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by a good deed for his own enjoyment. 2.11.3 For each person is clothed in his own way of life as in a garment, whether it be bright and precious or base and like a beggar's cloak. But it is not possible to take it off, nor to exchange it and swap it for another, nor to be beautified and adorned by borrowing or loaning it at the time of judgment. But each one remains as he is in truth, whether poor in good things or rich. And so much for these things. 2.12.1 But what might we say about the forgiveness of debts, which the steward of unrighteousness devised, procuring for himself a consolation for his troubles from his fellow servants? For it is not easy to transform what has been written into a consistent allegory. But what occurred to me after much consideration happens to be this: 2.12.2 All of us men, as many as procure future rest for ourselves by giving or forgiving what belongs to others, gain a profit for ourselves. And by "what belongs to others," I mean the things of the Master. For nothing is our own, but all things are the possessions of his lordship. 2.12.3 Therefore, whenever anyone, perceiving his end and his departure from here, lightens the burden of his sins by good deeds, either by forgiving the debts of debtors or by supplying abundance to the needy—giving the things of the Master—he acquires many friends who will bear witness to his goodness before the judge and through their testimony prepare a lodging of refreshment for him. 2.12.4 And those who have been treated well are said to bear witness before the judge, not with voices as if teaching one who is ignorant, but as the act concerning them exempts the sinners from punishment. For in the way that the blood of Abel was said to cry out to God, so also the good work will be said to bear witness for the one who has done it rightly in Christ Jesus our Lord; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

3.t.1 By the same, against covetousness

3.1.1 Christian men and partakers of the heavenly calling, men; you, the people of the country, and all who have come out from the cities and run together in harmony to the present festival—for I embrace you all in a general proclamation—has each of you put a thought into his mind, and has he understood and considered for what reason we have been gathered? and why are martyrs honored with the constructions of conspicuous houses and with these annual assemblies, and looking to what purpose did our fathers legislate the things that are seen and leave a strong law to those who came after? 3.1.2 Or is it very clear, even to one who concentrates his mind a little, that these things were ordained for us out of a zeal for piety and that the festivals are gathered as common schools for souls, so that by honoring martyrs we might imitate the endurance of the martyrs for piety; so that by giving our ear to the teachers who are assembled we might learn something useful, which a short time ago we did not know, whether the certainty of a doctrine or the solution of a difficult Scripture or some discourse that corrects the state of our morals? 3.1.3 But you seem to me to have abandoned the care for virtue and forgotten the zeal for the soul, having transferred all your concern to the refuse of mammon and the business of the markets; some of you trading yourselves, and others gaping at the affairs of others and observing those who quarrel over their purchases, how they cheapen one another's goods. 3.1.4 But transfer for me your desire to the church; leave behind the love of money, the marketplace's, the maenad. Turn away from her as from an unseemly courtesan smiling at the crowd, beautified with foreign materials and with the flowers of

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κατορθώ ματι εἰς ἰδίαν ἀπόλαυσιν. 2.11.3 Ἕκαστος γὰρ τὴν ἰδίαν πολιτείαν ὡς ἱμάτιον περιβέβληται, εἴτε λαμπρὸν καὶ τίμιον εἴτε φαῦλον καὶ τῆς πτωχικῆς ἐφεστρίδος ὅμοιον. Ἐκδύσασθαι δὲ αὐτὸ οὐκ ἔστιν, οὔτε ὑπαλλάξαι καὶ διαμείψασθαι πρὸς ἕτερον, οὔτε ἐκ δάνους ἢ χρήσεως ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς κρίσεως καλλωπίσασθαι καὶ κοσμηθῆναι. Μένει δὲ ἕκαστος οἷος ἐπὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐστίν, εἴτε πένης ἀγαθῶν εἴτε πλούσιος. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον. 2.12.1 Τί δ' ἂν εἴποιμεν περὶ τῆς συγχωρήσεως τῶν χρεῶν, ἣν ἐπενόησεν ὁ οἰκονόμος τῆς ἀδικίας παραμυθίαν ἑαυτῷ τῶν κακῶν πρὸς τοὺς ὁμο δούλους πραγματευσάμενος; Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν εὔκολον εἰς ἀλληγορίαν ἀκόλουθον μετασκευάσαι τῷ γεγραμμένῳ. Ὃ δέ μοι πολλὰ σκοπησαμένῳ παρέστη, τοιοῦτον τυγχάνει· 2.12.2 Πάντες ἄνθρωποι ὅσοι τὴν μέλλουσαν ἑαυτοῖς ἄνεσιν πραγματευόμεθα ἀλλότρια διδόντες ἢ συγχωροῦντες, οἰκεῖον ποριζόμεθα κέρδος. Ἀλλότρια δὲ λέγω τὰ τοῦ ∆εσπότου. Οὐδὲν γάρ ἐστιν ἡμέτερον, ἀλλὰ πάντα τῆς ἐκείνου δεσποτείας κτήματα. 2.12.3 Ὅτε ἂν οὖν τις αἰσθόμενος τῆς τελευτῆς καὶ τῆς ἐνθένδε μεταστάσεως εὐποιίαις κουφίσῃ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τὸ φορτίον, ἢ χρεωσταῖς συγχωρήσας ὀφλήματα ἢ τοῖς πενομένοις χορηγήσας τὴν εὐπορίαν τὰ τοῦ ∆εσπότου διδούς, φίλους κτᾶται πολλοὺς τοὺς μέλλοντας αὐτῷ προσμαρτυρεῖν παρὰ τῷ κριτῇ τὴν ἀγαθοσύνην καὶ διὰ τῆς μαρτυρίας εὐτρεπίζειν ἀναψύξεως καταγώγιον. 2.12.4 Μαρτυρεῖν δὲ λέγονται οἱ εὖ παθόντες παρὰ τῷ κριτῇ, οὐ φωναῖς ὡς ἀγνοοῦντα διδάσκοντες, ἀλλ' ὡς τῆς περὶ αὐτοὺς πράξεως τῆς τιμωρίας τοὺς ἁμαρτήσαντας ἐξαιρουμένης. Ὃν γὰρ τρόπον τὸ αἷμα τοῦ Ἄβελ ἐλέγετο βοᾶν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, ὁμοίως καὶ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἔργον λεχθήσεται μαρτυρεῖν τῷ κατωρθωκότι ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν· ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

