4

Scatter money, so that you may then dissolve accusations; speak to the judge alone, so that he may not condemn you in the presence of all; take the poor man as a mediator for his service; through him bribe the judge; to him alone entrust such a mystery; through him sell justice to the condemned. The poor man receives, and the judge signs the pardon; he receives without writing, and offers a handwritten note. For he who has mercy on the poor, lends to God. Whatever you now cast into the hand of the poor man, you will recognize in the palm of the judge. If, therefore, we are eager to escape the judgment, let us from this moment entreat the judge through the poor. Even when you are making your final testament, write down among your relatives or friends the soul departing from this life; give to it even small provisions for its need; let the letters of the will have the name of the judge; let the document not be without the memory of a poor person.

Make death a cause of joy, and not worthy of lamentations; do not stand before the fearful judgment seat without advocates; fill the bellies of those who are obliged to speak eloquently on your behalf with their tongues to the Lord. Let us acquire 59.532 through them the Creator as a debtor, so as not to be punished on that day; let us buy with money orators for such success. For you have, he says, the poor man as a witness of your friendship for me; you know that I make the things of the poor my own. I make grass spring up for the cattle, and I supply food for all; and yet when you give alms, I incline my hand with the poor man, and I receive the obol. I put on light as a garment; even if you only clothe the poor man, I feel the warmth. You know that I am seated in heaven with the Father; even if you only hasten to visit those in prison, you will find me sitting with them in their bonds; even if you run to the sick, I do not depart from their bed.

For I am everywhere, and I stand by those in need. Whatever you give to the poor man, you will see it multiplied by me. If you bring the homeless into your house, and through him receive me in your house, I will provide you these three things: I will both increase your profit, and I will guard your house, and I will prepare a dwelling for you in the heavens; in which pain and sorrow and sighing have fled away, in God the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, to whom be the glory and the power, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

4

σκόρπισον χρήματα, ἵνα τότε διαλύσῃς ἐγκλήματα· λάλησον τῷ δικαστῇ καταμόνας, ἵνα μὴ ἐπὶ πάντων καταδικάσῃ σε· λάβε μεσίτην πρὸς τὴν αὐτοῦ θεραπείαν τὸν πένητα· δι' αὐτοῦ τὸν κριτὴν δωροδόκησον· αὐτῷ μόνῳ θάῤῥει τὸ τοιοῦτον μυστήριον· δι' αὐτοῦ πώλει τοῖς καταδίκοις τὸ δίκαιον. Ὁ πτωχὸς λαμβάνει, καὶ ὁ κριτὴς ὑπογράφει συγχώρησιν· ἀγράφως δέχεται, καὶ προσφέρει χειρόγραφα. Ὁ γὰρ ἐλεῶν πτωχὸν, δανείζει Θεῷ. Ὅπερ ἂν νῦν βάλλῃς ἐν τῇ χειρὶ τοῦ πτωχοῦ, γνωρίσεις ἐν τῇ παλάμῃ τοῦ δικαστοῦ. Εἰ διαδράσαι τὴν κρίσιν τοίνυν σπουδάσωμεν, ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη τὸν δικαστὴν διὰ τῶν πτωχῶν δυσωπήσωμεν. Εἰ καὶ ὁπηνίκα τελευταῖα διατυποῖς, γράψον μετὰ τῶν συγγενῶν ἢ φίλων τὴν ἀποδημοῦσαν τοῦ βίου ψυχήν· δὸς αὐτῇ κἂν μικρὰ τῆς ἀνάγκης ἐφόδια· ἐχέτω τοῦ δικαστοῦ τὸ ὄνομα τῆς διαθήκης τὰ γράμματα· μνήμης πτωχοῦ μὴ ἀμοιρείτω ὁ χάρτης.

Χαρᾶς πρόξενον, καὶ μὴ θρήνων ἄξιον ἔργασαι τὸν θάνατον· συνηγόρων ἐκτὸς μὴ παραστῇς τῷ φοβερῷ κριτηρίῳ· χόρτασον τὰς κοιλίας τῶν ὀφειλόντων ταῖς γλώσσαις ὑπὲρ σοῦ ῥητορεῦσαι πρὸς τὸν Κύριον. Κτησώμεθα 59.532 δι' αὐτῶν χρεώστην τὸν κτίσαντα, τοῦ μὴ δοῦναι δίκην κατ' ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν· ὠνησώμεθα χρήμασι τῆς τοιαύτης ἐπιτυχίας ῥήτορας. Ἔχεις γὰρ, φησὶ, μάρτυρα τῆς περὶ ἐμὲ φιλίας τὸν πένητα· οἶδάς με τὰ τῶν πτωχῶν οἰκειούμενον. Ἐξανατέλλω χόρτον τοῖς κτήνεσι, καὶ πᾶσι τὴν τροφὴν χορηγῶ· καὶ ὅμως σοῦ ποιοῦντος τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην, ἐγὼ τῷ πένητι συγκλίνω τὴν χεῖρα, καὶ τὸν ὀβολὸν ὑποδέχομαι. Ἀναβάλλομαι τὸ φῶς ὡς ἱμάτιον· κἂν μόνον σὺ τὸν πτωχὸν περιβάλῃς, ἐγὼ τῆς θέρμης αἰσθάνομαι. Οἶδάς με ἐν οὐρανῷ τῷ Πατρὶ συγκαθήμενον· κἂν μόνον ὁρμήσῃς τοὺς ἐν φυλακῇ ἐπισκέψασθαι, εὑρήσεις με τοῖς δεσμοῖς συγκαθήμενον· κἂν δράμῃς πρὸς νοσοῦντας, τῆς κλίνης οὐκ ἀπολιμπάνομαι.

Πανταχοῦ γάρ εἰμι, καὶ τοῖς ἐν ἀνάγκῃ προΐσταμαι. Ὅπερ ἂν δώσῃς τῷ πένητι, ὄψει τοῦτο παρ' ἐμοῦ πληθυνόμενον. Ἐὰν εἰσάγῃς εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν σου τὸν ἄστεγον, καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ λάβῃς με ἐν οἴκῳ σου, τρία ταῦτα παρέξω σοι· καὶ τὸ κέρδος αὐξήσω, καὶ τὸν οἶκόν σου φυλάξω, καὶ μονὴν ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἑτοιμάσω σοι· ἐν ᾗ ἀπέδρα ὀδύνη καὶ λύπη καὶ στεναγμὸς, ἐν Θεῷ Πατρὶ, ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.