρ τις μὴ παύσαιτο τῆς ἁρπαγῆς, οὐδὲ ἐλεημοσύνην ἐργάσεται· ἀλλὰ κἂν μυρία καταβάλλῃ χρήματα εἰς τὰς τῶν δεομένων χεῖρας, τὰ ἑτέρων ἁρπάζων καὶ πλεονεκτῶν, τοῖς ἀνδροφόνοις ἐξίσης λελόγισται τῷ Θεῷ. ∆ιὸ χρὴ πλεονεξίας ἀποστάντα πρότερον, οὕτω τοὺς δεομένους ἐλεεῖν. Πολλὴ γὰρ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης ἡ δύναμις. Ἀλλὰ μηδεὶς τὴν συνέχειαν τῆς ὑπομνήσεως κατηγορίαν ἡγείσθω τῶν ἀκουόντων. Καὶ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἀγῶσιν ἐκείνους τῶν δρομέων διεγείρουσιν οἱ θεαταὶ, οὓς ἂν ἴδωσιν ἐγγὺς τοῦ βραβείου γενομένους, καὶ πολλὰς τῆς νίκης ἐλπίδας ἔχοντας. Καὶ ἐγὼ τοίνυν ἐπειδὴ μετὰ πολλῆς ἀεὶ προθυμίας ὁρῶ τοὺς περὶ ἐλεημοσύνης δεχομένους λόγους ὑμᾶς, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ αὐτὸς συνεχέστερον τὴν ὑπὲρ τούτων κινῶ παραίνεσιν. Ἰατροὶ τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν εἰσιν οἱ πένητες, εὐεργέται