John Chrysostom, On the Beheading of Saint John

sufficed. And what did he say to her? Get me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going, he cried out after her: You will also get me a morsel of bread in your hand. But she, what she did not have, she said; and what she had, she confessed. For what? As the Lord lives, I have no cake, but only a handful of meal, and a little oil in the jar. It is marvelous that in such a scarcity of food she did not deny the remnant of her poverty that was at hand. How many now who have gold and silver as if it were mud, when asked to bestow favors on friends, refuse, and when flattered, deny that they possess anything? and if by entreaty they are bent towards giving, they draw up documents stronger than iron, and first bind the receiving hand with written bonds, taking sureties and mediators for the gold. But she, at one word, did not deny the handful of meal. And what did the prophet say to her? Make haste, and make me a cake, first for me, and last for yourself and your children. The word of the prophet was a trial, a test of the heart, a proving of her choice; and the heart of that blessed woman was as if laid in a balance, and was being tested. To which side, then, does it incline? Towards goodwill for her own children, 59.490 or towards hospitality for the prophet? But she chose rather to put herself and her children in distress, and to receive the prophet.

For she knew that, He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and whoever gives a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple shall by no means lose his reward. But what is it that the prophet said, "Make haste?" Was he indeed so hungry as to require haste? Not at all, but that the good deed be eager and cheerful and fervent, not with sorrow, or out of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. Make haste and make it first for me, and last for yourself and your children. Make haste, as Abraham in the visit of the angels hastened to the oxen, to the calf, that he might receive the lamb; and as Sarah hastened to the cakes, that she might receive the bread hidden in the heavens. Make haste, and make the sacrifices to God as Abraham did; not first for yourself, and then for me, like Cain, and Hophni, and Phinehas, the sons of Eli the priest, who insulted God, taking first the first-fruits of the gifts offered to God. But she did what was commanded eagerly. And he, seeing the rich cake, received it, spoke, and filled her house with good things. For, he says, the handful of meal from the water-jar shall not fail, and the oil from the cruse, until the Lord gives rain upon the earth. Why until then? And necessarily. For it was necessary that when the new grace came like rain, the old law should receive an end. And the deed followed the word. Do you see how the good women reaped the fruits of hospitality? For the fruits of good labors are glorious, and the root of wisdom is unfailing.

You have heard, O women, the deeds of the wicked women, and the virtues of the good. Love the one, then, and do not long for the other; and imitate the one, and hate the other, that having traced their course, I mean that of the good, you may be numbered in the same chorus of the saints in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

ἐπήρκει. Καὶ τί πρὸς αὐτήν; Λάβε μοι ὀλίγον ὕδωρ εἰς ἄγγος, καὶ πίομαι. Αὐτῆς δὲ πορευομένης, ἐβόησεν ὀπίσω αὐτῆς· Λήψῃ δέ μοι καὶ ψωμὸν ἄρτου ἐν τῇ χειρί σου. Ἡ δὲ, ὃ μὲν οὐκ εἶχεν, εἶπεν· ὃ δὲ εἶχεν, ὡμολόγησε. Τί γάρ; Ζῇ Κύριος, εἰ ἔσται μοι ἐγκρυφίας, ἀλλ' ἢ ὅσον δρὰξ ἀλεύρου, καὶ ὀλίγον ἔλαιον ἐν τῷ καμψάκῃ. Θαυμαστὸν, ὅτι ἐν τοιαύτῃ σπάνει τροφῶν τὸ παρὸν αὐτῇ τῆς πενίας λείψανον οὐκ ἠρνήσατο. Πόσοι νῦν χρυσὸν καὶ ἄργυρον ὡς πηλὸν ἔχοντες, παρακαλούμενοι τὰς εὐεργεσίας τῶν φίλων ἀνανεύουσι, καὶ κολακευόμενοι ἀρνοῦνται τὸ ἔχειν; κἂν παρακλήσει καμφθῶσι πρὸς τὴν ἐπίδοσιν, γράμματα συντάττουσι σιδήρου ἰσχυρότερα, καὶ τὴν δεχομένην χεῖρα πρῶτον τοῖς γραμματείοις δεσμεύουσιν, ἱκανοδότας καὶ μεσίτας τοῦ χρυσίου λαμβάνοντες. Ἐκείνη δὲ ἀπὸ μιᾶς φωνῆς οὐκ ἠρνήσατο τὴν δράκα τοῦ ἀλεύρου. Καὶ τί πρὸς αὐτὴν ὁ προφήτης; Σπεῦσον, καὶ ποίησόν μοι ἐγκρυφίας, ἐν πρώτοις ἐμοὶ, ἐπ' ἐσχάτῳ δὲ σεαυτῇ καὶ τοῖς τέκνοις σου. Πειρασμὸς ἦν τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦ προφήτου, δοκιμὴ καρδίας, προαιρέσεως βάσανος· καὶ ἦν ὥσπερ ὑπὸ ζυγοῦ κειμένη ἡ καρδία τῆς μακαρίας ἐκείνης, καὶ δοκιμαζομένη. Ποῦ ἆρα ῥέπει; Πρὸς τὴν τῶν τέκνων ἑαυτῆς εὔ 59.490 νοιαν, ἢ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ προφήτου φιλοξενίαν; Ἡ δὲ εἵλετο μᾶλλον αὐτὴν καὶ τὰ τέκνα αὐτῆς στενοχωρῆσαι, καὶ τὸν προφήτην ὑποδέξασθαι.