3.t.1 Τοῦ αὐτοῦ κατὰ πλεονεξίας

3.1.1 Ἄνδρες χριστιανοὶ καὶ κλήσεως ἐπουρανίου μέτοχοι ἄνδρες· ὑμεῖς ὁ χωρικὸς δῆμος καὶ πάντες ὅσοι τῶν πόλεων ἐκφοιτήσαντες πρὸς τὴν παροῦσαν συμφώνως ἑορτὴν συνεδράμετε γενικῷ γὰρ ὑμᾶς πάντας περιλαμβάνω κηρύγματι ἆρα ἕκαστος ὑμῶν ἐνεβάλετο τῇ διανοίᾳ φροντίδα, συνεῖδεν δὲ καὶ κατενόησεν ὑπὲρ τίνος ἠθροίσθημεν; ἀνθ' ὅτου δὲ τιμῶνται μάρτυρες οἴκων περιφανῶν κατασκευαῖς καὶ τοῖς ἐνιαυσίοις τούτοις συλλόγοις, καὶ πρὸς τίνα σκοπὸν βλέποντες οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἐνομοθέτησαν τὰ ὁρώμενα καὶ ἰσχυρὸν ἀφῆκαν τὸν νόμον τοῖς μετέπειτα; 3.1.2 Ἢ πρόδηλον τῷ καὶ μικρὸν πυκνώσαντι τὴν διάνοιαν, ὡς ζήλῳ ἡμῖν εὐσεβείας ταῦτα διετυπώθη καὶ κοινὰ παιδαγωγεῖα τῶν ψυχῶν αἱ πανηγύρεις συνάγονται, ἵνα μάρτυρας τιμῶντες τὸ τῶν μαρτύρων ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας καρτερὸν μιμησώμεθα· ἵνα τοῖς συναγομένοις παιδευταῖς ὑποθέντες τὸ οὖς μάθωμεν τι χρηστόν, ὃ πρὸ βραχέος οὐκ ἐγινώσκομεν, ἢ δόγματος ἀσφάλειαν ἢ λύσιν ἀπορουμένης Γραφῆς ἤ τινα λόγον τὴν τῶν ἠθῶν ἐπανορθοῦντα κατάστασιν; 3.1.3 Ὑμεῖς δέ μοι δοκεῖτε τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐπιμέλειαν ἀφέντες καὶ τῆς περὶ τὴν ψυχὴν σπουδῆς ἐκλαθόμενοι ὅλην ἑαυτῶν μετατεθεικέναι τὴν μέριμναν πρὸς τὸν συρφετὸν τοῦ μαμμωνᾶ καὶ τὴν ἀσχολίαν τῶν πρατηρίων· οἱ μὲν αὐτοὶ συναλλάττοντες, οἱ δὲ κεχηνότες εἰς τὰ ἀλλότρια καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖς ὠνίοις φιλονεικοῦντας ἱστοροῦντες, ὅπως τὰ ἀλλήλων ἐπευωνίζουσιν. 3.1.4 Ἀλλὰ μετάθετέ μοι τὸν πόθον ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν· καταλείψατε τὴν φιλαργυρίαν, τὴν ἀγόραιον, τὴν μαινάδα. Ἀποστράφητε αὐτὴν ὡς ἄκοσμον ἑταιρίδα προσγελῶσαν τῷ πλήθει, ταῖς ἀλλοτρίαις ὕλαις καλλωπιζομένην καὶ τοῖς ἄνθεσι τοῦ