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of sickness; and we shall be delivered, if we consider how Christ both loved us, and commanded us to love one another. How then did he love us? He gave his precious blood for us, when we were enemies and had done the greatest wrongs. This do thou also for thy brother; for for this reason, he says, "A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, as I have loved you." Rather, not even thus does the measure stop; for he did this for his enemies. But you are not willing to give your blood for your brother? Why then do you even shed his, diametrically disobeying the commandment? And yet what he did, he did not out of debt; but you, if you do it, are now fulfilling a debt. Since even that man who received the ten thousand talents, and demanded the hundred denarii, was punished not only for this, that he demanded it, but because he had not become better by the kindness, nor had he followed his master’s lead, and forgiven the debt; for what was done by the servant, if it had been done, was now a debt. For all things that we do, we do fulfilling a debt. Wherefore he himself said, "When you have done all things, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; for we have done what we were obliged to do.'" So whether we show love, or give money to the needy, we fulfill a debt; not only because he first showed kindness, but because we also distribute his own things, if ever we give. Why then do you deprive yourself of those things of which he wishes you to be master? For for this reason he commanded you to give them to another, so that you might have them. For as long as you possess them alone, not even you have them; but when you give to another, then you have received them yourself. Could anything be equal to this love-charm? He poured out his blood for his enemies, but we not even money for our benefactor; he, his own blood, but we not even money that is not ours; he before us, but we not even after him; he for our salvation, but we not even for our own benefit; for nothing more comes to him from our philanthropy, but the entire profit accrues to us. For this is why we are commanded to give them, so that we may not fall away from them. For just as if someone gave a small child money, he would command him to hold it tightly, or to give it to the servant to keep, so that it would not be possible for anyone who wished to snatch it away; so indeed also God does. For give to the needy, he says, so that no one may snatch them from you, such as a slanderer, or the devil, or a thief, or after all these, death. For as long as you hold them yourself, you do not hold them securely; but if you give them to me through the poor, I will guard them all for you with precision, and at the proper time I will restore them with 60.451 great abundance. For I do not take them to take them away, but to make them more, to guard them more precisely, to keep them for you for that time in which there is no one who lends nor who shows