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but so-and-so did not; would you have built houses in a city about to fall? Therefore, let us not build in this world; for it will fall a little later and be destroyed; but what am I saying, it will fall? Before the fall, we are destroyed, and we will suffer terrible things. But let us rather build our building in the heavens, where we have no need of carpenters or builders, but the hands of the poor build such buildings; and not only this, but they also procure the kingdom of heaven, and give confidence before God; such is the height of almsgiving. And just as when a queen enters, none of the guards at the doors dares to question who she is or where she comes from, but all receive her with joy; so indeed she brings those who practice it without hindrance before the royal throne; for God loves it, and it always stands near Him, and for whomever it asks a favor, it immediately 63.721 receives it. So great is the abundance of almsgiving, that it not only cleanses away sins, but also puts death itself to flight. And who, he says, having shown almsgiving has become stronger than death? and yet we see all becoming subject to the tyranny of death. Do not be troubled, but learn from the facts themselves how the power of almsgiving conquered its tyranny. For there was a woman named Tabitha, who made it her work each day to gather the resources from almsgiving; And she clothed, it says, the widows, and provided them with every other kind of support. And it happened that she fell sick and died. What then did those who enjoyed her care, and whose bodies were clothed by her, do? At the right time, they repay their benefactress; for standing around the Apostle, they showed the garments, and all that she made while with them, and they shed tears, and moved him to pity. What then did Peter do? Kneeling down, he says, he prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the widows and those who were present, he presented her alive. Did you see how great is the reward of doing good to widows? For what great thing, tell me, did she provide for the widows, compared to how they repaid her? For the greatness of almsgiving is not judged by the quantity of what is given, but by the eagerness of those who give. Truly, the feet of saints entering a house can do great things; they sanctify the very ground, they bring in treasures of countless goods, they correct a maimed nature, they end famine and bring in great abundance. For indeed the feet of Elijah, entering the house of the widow, demonstrated a new and paradoxical kind of beneficence; they made the widow’s house a field, and the water jar a threshing floor. A new kind of sowing and reaping happened then. How? She sowed into the mouth of the righteous one, and what was cast in she reaped from the jar with great abundance; she sowed flour, and she reaped flour. She had no need of oxen and a yoke and a plow and a furrow, nor of rain and air and a sickle, nor of a threshing floor and sheaves, nor of winds separating the chaff from the grain, nor of a grinding mill, but in a single moment of time she found the end of all these things upon the water jar. Such are the gifts of the saints; such things the feet of saints bestow, or rather, even much more than these. And if I were not making the speech long, I would have enumerated many such gifts. But just as when honored they bring such gifts, so when dishonored they bring on a great punishment and an inexorable fire. But that was Peter, he says, and that was Elijah. What are you saying, tell me? even if he was Peter and Elijah, did they not share the same nature? were they not brought into life for us through the same way? were they not nourished with the same foods? did they not make use of the same things? did not some of them have wives and children, and others worldly 63.722 occupations, and others were even brought down into the very abyss of wickedness? But they enjoyed, he says, great grace. But if indeed the dead

