John Chrysostom, On Lazarus

spiritual; but such a soldier does not sleep on a couch of ivory, but on the ground; he is not anointed with perfumes; for such is the eagerness of courtesans and the corrupt, of those on the stage, of those living in carelessness; but you ought to breathe out not perfumes, but virtue. Nothing is more unclean than a soul, when the body has such a fragrance. For the fragrance of the body and of the garments would be a sign of the stench and uncleanness within. For when the devil has come and shattered the soul, and filled it with much effeminacy, then he also wipes off onto the body the stain of his own corruption through perfumes. And just as those who are continually afflicted with a cold and a rheum, and stain their garments and their hands and their face, constantly wiping away what flows from their nostrils; so indeed the soul also wipes off the wickedness of this evil rheum onto the body. For who will think anything noble and good about one who smells of perfumes and is effeminate, or rather acts like a harlot, and takes up a dancer's life? Let your soul breathe a spiritual fragrance, so that you may benefit yourself and those who associate with you most greatly. For nothing, nothing is more dangerous than luxury. Listen to what Moses says again about it: The beloved grew fat, grew thick, grew broad, and kicked. And he did not say that he departed, but, The beloved kicked, showing us his insolence and stubbornness. And again elsewhere: Having eaten and drunk, take heed to yourself, lest you forget the Lord your God. Thus luxury is accustomed to lead to forgetfulness. And you therefore, beloved, if you sit down at the table, remember that after the table you must pray; and so fill your stomach moderately, so that being weighed down you may not be unable to bend the knee, and to call upon God. Do you not see the beasts of burden, that after the manger they undertake a journey, and carry burdens, and fulfill their own service? But you after the table become useless and unfit for every work. And how will you not be more dishonored than the very donkeys? For what reason? Because then especially one must be sober and watchful. For the time after the table is a time of thanksgiving; but one who gives thanks must not be drunk, but be sober and watchful. From the table let us turn not to bed, but to prayer, so that we may not become more irrational than the irrational beasts. 9. I know that many will condemn what is being said, as introducing some new and strange custom to life; but I will condemn more greatly the evil custom which now possesses us. For that after food and the table one must not take up sleep nor bed, but prayers and the reading of the divine Scriptures, Christ showed this most clearly. At any rate, when he had then feasted the countless multitudes in the desert, he did not send them to bed and sleep, but called them to the hearing of the divine oracles. For he did not burst their stomachs, nor cast them into drunkenness, but having filled their need, he led them to spiritual food. Thus let us also do, and let us accustom ourselves to eat so much as is only for living, not so much as to be torn apart and weighed down. For we were not born and do not live for this, that we might eat and drink; but we eat for this, that we might live. Living is not for the sake of eating, but eating was made from the beginning for the sake of living. But we, as if we had come into the world for this reason, thus consume all things for this. But so that the accusation of luxury may become more vehement, and may strongly touch those who live in it, come, let us again bring the discourse to Lazarus. For thus our exhortation and counsel will be truer and clearer, when you see not through words, but through deeds, those who give themselves to gluttony being instructed and punished. The rich man, therefore, lived with so much wickedness, and feasted sumptuously every day, and was clothed splendidly, kindling for himself a more grievous punishment, and working a greater fire and making his penalty for himself inconsolable, and the retribution unpardonable. But the poor man was cast down beside the

πνευματικός· στρατιώτης δὲ τοιοῦτος οὐ καθεύδει ἐπὶ κλίνης ἐλεφαντίνης, ἀλλὰ ἐπὶ ἐδάφους· οὐ χρίεται μύροις· τῶν γὰρ ἡταιρηκότων καὶ διεφθαρμένων ἡ τοιαύτη σπουδὴ, τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς, τῶν ἐν ἀμελείᾳ ζώντων· σὲ δὲ οὐχὶ μύρων, ἀλλ' ἀρετῆς ἀποπνεῖν δεῖ. Οὐδὲν ψυχῆς ἀκαθαρτότερον, ὅταν τὸ σῶμα τοιαύτην ἔχῃ τὴν εὐωδίαν. Τῆς γὰρ δυσωδίας τῆς ἔνδον καὶ τῆς ἀκαθαρσίας δεῖγμα ἡ τοῦ σώματος καὶ τῶν ἱματίων εὐωδία γένοιτ' ἄν. Ὅταν γὰρ ἐπελθὼν ὁ διάβολος διαθρύψῃ τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ βλακείας ἐμπλήσῃ πολλῆς, τότε καὶ εἰς τὸ σῶμα τῆς οἰκείας διαφθορᾶς τὴν κηλῖδα ἐναπομάσσεται διὰ τῶν μύρων. Καὶ καθάπερ οἱ κορύζῃ τινὶ καὶ κατάῤῥῳ διηνεκῶς ἁλισκόμενοι, καὶ τὰ ἱμάτια καὶ τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τὴν ὄψιν μολύνουσι, τὸ διὰ τῶν ῥινῶν ῥέον συνεχῶς ἐναπομασσόμενοι· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦ πονηροῦ τούτου ῥεύματος τὴν κακίαν εἰς τὸ σῶμα ἐναπομάσσεται. Τίς γὰρ γενναῖόν τι καὶ χρηστὸν ὑπολήψεται περὶ τοῦ μύρων ὄζοντος καὶ γυναικιζομένου, μᾶλλον δὲ ἑταιριζομένου, καὶ ὀρχηστικὸν ἀναιρουμένου βίον; Πνείτω σου πνευματικῆς εὐωδίας ἡ ψυχὴ, ἵνα καὶ σαυτὸν καὶ τοὺς συγγινομένους σοι ὠφελῇς τὰ μέγιστα. Οὐδὲν γὰρ, οὐδὲν τρυφῆς χαλεπώτερον. Ἄκουσον τί περὶ αὐτῆς φησι πάλιν ὁ Μωϋσῆς· Ἐλιπάνθη, ἐπαχύνθη, ἐπλατύνθη, καὶ ἀπελάκτισεν ὁ ἠγαπημένος. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν, ὅτι ἀπέστη, ἀλλ', Ἀπελάκτισεν ὁ ἠγαπημένος, τὸ γαῦρον καὶ δυσήνιον αὐτοῦ παρεμφαίνων ἡμῖν. Καὶ πάλιν ἀλλαχοῦ· Φαγὼν καὶ πιὼν πρόσεχε σεαυτῷ, μήποτε ἐπιλάθῃ Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ σου. Οὕτως ἡ τρυφὴ πρὸς λήθην ἐξάγειν εἴωθε. Καὶ σὺ τοίνυν, ἀγαπητὲ, ἐὰν καθίσῃς ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης, ἀναμνήσθητι ὅτι μετὰ τὴν τράπεζαν εὔχεσθαί σε δεῖ· καὶ οὕτω συμμέτρως ἔμπλησον τὴν γαστέρα, ἵνα μὴ βαρυνόμενος ἀδυνατήσῃς γόνυ κλῖναι, καὶ τὸν Θεὸν παρακαλέσαι. Οὐχ ὁρᾶτε τὰ ὑποζύγια, ὅτι μετὰ τὴν φάτνην ὁδοιπορίας ἅπτεται, καὶ ἀχθοφορεῖ, καὶ τὴν οἰκείαν διακονίαν ἀποπληροῖ; Σὺ δὲ μετὰ τὴν τράπεζαν ἄχρηστος πρὸς πᾶν ἔργον καὶ ἀνεπιτήδειος γίνῃ. Καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἔσῃ καὶ τῶν ὄνων αὐτῶν ἀτιμότερος; Τίνος ἕνεκεν; Ὅτι τότε μάλιστα νήφειν χρὴ καὶ ἐγρηγορέναι. Ὁ γὰρ μετὰ τὴν τράπεζαν καιρὸς εὐχαριστίας ἐστὶ καιρός· τὸν δὲ εὐχαριστοῦντα οὐχὶ μεθύειν, ἀλλὰ νήφειν δεῖ καὶ ἐγρηγορέναι. Ἀπὸ τραπέζης μὴ ἐπὶ κλίνην, ἀλλ' ἐπ' εὐχὴν τρεπώμεθα, ἵνα μὴ τῶν ἀλόγων ἀλογώτεροι γινώμεθα. θʹ. Οἶδα ὅτι πολλοὶ καταγνώσονται τῶν λεγομένων, ὡς καινήν τινα καὶ παράδοξον συνήθειαν εἰσαγόντων τῷ βίῳ· ἀλλ' ἐγὼ μειζόνως τῆς πονηρᾶς καταγνώσομαι συνηθείας τῆς νῦν κατεχούσης ἡμᾶς. Ὅτι γὰρ μετὰ τροφὴν καὶ τράπεζαν οὐχ ὕπνον οὐδὲ εὐνὴν, ἀλλ' εὐχὰς καὶ θείων Γραφῶν ἀνάγνωσιν διαδέχεσθαι χρὴ, τοῦτο σαφέστερον ἐδήλωσεν ὁ Χριστός. Τὰ γοῦν ἄπειρα πλήθη τότε ἑστιάσας ἐπὶ τῆς ἐρήμου, οὐκ ἐπὶ κλίνην καὶ ὕπνον αὐτοὺς ἔπεμψεν, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ θείων ἀκρόασιν ἐκάλεσε λογίων. Οὐ γὰρ διέῤῥηξεν αὐτῶν τὰς γαστέρας, οὐδὲ εἰς μέθην ἐξέβαλεν, ἀλλὰ πληρώσας αὐτῶν τὴν χρείαν, πρὸς τὴν πνευματικὴν ἦγε τρο48.975 φήν. Οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς ποιῶμεν, καὶ τοσοῦτον ἐθίσωμεν ἑαυτοὺς ἐσθίειν, ὅσον πρὸς τὸ ζῇν μόνον, οὐχ ὅσον διασπᾶσθαι καὶ βαρύνεσθαι. Οὐ γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο ἐγενόμεθα καὶ ζῶμεν, ἵνα φάγωμεν καὶ πίωμεν· ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο ἐσθίωμεν, ἵνα ζῶμεν. Οὐ τὸ ζῇν διὰ τὸ φαγεῖν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ ζῇν τὸ φαγεῖν γέγονεν ἐξ ἀρχῆς. Ἡμεῖς δὲ ὡς διὰ τοῦτο ἐλθόντες εἰς τὸν κόσμον, οὕτως ἅπαντα εἰς τοῦτο καταναλίσκομεν. Ἀλλ' ἵνα σφοδροτέρα γένηται τῆς τρυφῆς ἡ κατηγορία, καὶ μάλα καθίκηται τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ ζώντων, φέρε, πάλιν ἐπὶ τὸν Λάζαρον τὸν λόγον ἀγάγωμεν. Οὕτω γὰρ ἡμῖν ἀληθεστέρα τε καὶ ἐναργεστέρα ἡ παραίνεσις ἔσται καὶ ἡ συμβουλὴ, ὅταν μὴ διὰ ῥημάτων, ἀλλὰ διὰ πραγμάτων ἴδητε παιδευομένους καὶ κολαζομένους τοὺς ἀδηφαγίᾳ προσέχοντας. Ὁ μὲν οὖν πλούσιος τοσαύτῃ πονηρίᾳ συνέζη, καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην ἐνετρύφα τὴν ἡμέραν, καὶ ἐνεδιδύσκετο λαμπρῶς, χαλεπωτέραν ἑαυτῷ ἀνάπτων τὴν κόλασιν, καὶ μεῖζον τὸ πῦρ ἐργαζόμενος καὶ ἀπαραμύθητον ἑαυτῷ ποιῶν τὴν δίκην, καὶ ἀσύγγνωστον τὴν τιμωρίαν. Ὁ δὲ πένης ἔῤῥιπτο παρὰ τὸν