mercy. What then could be more cruel than we, who after such promises do not consent to lend to him? Therefore for this reason we go to him desolate and naked and poor, not having what was entrusted to us, because we do not entrust them to the one who guards all things more precisely. Wherefore we shall also pay the ultimate penalty. For what shall we be able to say in defense of our own destruction when we are accused? What pretext can we offer? What defense? For what reason did you not give? Do you disbelieve that you will receive it back? And how could this make sense? For he who gave to one who had not given, how will he not much more give after receiving? But does the sight of them delight you? Then for this reason give all the more, so that you may delight in them more greatly there, when no one will take them away; whereas now, holding on to them, you will also suffer countless terrible things. For like a dog, so the devil leaps upon the rich, as if wishing to snatch a morsel or a cake from a child holding it. Let us therefore give them to the Father. And if the devil sees this done, he will certainly withdraw; and when he has withdrawn, then the Father will give them all to you with security, when that one cannot trouble you in the age to come. Whereas now, of little children by small dogs

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ἀῤῥωστίας· ἀπαλλαγησόμεθα δὲ, ἂν ἐννοήσωμεν πῶς τε ἡμᾶς ἠγάπησε, καὶ ἀλλήλους ἐκέλευσεν ἀγαπᾷν ὁ Χριστός. Πῶς οὖν ἡμᾶς ἠγάπησε; Τὸ αἷμα τὸ τίμιον ἔδωκεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἐχθρῶν ὄντων καὶ τὰ μέγιστα ἠδικηκότων. Τοῦτο καὶ σὺ ποίησον ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ· διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο, φησὶν, Ἐντολὴν καινὴν δίδωμι ὑμῖν, ἵνα οὕτως ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους, καθὼς ἐγὼ ἠγάπησα ὑμᾶς. Μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ οὕτω τὸ μέτρον ἵσταται· αὐτὸς γὰρ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τοῦτο ἐποίησεν. Ἀλλ' οὐ βούλει τὸ αἷμα δοῦναι τὸ σαυτοῦ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ; Τί οὖν καὶ τὸ ἐκείνου ἐκχέεις, ἐκ διαμέτρου παρακούων τῆς ἐντολῆς; Καίτοι αὐτὸς μὲν ὅπερ ἐποίησεν, οὐκ ἐξ ὀφειλῆς· σὺ δὲ, ἂν ποιῇς, ὀφειλὴν λοιπὸν πληροῖς· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐκεῖνος ὁ τὰ μύρια τάλαντα λαβὼν, καὶ τὰ ἑκατὸν δηνάρια ἀπαιτῶν, οὐ διὰ τοῦτο ἐκολάζετο μόνον, ὅτι ἀπῄτει, ἀλλ' ὅτι οὐδὲ τῇ εὐεργεσίᾳ γέγονε βελτίων, οὐδὲ ἄρξαντος τοῦ δεσπότου κατηκολούθησε, καὶ τὸ χρέος ἀπέδωκε· καὶ γὰρ χρέος ἦν λοιπὸν τὸ παρὰ τοῦ δούλου γενόμενον, εἴ γε ἐγένετο. Καὶ γὰρ ἅπαντα ἅπερ ποιοῦμεν, ὀφειλὴν πληροῦντες ποιοῦμεν. ∆ιὸ καὶ αὐτὸς ἔλεγεν· Ὅταν πάντα ποιήσητε, λέγετε, ὅτι Ἀχρεῖοι δοῦλοί ἐσμεν· ἃ γὰρ ὠφείλομεν ποιῆσαι, ἐποιήσαμεν. Κἂν ἀγάπην τοίνυν ἐπιδειξώμεθα, κἂν χρήματα δῶμεν τοῖς δεομένοις, ὀφειλὴν πληροῦμεν· οὐχ ὅτι κατῆρξεν αὐτὸς εὐεργεσιῶν μόνον, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ τὰ αὐτοῦ διανέμομεν, ἄν ποτε δῶμεν. Τί τοίνυν ἀποστερεῖς