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δεῖνα δὲ οὔ· ἆρα ἂν ᾠκοδόμησας οἰκίας ἐν τῇ μελλούσῃ καταπίπτειν; Μὴ τοίνυν οἰκοδομῶμεν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τούτῳ· πεσεῖται γὰρ μικρὸν ὕστερον καὶ ἀπολεῖται· τί δὲ λέγω, πεσεῖται; πρὸ τῆς πτώσεως ἡμεῖς ἀπολλύμεθα, καὶ δεινὰ πεισόμεθα. Οἰκοδομήσωμεν δὲ μᾶλλον ἡμῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν, ἔνθα οὐ χρεία τεκτόνων ἡμῖν οὐδὲ οἰκοδόμων, ἀλλ' αἱ τῶν πενήτων χεῖρες τὰς τοιαύτας οἰκοδομοῦσιν οἰκοδομάς· καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν προξενοῦσι, καὶ παῤῥησίαν διδοῦσι πρὸς τὸν Θεόν· τοιοῦτον τὸ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης ὕψος. Καὶ καθάπερ βασιλίδος εἰσιούσης οὐδεὶς τολμᾷ τῶν φυλασσόντων τὰς θύρας ἐξετάσαι, τίς εἴη καὶ πόθεν, ἀλλὰ πάντες μετὰ χαρᾶς ὑποδέχονται· οὕτω δὴ καὶ τοὺς ταύτην ἐργαζομένους ἀκωλύτως παρὰ τὸν θρόνον ἵστησι τὸν βασιλικόν· φιλεῖ γὰρ αὐτὴν ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ ἀεὶ πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἕστηκε, καὶ ὑπὲρ ὧν δ' ἂν αἰτήσῃ χάριν, εὐ 63.721 θέως λαμβάνει. Τοσαύτη τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης ἡ περιουσία, ὡς μὴ μόνον ἁμαρτήματα ἐκκαθαίρειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν θάνατον φυγαδεύειν. Καὶ τίς, φησὶν, ἐλεημοσύνην ἐπιδειξάμενος τοῦ θανάτου κρείττων γέγονε; καὶ μὴν ἅπαντας ὁρῶμεν ὑπὸ τὴν τυραννίδα τοῦ θανάτου γινομένους. Μὴ θορυβηθῇς, ἀλλὰ δι' αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων μάνθανε, ὅπως ἡ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης δύναμις ἐνίκησε τούτου τὴν τυραννίδα. Καὶ γὰρ Ταβιθά τις ἐγένετο γυνὴ, ἥτις ἔργον ἐποιεῖτο καθ' ἑκάστην τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης εὐπορίαν συλλέγειν· Καὶ ἐνεδίδυσκε, φησὶ, τὰς χήρας, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἅπασαν εὐπορίαν αὐταῖς παρεῖχεν. Ἐγένετο δὲ ἀσθενήσασαν αὐτὴν ἀποθανεῖν. Τί οὖν αἱ τῆς θεραπείας ἀπολαύουσαι, καὶ τὰ σώματα σκεπόμεναι ἀπ' αὐτῆς; Ἐν καιρῷ τὴν εὐεργέτιν τὴν αὐτῶν ἀμείβονται· περιεστῶσαι γὰρ τὸν Ἀπόστολον ἐδείκνυον τὰ ἱμάτια, καὶ ὅσα ἐποίει μετ' αὐτῶν, καὶ δάκρυα ἐπέχεον, καὶ εἰς οἶκτον τοῦτον ἔφερον. Τί οὖν ὁ Πέτρος; Τὰ γόνατα θεὶς, φησὶ, προσηύξατο, καὶ ἐπιστρέψας πρὸς τὸ σῶμα εἶπεν· Ταβιθὰ, ἀνάστηθι. Ἡ δὲ ἤνοιξε τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῆς, καὶ ἰδοῦσα τὸν Πέτρον ἀνεκάθισε· δοὺς δὲ αὐτῇ χεῖρα ἀνέστησε· καὶ φωνήσας τὰς χήρας καὶ τοὺς παρεστῶτας, παρέδωκεν αὐτὴν ζῶσαν. Εἶδες ὅση τῆς εὐποιίας ἡ περὶ τὰς χήρας ἀμοιβή; τί γὰρ τοσοῦτον, εἰπέ μοι, παρέσχεν αὕτη ταῖς χήραις, ὅσον αὗται αὐτὴν ἠμείψαντο; Τὸ γὰρ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης μέγεθος οὐκ ἐν τῷ πλήθει τῶν διδομένων κρίνεται, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ προθυμίᾳ τῶν διδόντων. Ὄντως μεγάλα δύνανται πόδες ἁγίων εἰς οἰκίαν εἰσιόντες· αὐτὸ τὸ ἔδαφος ἁγιάζουσι, θησαυροὺς μυρίων εἰσάγουσι ἀγαθῶν, φύσιν πεπηρωμένην διορθοῦνται, λιμὸν λύουσι καὶ πολλὴν εἰσάγουσι τὴν εὐπορίαν. Καὶ γὰρ οἱ τοῦ Ἠλία πόδες εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τῆς χήρας εἰσελθόντες καινόν τινα καὶ παράδοξον εὐεργεσίας ἐπεδείξαντο τρόπον· ἄρουραν τὴν οἰκίαν τῆς χήρας ἐποίησαν, καὶ τὴν ὑδρίαν ἅλωνα. Καινός τις τρόπος σπόρου καὶ ἀμητοῦ ἐγένετο τότε. Πῶς; Ἔσπειρεν εἰς τὸ τοῦ δικαίου στόμα, καὶ τὰ καταβληθέντα μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ἀφθονίας ἐκ τῆς ὑδρίας ἐθέριζεν· ἔσπειρεν ἄλευρον, καὶ ἐθέρισεν ἄλευρον. Οὐκ ἐδεήθη βοῶν καὶ ζεύγους καὶ ἀρότρου καὶ αὔλακος, οὐδὲ ὑετοῦ καὶ ἀέρος καὶ δρεπάνης, οὐδὲ ἅλωνος καὶ δραγμάτων, οὐδὲ ἀνέμων διακρινόντων ἀπὸ τοῦ καρποῦ τὰ ἄχυρα, οὐδὲ μύλης τριβούσης, ἀλλ' ἐν μιᾷ καιροῦ ῥοπῇ τούτων ἁπάντων τὸ τέλος εὗρεν ἐπὶ τῆς ὑδρίας. Τοιαῦτα τῶν ἁγίων τὰ δῶρα· τοιαῦτα χαρίζονται πόδες ἁγίων, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ πολλῷ πλείονα τούτων. Καὶ εἰ μὴ μακρὸν ἐποίουν τὸν λόγον, πολλὰς ἂν ἀπηριθμησάμην τοιαύτας δωρεάς. Ἀλλ' ὥσπερ τιμώμενοι τοιαῦτα φέρουσι δῶρα, οὕτως ἀτιμαζόμενοι μεγάλην ἐπάγουσι κόλασιν καὶ πῦρ ἀπαραίτητον. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος Πέτρος ἦν, φησὶ, καὶ ἐκεῖνος Ἠλίας ἦν. Τί λέγεις, εἰπέ μοι; εἰ καὶ Πέτρος καὶ Ἠλίας ἦν, οὐ τῆς αὐτῆς μετεῖχον φύσεως; οὐ διὰ τῆς αὐτῆς ὁδοῦ παρήχθησαν εἰς τὸν βίον ἡμῖν; οὐ ταῖς αὐταῖς τροφαῖς ἐτράφησαν; οὐ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐχρήσαντο πράγμασιν; οὐ τινὲς αὐτῶν καὶ γυναῖκας ἔσχον καὶ παῖδας, οἱ δὲ καὶ τέχνας βιω 63.722 τικὰς, ἕτεροι δὲ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸ τῆς κακίας τὸ βάραθρον κατηνέχθησαν; Ἀλλὰ πολλῆς ἀπήλαυσαν, φησὶ, τῆς χάριτος. Ἀλλ' εἰ μὲν νεκροὺς