76

greater will be your care for those in orphanhood, so that they may lack nothing, for the maiden, until she comes to the age of marriage and you give her to a brother, and for the boy, support so that he may both learn a trade and be maintained by the support, so that, when he has successfully mastered the trade, he may then be able to also buy for himself the tools of the trade, so that he no longer burdens the unfeigned love of the brethren toward him, but may support himself. For truly blessed is he who, being able to help himself, does not crowd the place of the orphan, the stranger, and the widow, since the Lord also said it is more blessed to give than to receive. For it is said again by him: 'Woe to those who have and receive in hypocrisy, or who are able to help themselves and wish to receive from others; for each will give an account to the Lord God on the day of judgment.' For he who receives because of the age of orphanhood, or the weakness of old age, or the affliction of illness, or the raising of many children, such a one will not only not be blamed, but will also be praised; for, being reckoned as an altar to God, he will be honored by God, praying unceasingly for those who give to him, not receiving idly, but, as far as he is able, giving the reward for their gift through prayer; such a one, therefore, will be blessed by God in eternal life. But he who has and receives in hypocrisy or through idleness, instead of working and helping others, will pay the penalty to God, because he has snatched the morsel of the poor. For he who has money and neither gives it to others nor uses it himself has inherited the place of a serpent, which they say sleeps upon its treasures, and the scripture which says is true of him: 'He has gathered wealth, from which he will not taste.' And there is no benefit for him when he is destroyed by justice; 'For possessions,' it says, 'will not profit in the day of wrath.' For such a one has not trusted in God, but in his own gold, considering this a god and trusting in it; such a one is a hypocrite of the truth, a respecter of persons, unfaithful, a dissembler, cowardly, unmanly, fickle, superficial, a fault-finder, grievous, an enemy to himself and a friend to no one. This man's wealth will perish and a stranger will consume it, either stealing it while he is alive or enjoying it when he is dead; 'For wealth unjustly gathered will be vomited up.' We exhort, therefore, widows and orphans to partake of the

76

πλείων ἔσται ὑμῖν φροντὶς περὶ τῶν ἐν ὀρφανίᾳ, ὅπως αὐτοῖς μηδὲν ἐνδέῃ, τῇ μὲν παρθένῳ, μέχρις ἂν ἔλθῃ εἰς ὥραν γάμου καὶ ἐκδῶτε αὐτὴν ἀδελφῷ, τῷ δὲ παιδὶ χορηγίαν πρὸς τὸ καὶ τέχνην ἐκμαθεῖν καὶ διατρέφεσθαι ἐκ τῆς ἐπιχορηγίας, ἵνα, ὅταν δεξιῶς τὴν τέχνην κατορθώσῃ, τὸ τηνικαῦτα δύνηται καὶ τὰ τῆς τέχνης ἐργαλεῖα ἑαυτῷ πρίασθαι, ὅπως μηκέτι βαρύνῃ τὴν τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἀνυ πόκριτον εἰς αὐτὸν ἀγάπην, ἀλλ' ἑαυτῷ ἐπιχορηγῇ. Καὶ γὰρ ἀληθῶς μακάριός ἐστιν, ὃς ἂν δυνάμενος βοηθεῖν ἑαυτῷ μὴ θλίβῃ τόπον ὀρφανοῦ ξένου τε καὶ χήρας, ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ Κύριος μακάριον εἶπεν εἶναι τὸν διδόντα ὑπὲρ τὸν λαμβάνοντα. Καὶ γὰρ εἴρηται πάλιν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ· «Oὐαὶ τοῖς ἔχουσιν καὶ ἐν ὑποκρίσει λαμβάνουσιν, ἢ δυνα μένοις βοηθεῖν ἑαυτοῖς καὶ λαμβάνειν παρ' ἑτέρων βουλο μένοις· ἑκάτερος γὰρ ἀποδώσει λόγον Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως.» Ὁ μὲν γὰρ δι' ἡλικίαν ὀρφανίας ἢ γήρως ἀτονίαν ἢ νόσου πρόσπτωσιν ἢ τέκνων πολυτροφίαν λαμβάνων, ὁ τοιοῦτος οὐ μόνον οὐ μεμφθήσεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπαινεθήσεται· θυσιαστήριον γὰρ τῷ Θεῷ λελογισμένος ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ τιμηθήσεται ἀόκνως ὑπὲρ τῶν διδόντων αὐτῷ διηνεκῶς προσευχόμενος, οὐκ ἀργῶς λαμβάνων, ἀλλὰ τῆς δόσεως αὐτοῦ, ὅση δύναμις, τὸν μισθὸν διδοὺς διὰ τῆς προσευχῆς· ὁ τοιοῦτος οὖν ἐν τῇ αἰωνίῳ ζωῇ ὑπὸ Θεοῦ μακαρισθήσεται. Ὁ δὲ ἔχων καὶ ἐν ὑποκρίσει λαμβάνων ἢ δι' ἀργίαν, ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐργαζόμενον βοηθεῖν καὶ ἑτέροις, δίκην ὀφλήσει τῷ Θεῷ, ὅτι πενήτων ἥρπασε ψωμόν. Ὁ γὰρ ἔχων ἀργύρια καὶ μὴ μεταδιδοὺς ἑτέροις μήτε μὴν αὐτὸς χρώμενος τόπον ὄφεως κεκλήρωται, ὅν φασιν ἐπὶ τοῖς θησαυροῖς καθεύδειν, καὶ ἔστιν ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἀληθὴς ἡ γραφὴ ἡ φάσκουσα· «Συνήγαγεν πλοῦτον, ἐξ οὗ οὐ γεύσεται.» Καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτῷ ὄφελος ὀλλυμένῳ παρὰ τῆς δίκης· «Oὐκ ὠφελήσει γάρ, φησίν, ὑπάρχοντα ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς.» Ὁ γὰρ τοιοῦτος οὐ τῷ Θεῷ πεπίστευκεν, ἀλλὰ τῷ ἑαυτοῦ χρυσίῳ, θεὸν τοῦτο ἡγούμενος καὶ ἐπ' αὐτῷ πεποιθώς· ὑποκριτὴς ἀλη θείας ὁ τοιοῦτος, προσωπολήπτης, ἄπιστος, εἴρων, δειλός, ἄνανδρος, κοῦφος, εὐχερής, μεμψίμοιρος, ἐπώδυνος, ἑαυτοῦ ἐχθρὸς καὶ οὐδενὸς φίλος. Τούτου τὰ χρήματα ὀλεῖται καὶ ἀνὴρ ξένος ἔδεραι αὐτά, ἢ ζῶντος ὑφελόμενος ἢ θανόντος καρπωσάμενος· «Πλοῦτος γὰρ ἀδίκως συναγόμενος ἐξε μεθήσεται.» Παραινοῦμεν οὖν ταῖς χήραις καὶ τοῖς ὀρφανοῖς μετὰ παντὸς φόβου καὶ πάσης εὐλαβείας μεταλαμβάνειν τῶν