σεαυτὸν ὧν αὐτός σε βούλεται κύριον εἶναι; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο γάρ σοι ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὰ δοῦναι ἑτέρῳ, ἵνα σὺ αὐτὰ ἔχῃς. Ἕως μὲν γὰρ μόνος κατέχεις, οὐδὲ αὐτὸς ἔχεις· ὅταν δὲ ἑτέρῳ δῷς, τότε καὶ αὐτὸς ἔλαβες. Ἆρά τι τούτου τοῦ φίλτρου γένοιτ' ἂν ἴσον; Αὐτὸς ἐξέχεε τὸ αἷμα ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐχθρῶν, ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐδὲ χρήματα ὑπὲρ τοῦ εὐεργέτου· αὐτὸς τὸ αἷμα τὸ ἑαυτοῦ, ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐδὲ χρήματα τὰ οὐχ ἡμῶν· αὐτὸς πρὸ ἡμῶν, ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐδὲ μετ' αὐτόν· αὐτὸς ὑπὲρ τῆς ἡμετέρας σωτηρίας, ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐδὲ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἡμετέρας ὠφελείας· οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτῷ τι γίνεται πλέον ἐκ τῆς ἡμετέρας φιλανθρωπίας, ἀλλὰ τὸ πᾶν εἰς ἡμᾶς περιίσταται κέρδος. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ κελευόμεθα αὐτὰ δοῦναι, ἵνα μὴ αὐτῶν ἐκπέσωμεν ἡμεῖς. Ὥσπερ γὰρ εἰ παιδίῳ τις ἀργύριον δῴη μικρῷ, κελεύει κατέχειν σφοδρῶς, ἢ καὶ τῷ οἰκέτῃ δοῦναι φυλάττειν, ὥστε μὴ ἐξεῖναι ἁρπάσαι τῷ βουλομένῳ· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ποιεῖ. ∆ὸς γὰρ τῷ δεομένῳ, φησὶν, ἵνα μὴ ἁρπάσῃ τις αὐτὰ ἀπὸ σοῦ, οἷον ἢ συκοφάντης, ἢ διάβολος, ἢ κλέπτης, ἢ μετὰ πάντας ὁ θάνατος. Ἕως μὲν γὰρ ἂν αὐτὸς αὐτὰ κατέχῃς, οὐκ ἀσφαλῶς κατέχεις· ἐὰν δὲ ἐμοὶ αὐτὰ δῷς διὰ τῶν πενήτων, ἐγώ σοι φυλάττω μετὰ ἀκριβείας ἅπαντα, καὶ ἐν καιρῷ τῷ προσήκοντι μετὰ 60.451 πολλῆς αὐτὰ ἀποκαταστήσω τῆς περιουσίας. Οὐ γὰρ ἵνα ἀφέλωμαι λαμβάνω, ἀλλ' ἵνα πλείονα ποιήσω, ἵνα ἀκριβέστερον φυλάξω, ἵνα κατ' ἐκεῖνόν σοι αὐτὰ τηρήσω τὸν χρόνον, καθ' ὃν οὐδεὶς ὁ δανείζων οὐδὲ ὁ ἐλεῶν ἐστι. Τί οὖν γένοιτ' ἂν ἡμῶν ὠμότερον μετὰ τοιαύτας ὑποσχέσεις μὴ ἀνεχομένων αὐτῷ δανείζειν; Τοιγάρτοι διὰ τοῦτο ἔρημοι καὶ γυμνοὶ καὶ πένητες πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπερχόμεθα, τὰ πιστευθέντα οὐκ ἔχοντες, ὅτι μὴ τῷ πάντων αὐτὰ ἀκριβέστερον φυλάττοντι παρακατατιθέμεθα. ∆ιὸ καὶ τὴν ἐσχάτην δώσομεν δίκην. Τί γὰρ καὶ ἐγκαλούμενοι δυνησόμεθα εἰπεῖν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀπωλείας ἑαυτῶν; ποίαν πρόφασιν προβαλέσθαι; τίνα ἀπολογίαν; Τίνος γὰρ ἕνεκεν οὐκ ἔδωκας; ἀπιστεῖς, ὅτι λήψῃ πάλιν; Καὶ πῶς ἂν ἔχοι τοῦτο λόγον; ὁ γὰρ τῷ μὴ δεδωκότι δοὺς, πῶς οὐ πολλῷ μᾶλλον μετὰ τὸ λαβεῖν δώσει; Ἀλλὰ τέρπει σε αὐτῶν ἡ ὄψις; Οὐκοῦν πολλῷ μᾶλλον διὰ τοῦτο δὸς, ἵνα ἐκεῖσε τέρψῃ μειζόνως, ὅτε οὐδεὶς αὐτὰ ἀφαιρήσεται· ὡς νῦν γε κατέχων καὶ μυρία πείσῃ δεινά. Καθάπερ γὰρ κύων, οὕτως ἐνάλλεται τοῖς πλουτοῦσιν ὁ διάβολος, ὥσπερ ψωμὸν ἢ πλακοῦντα παιδίου κατέχοντος ἀποσπάσαι θέλων. ∆ῶμεν τοίνυν αὐτὰ τῷ Πατρί. Κἂν ἴδῃ τοῦτο ὁ διάβολος γενόμενον, ἀναχωρήσει πάντως· ἀναχωρήσαντος δὲ ἐκείνου, τότε σοὶ μετὰ ἀσφαλείας αὐτὰ ὁ πατὴρ δώσει πάντα, ὅταν μὴ δύνηται ἐνοχλεῖν ἐκεῖνος κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τὸν μέλλοντα. Ὡς νῦν γε τῶν μικρῶν παιδίων τῶν ὑπὸ κυνιδίων