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and protectors; for you do not give as much as you receive. You give money, and you receive the kingdom of heaven; you relieve poverty, and you reconcile yourself to the Master. Do you see that the exchange is not equal? These things are on earth, those in heaven; these things perish, those remain; these things are corruptible, those are superior to all destruction. For this reason our fathers placed the poor before the doors of the houses of prayer, so that the very sight of the poor might stir up even the most sluggish and inhuman person to the remembrance of almsgiving. For when a company of old men stands there, bent over, clothed in rags, squalid, filthy, holding staves, barely able to support themselves, and often with their eyes gouged out, and crippled in body, who is so hard-hearted as to resist and remain unyielding to all these things—their age, their weakness, their mutilation, their poverty, their abjectness, and simply everything bending him toward compassion? For these reasons they stand before our doors, by their appearance drawing those who enter to charity more powerfully than any speech. For just as it is customary for fountains to be in the courts of the houses of prayer, so that those who are about to pray to God might first wash their hands and thus raise them in prayer; so also the fathers placed the poor before the doors in place of springs and fountains, so that, just as we wash our hands with water, we might first wipe clean our soul with charity, and thus pray. For the nature of water does not so wash away the stains of the body, as the power of almsgiving wipes away the filth of the soul. Therefore, just as you do not dare to enter and pray with unwashed hands, although that offense is lesser, so never come to prayer without almsgiving. And yet, often having clean hands, if we do not first wash them with water, we do not raise them in prayer; 59.619 so strong is habit. Let us then do this also in the case of almsgiving; even if we are conscious of no great sin in ourselves, let us nevertheless wipe the conscience clean through almsgiving. You have drawn many terrible things from the marketplace: an enemy provoked you; a judge forced you to do something improper; you often uttered unsuitable words; a friend importuned you to do something sinful; you have contracted many other things, as a man is likely to contract who moves about in the marketplace, attends the law courts, and conducts the city's business; for all these things you enter to ask God for forgiveness, and to make your defense. Deposit money, then, into the hands of the poor, and wipe away those stains, so that you may thus with boldness call upon the one who is able to forgive you these sins. If you establish for yourself the habit of never setting foot in these sacred precincts without almsgiving, you will never, either willingly or unwillingly, fall short of this good work; for such is habit. And just as, no matter what, you would not endure praying with unwashed hands, since you have once established the habit; so also in the case of almsgiving, if you lay down such a law for yourself, both willingly and unwillingly you will fulfill it each day, being drawn by habit. Prayer is a fire, especially when it is sent up from a sober and watchful soul; but this fire also needs oil 59.620, so that it may touch the very vaults of heaven; and the oil for this fire is nothing other than almsgiving. Pour out the oil lavishly, then, so that rejoicing in your good deed, you may perform your prayers with greater boldness and more zeal. For just as those who are conscious of no good in themselves would not be able to pray with boldness; so those who have done something right, and after that act of righteousness come to prayer, by the

