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The shameless mouth was stopped, and it had nothing more to say; for the just man was more illustrious than before. For to bear nobly and with thanksgiving having had everything snatched away is much greater than to give alms while living in wealth, as indeed has been shown in the case of this just man; then his kindness toward his fellow servants was great, now his great love for the Master was shown. I do not extend this discourse simply, but because many who often gave alms, supporting widows, had all their substance plundered, others lost everything when a fire occurred, others fell into shipwrecks, others through slanders and certain such abuses after many alms were brought down to extreme poverty, and sickness and disease, and from no one did they enjoy any help. Therefore, lest we say what many often say, "No one knows anything," all that has been said is sufficient to cast out such a disturbance. "So-and-so," he says, "giving so many alms, lost everything." And what of it that he lost everything? For if he gives thanks for this loss, he will draw to himself much greater favor from God, and not double, like Job, but he will receive a hundredfold in the life to come. But if he suffers evil here, this very thing, to bear all things nobly, procures for him a greater treasure there; for calling him to more contests and greater struggles, God allowed him to fall from prosperity into poverty. Has fire often come and consumed your house, and spent all your substance? Remember the things that happened to Job, give thanks to the Master who was able to prevent it, and did not prevent it, and you will receive as great a reward as if you had placed all those things into the hands of the poor. But you live in poverty and hunger, and in countless dangers. Remember Lazarus who contended with disease and poverty and desolation and countless other such things, and this after so much virtue; remember the apostles, who lived in hunger and thirst and nakedness, the prophets, the patriarchs, the just, and you will find all of them to be not of the rich, nor of the luxurious, but of the poor, 49.31 the afflicted and the distressed. 11. Saying these things to yourself, give thanks to the Master, because he has made you of this lot, not hating you, but loving you exceedingly, since he would not have let them suffer so many terrible things, unless he loved them exceedingly, because through these evils he made them more illustrious. Nothing is as good as thanksgiving, just as nothing is worse than blasphemy; let us not wonder that when we apply ourselves to spiritual matters we suffer many terrible things. For just as robbers do not dig where