Ἤδει γὰρ, ὅτι Ὁ δεχόμενος προφήτην εἰς ὄνομα προφήτου, μισθὸν προφήτου λήψεται· καὶ ὁ ποτίζων ποτήριον ψυχροῦ εἰς ὄνομα μαθητοῦ, οὐ μὴ ἀπολέσῃ τὸν μισθὸν αὐτοῦ. Τί δέ ἐστιν ὃ εἶπεν ὁ προφήτης, Σπεῦσον; ἆρά γε τοσοῦτον ἐπείνα, ὡς δεῖσθαι σπουδῆς; Οὐ πάντως, ἀλλὰ τὸ τῆς εὐποιίας σπουδαῖον καὶ ἱλαρὸν καὶ θερμὸν, μὴ μετὰ λύπης, ἢ μετὰ ἀνάγκης· Ἱλαρὸν γὰρ δότην ἀγαπᾷ ὁ Θεός. Σπεῦσον καὶ ποίησον ἐν πρώτοις ἐμοὶ, ἐπ' ἐσχάτῳ δὲ σεαυτῇ καὶ τοῖς τέκνοις σου. Σπεῦσον, ὡς Ἀβραὰμ ἐν τῇ τῶν ἀγγέλων ἐπιδημίᾳ ἔσπευσεν ἐπὶ τοὺς βόας, ἐπὶ τὸν μόσχον, ἵνα λάβῃ τὸν ἀμνόν· καὶ ὡς Σάῤῥα ἔσπευσεν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐγκρυφίας, ἵνα λάβῃ τὸν ἐν οὐρανοῖς κρυπτόμενον ἄρτον. Σπεῦσον, καὶ ποίησον ὡς Ἀβραὰμ τὰς θυσίας τῷ Θεῷ· μὴ πρότερον σαυτῇ, καὶ τότε ἐμοὶ, ὡς Κάϊν, καὶ Ὀφνὶ, καὶ Φινεὲς, υἱοὶ Ἠλὶ τοῦ ἱερέως, οἵτινες τὸν Θεὸν παρύβριζον, πρῶτοι τὰς ἀπαρχὰς λαμβάνοντες τῶν τῷ Θεῷ προσφερομένων δώρων. Ἡ δὲ τὸ προστεταγμένον σπουδαίως ἐποίει. Ὁ δὲ τὸν ἄρτον ἐγκρυφίαν πλούσιον θεασάμενος ἐδέξατο, ἐφθέγξατο, καὶ τὸν οἶκον αὐτῆς ἐνέπλησεν ἀγαθῶν. Οὐκ ἐκλείψει γὰρ, φησὶν, ἡ δρὰξ τοῦ ἀλεύρου ἐκ τῆς ὑδρίας, καὶ τὸ ἔλαιον ἐκ τοῦ καμψάκου, ἕως τοῦ δοῦναι τὸν Κύριον ὑετὸν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. ∆ιὰ τί ἕως τότε; Καὶ ἀναγκαίως. Ἔδει γὰρ τῆς καινῆς χάριτος ὡς ὑετοῦ ἐλθόντος, τὸν παλαιὸν νόμον λαβεῖν τέλος. Καὶ ἠκολούθει τὸ ἔργον τῷ λόγῳ. Ὁρᾷς πῶς τῆς φιλοξενίας τοὺς καρποὺς ἐτρύγησαν αἱ ἀγαθαί; Ἀγαθῶν γὰρ πόνων καρποὶ εὐκλεεῖς, καὶ ἀδιάπτωτος ἡ ῥίζα τῆς φρονήσεως.

Ἠκούσατε, γυναῖκες, τὰς τῶν πονηρῶν γυναικῶν πράξεις, καὶ τὰς τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀρετάς. Τὰς μὲν οὖν ἀγαπήσατε, τὰς δὲ μὴ ποθήσατε· καὶ τὰς μὲν μιμήσασθε, τὰς δὲ μισήσατε, ἵνα τὸν αὐτῶν δρόμον, τῶν καλῶν λέγω, ἰχνηλατήσαντες, εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν τῶν ἁγίων χορὸν ἀριθμηθῆτε ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.