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καὶ προστάται· οὐ γὰρ τοσοῦτον δίδως, ὅσον λαμβάνεις. ∆ίδως ἀργύριον, καὶ λαμβάνεις βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν· λύεις πενίαν, καὶ καταλλάττεις σεαυτῷ τὸν ∆εσπότην. Ὁρᾷς, ὅτι οὐκ ἴση ἡ ἀντίδοσις; Ταῦτα ἐπὶ γῆς, ἐκεῖνα ἐν οὐρανῷ· ταῦτα ἀπόλλυται, ἐκεῖνα μένει· ταῦτα φθείρεται, ἐκεῖνα πάσης ἐστὶν ἀνώτερα ἀπωλείας. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν τῶν οἴκων τῶν εὐκτηρίων ἔστησαν τοὺς πένητας οἱ ἡμέτεροι πατέρες, ἵνα καὶ τὸν νωθρότατον καὶ ἀπανθρωπότατον αὕτη τῶν πενήτων ἡ ὄψις πρὸς ὑπόμνησιν ἐγείρῃ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης. Ὅταν γὰρ εἰστήκῃ χορὸς γερόντων συγκεκυφότων, ῥάκια περιβεβλημένων, αὐχμώντων, ῥυπώντων, βακτηρίας ἐχόντων, μόλις στηρίζεσθαι δυναμένων, πολλάκις δὲ καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐκκεκομμένων, καὶ τῷ σώματι ἀναπήρων, τίς οὕτως ἀδάμας, ὡς καὶ τῆς ἡλικίας, καὶ τῆς ἀσθενείας, καὶ τῆς πηρώσεως, καὶ τῆς πενίας, καὶ τῆς εὐτελείας, καὶ πάντων ἁπλῶς πρὸς συμπάθειαν ἐπικλώντων αὐτὸν, ἀντιστῆναι, καὶ μεῖναι πρὸς ἅπαντα ταῦτα ἀνενδότως; ∆ιὰ ταῦτα πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν ἡμῶν εἱστήκασι, παντὸς τοῦ λόγου δυνατώτερον διὰ τῆς ὄψεως ἐπισπώμενοι πρὸς φιλανθρωπίαν τοὺς εἰσιόντας. Καθάπερ γὰρ κρήνας εἶναι ἐν ταῖς αὐλαῖς τῶν εὐκτηρίων οἴκων νενόμισται, ἵνα οἱ μέλλοντες εὔχεσθαι τῷ Θεῷ, πρότερον ἀπονιψάμενοι τὰς χεῖρας, οὕτως αὐτὰς εἰς εὐχὴν ἀνατείνωσιν· οὕτω καὶ τοὺς πένητας ἀντὶ πηγῶν καὶ κρηνῶν ἔστησαν οἱ πατέρες πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν, ἵνα, ὥσπερ ὕδατι τὰς χεῖρας ἀπονίπτομεν, οὕτω φιλανθρωπίᾳ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀποσμήχοντες πρότερον, οὕτως εὐχώμεθα. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὕδατος φύσις, οὕτως ἀπονίπτει κηλῖδας σώματος, ὡς ἐλεημοσύνης δύναμις ἀποσμήχει ῥύπον ψυχῆς. Ὥσπερ οὖν οὐ τολμᾷς ἀνίπτοις χερσὶν εἰσελθὼν εὔξασθαι, καίτοι ἔλαττον τὸ ἔγκλημα ἐκεῖνο· οὕτω μηδὲ χωρὶς ἐλεημοσύνης ἐπ' εὐχὴν ἔλθῃς ποτέ. Καίτοι καὶ καθαρὰς πολλάκις ἔχοντες τὰς χεῖρας, ἂν μὴ πρότερον αὐτὰς ἀποπλύνωμεν ὕδατι, οὐκ ἀνατείνομεν εἰς εὐχήν· 59.619 τοσοῦτόν ἐστιν ἡ συνήθεια. Τοῦτο τοίνυν καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης ποιῶμεν· κἂν μηδὲν ἑαυτοῖς ὦμεν συνειδότες μέγα ἁμάρτημα, ὅμως ἀποσμήχωμεν τὸ συνειδὸς διὰ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης. Πολλὰ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἐπεσπάσω δεινά· ἐχθρὸς παρώξυνε· δικαστὴς ἠνάγκασέ τι ποιῆσαι τῶν οὐ προσηκόντων πραγμάτων, ῥήματα πολλάκις ἐξέβαλες ἄτοπα, φίλος ἐδυσώπησεν ἐργάσασθαί τι τῶν ἁμαρτίαν ἐχόντων, ἕτερα προσετρίψω πολλὰ, οἷα εἰκὸς ἄνθρωπον ὄντα προστρίβεσθαι ἐν ἀγορᾷ στρεφόμενον, δικαστηρίοις προσεδρεύοντα, τὰ τῆς πόλεως πράττοντα πράγματα· ὑπὲρ τούτων ἁπάντων εἰσέρχῃ τὸν Θεὸν αἰτήσων συγγνώμην, καὶ ἀπολογησόμενος. Κατάβαλε τοίνυν ἀργύριον εἰς τὰς τῶν πενήτων χεῖρας, καὶ ἀπόσμηξον τὰς κηλῖδας ἐκείνας, ἵν' οὕτω μετὰ παῤῥησίας καλέσῃς τὸν δυνάμενόν σοι ἀφεῖναι ταῦτα τὰ ἁμαρτήματα. Ἂν ἐν συνηθείᾳ καταστήσῃς αὑτὸν, μηδέποτε χωρὶς ἐλεημοσύνης τῶν ἱερῶν τούτων προθύρων ἐπιβαίνειν, οὐδέποτε οὔτε ἑκὼν οὔτε ἄκων ὑστερήσεις τῆς καλῆς ταύτης ἐργασίας· τοιοῦτον γὰρ ἡ συνήθεια. Καὶ ὥσπερ οὐδ' ἂν ὁτιοῦν γένοιτο, χερσὶν ἀνίπτοις ὑπομένεις εὔξασθαι, ἐπειδὴ κατέστης εἰς συνήθειαν ἅπαξ· οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης ἂν τοιοῦτον σαυτῷ θήσῃς τὸν νόμον, καὶ ἑκὼν καὶ ἄκων καθ' ἑκάστην αὐτὸν ἐκπληρώσεις ἡμέραν, ὑπὸ τῆς συνηθείας ἑλκόμενος. Πῦρ ἐστιν ἡ εὐχὴ, μάλιστα ὅταν ἀπὸ νηφούσης καὶ διεγηγερμένης ἀναπέμπηται ψυχῆς· ἀλλὰ τὸ πῦρ τοῦτο καὶ ἐλαίου 59.620 δεῖται, ἵνα αὐτῶν ἅψηται τῶν οὐρανίων ἁψίδων· ἔλαιον δὲ τοῦ πυρὸς τούτου οὐδὲν ἕτερόν ἐστιν, ἀλλ' ἢ ἐλεημοσύνη. Ἐπίχεε τοίνυν τὸ ἔλαιον δαψιλῶς, ἵνα εὐφραινόμενος ἐπὶ τῷ κατορθώματι, μετὰ παῤῥησίας πλείονος καὶ προθυμίας μείζονος τὰς εὐχὰς ἐπιτελῇς. Ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ μηδὲν ἑαυτοῖς συνειδότες ἀγαθὸν, οὐδὲ εὔξασθαι μετὰ παῤῥησίας δύναιντ' ἄν· οὕτως οἱ κατορθώσαντές τι, καὶ μετὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἐκείνην ἐπὶ τὴν εὐχὴν ἐρχόμενοι, τῇ