there is grass and chaff and stubble, but where there is gold and silver, and they are constantly vigilant; so also the devil especially attacks those who engage in spiritual matters. There are many plots where there is virtue; there is envy where there is almsgiving. But we have one very great weapon that is able to repel all such devices, to give thanks to God through all these things. Abel, tell me, having offered the first-fruits to God, did he not fall by a brother's hand? But nevertheless God allowed it, not hating the one who honored him, but loving him exceedingly, and in addition to the crown of that most beautiful sacrifice, providing him another crown from martyrdom. Moses wished to help someone who was being wronged and he was in mortal danger and was exiled from his homeland; and God allowed it, that you might learn the patience of the saints. For if, foreseeing that we would suffer nothing terrible, we thus engaged in spiritual matters, we would seem to be doing nothing great, having such a pledge of safety; but now, for this reason especially would those who do such things be admirable, because even foreseeing dangers and losses and deaths and countless evils, they nevertheless did not desist from such right actions, nor did they become more sluggish in the

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ἐνεφράγη τὸ ἀναίσχυντον στόμα, καὶ οὐδὲν οὐκέτι ἔσχεν εἰπεῖν· λαμπρότερος γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν προτέρων ὁ δίκαιος ἦν. Τοῦ γὰρ ἐν πλούτῳ ζῶντα ποιεῖν ἐλεημοσύνην, τὸ πάντα ἀφαρπαγέντα γενναίως ἐνεγκεῖν καὶ μετ' εὐχαριστίας πολλῷ μεῖζόν ἐστιν, καθάπερ οὖν ἐπὶ τούτου δέδεικται τοῦ δικαίου· τότε πολλὴ ἡ φιλοφροσύνη πρὸς τοὺς συνδούλους ἦν, νῦν μέγα τὸ φίλτρον πρὸς τὸν ∆εσπότην ἐδείκνυτο. Τοῦτον δὲ οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἐκτείνω τὸν λόγον, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ πολλοὶ πολλάκις ἐλεημοσύνας ποιοῦντες, χήρας διατρέφοντες, τὴν οὐσίαν διηρπάσθησαν ἅπασαν, ἕτεροι γινομένου τινὸς ἐμπρησμοῦ πάντα ἀπώλεσαν, ἄλλοι ναυαγίοις περιέπεσον, ἄλλοι συκοφαντίαις καὶ τοιαύταις τισὶν ἐπηρείαις μετὰ πολλὰς ἐλεημοσύνας εἰς πενίαν κατηνέχθησαν ἐσχάτην, καὶ ἀῤῥωστίαν καὶ νόσον, καὶ παρ' οὐδενὸς οὐδεμιᾶς ἀπήλαυσαν βοηθείας. Ἵνα οὖν μὴ λέγωμεν, ὃ πολλοὶ πολλάκις λέγουσιν, Οὐδεὶς οὐδὲν οἶδεν, ἱκανὰ τὰ εἰρημένα ἅπαντα τὸν τοιοῦτον θόρυβον ἐκβαλεῖν. Ὁ δεῖνα τοσαύτας ποιῶν ἐλεημοσύνας, φησὶ, πάντα ἀπώλεσε. Καὶ τί τοῦτο ὅτι πάντα ἀπώλεσεν; Ἂν γὰρ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀπωλείας εὐχαριστήσῃ ταύτης, πολλῷ μείζονα παρὰ Θεοῦ ἐπισπάσεται τὴν εὔνοιαν, καὶ οὐ διπλασίονα, καθάπερ ὁ Ἰὼβ, ἀλλ' ἑκατονταπλασίονα ἀπολήψεται κατὰ τὴν μέλλουσαν ζωήν. Εἰ δὲ ἐνταῦθα πάσχει κακῶς, αὐτὸ δὴ τοῦτο μείζονα αὐτῷ προξενεῖ τὸν ἐκεῖ θησαυρὸν τὸ φέρειν γενναίως ἅπαντα· ἐπὶ γὰρ πλείονα αὐτὸν καλῶν σκάμματα καὶ παλαίσματα μείζονα, ἀπὸ τῆς εὐπορίας εἰς πενίαν ἀφῆκεν ἐμπεσεῖν ὁ Θεός. Πῦρ ἐπελθὸν πολλάκις κατηνάλωσέ σου τὴν οἰκίαν, καὶ τὴν οὐσίαν ἐδαπάνησεν ἅπασαν; Ἀναμνήσθητι τῶν τῷ Ἰὼβ συμβεβηκότων, εὐχαρίστησον τῷ ∆εσπότῃ τῷ δυναμένῳ κωλῦσαι, καὶ μὴ κωλύσαντι, καὶ τοσοῦτον λήψῃ μισθὸν, ὅσον εἰ πάντα ἐκεῖνα εἰς τὰς τῶν πενήτων ἀπέθου χεῖρας. Ἀλλ' ἐν πενίᾳ διάγεις καὶ λιμῷ, καὶ μυρίοις κινδύνοις. Ἀναμνήσθητι τοῦ Λαζάρου τοῦ καὶ νόσῳ καὶ πενίᾳ καὶ ἐρημίᾳ καὶ μυρίοις τοιούτοις ἑτέροις πυκτεύοντος, καὶ ταῦτα μετὰ ἀρετὴν τοσαύτην· ἀναμνήσθητι τῶν ἀποστόλων, οἳ ἐν λιμῷ καὶ δίψει καὶ γυμνότητι διῆγον, τῶν προφητῶν, τῶν πατριαρχῶν, τῶν δικαίων, καὶ πάντας αὐτοὺς εὑρήσεις ἐκείνους οὐ τῶν πλουτούντων, οὐδὲ τῶν τρυφώντων, ἀλλὰ τῶν πενο 49.31 μένων, τῶν θλιβομένων καὶ στενοχωρουμένων ὄντας. ιαʹ. Ταῦτα παρὰ σεαυτῷ λέγων, εὐχαρίστησον τῷ ∆εσπότῃ, ὅτι σε τῆς μοίρας ταύτης ἐποίησεν, οὐχὶ μισῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ σφόδρα φιλῶν, ἐπεὶ κἀκείνους οὐκ ἠφίει τοσαῦτα πάσχειν δεινὰ, εἰ μὴ ἂν καὶ σφόδρα ἐφίλει, ὅτι λαμπροτέρους αὐτοὺς διὰ τῶν κακῶν τούτων εἰργάζετο. Οὐδὲν εὐχαριστίας ἴσον ἀγαθὸν, ὥσπερ βλασφημίας χεῖρον οὐδέν· μὴ θαυμάσωμεν, ὅτι πνευματικοῖς ἐπιτιθέμενοι πράγμασι πολλὰ πάσχομεν δεινά. Ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ λῃσταὶ οὐκ ἔνθα χόρτος καὶ ἄχυρα καὶ καλάμη, ἀλλ' ἔνθα χρυσίον καὶ ἀργύριον, ἐκεῖ διορύττουσι, καὶ συνεχῶς ἀγρυπνοῦσιν· οὕτω καὶ ὁ διάβολος τούτοις μάλιστα ἐπιτίθεται τοῖς πνευματικῶν ἁπτομένοις πραγμάτων. Ἐκεῖ πολλαὶ αἱ ἐπιβουλαὶ, ἔνθα ἀρετή· ἐκεῖ φθόνος ἔνθα ἐλεημοσύνη. Ἀλλ' ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἓν ὅπλον μέγιστον ὃ πάσας ἱκανὸν τὰς τοιαύτας μηχανὰς ἀποκρούσασθαι, τὸ διὰ πάντων τούτων εὐχαριστεῖν τῷ Θεῷ. Ὁ Ἄβελ, εἰπέ μοι, οὐχὶ τῶν πρωτείων τῷ Θεῷ ἀπαρξάμενος, ὑπὸ ἀδελφικῆς ἔπεσε χειρός; ἀλλ' ὅμως ὁ Θεὸς συνεχώρησεν, οὐχὶ μισῶν τὸν τιμήσαντα, ἀλλὰ καὶ σφόδρα φιλῶν, καὶ πρὸς τῷ τῆς καλλίστης ἐκείνης θυσίας στεφάνῳ καὶ ἕτερον αὐτῷ τὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ μαρτυρίου παρέχων στέφανον. Ὁ Μωϋσῆς ἠθέλησεν ἀδικουμένῳ βοηθῆσαί τινι καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐσχάτων ἐκινδύνευσε καὶ τῆς πατρίδος ἐξέπεσε· καὶ ὁ Θεὸς συνεχώρησεν, ἵνα μάθῃς τῶν ἁγίων τὴν ὑπομονήν. Εἰ γὰρ προειδότες ὡς οὐδὲν πεισόμεθα δεινὸν, οὕτως ἡπτόμεθα τῶν πνευματικῶν πραγμάτων, οὐδὲν μέγα ἂν ἐδόξαμεν ποιεῖν, ἐνέχυρον τῆς ἀσφαλείας ἔχοντες τοιοῦτον· νυνὶ δὲ ἐντεῦθεν μάλιστα ἂν εἶεν θαυμαστοὶ οἱ τὰ τοιαῦτα πράττοντες, ὅτι καὶ κινδύνους καὶ ζημίας καὶ θανάτους καὶ μυρία κακὰ προορώμενοι, ὅμως τῶν τοιούτων οὐκ ἀφίσταντο κατορθωμάτων, οὐδὲ ὀκνηρότεροι ἐγίνοντο ταῖς τῶν