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virtue. For example, all we men are by nature moved to pity, and there is nothing else so good in our nature as this. Whence one might reasonably ask why this especially is sown in our nature, to be broken down with tears, to be sympathetic, to be ready. No one is by nature idle, no one is by nature free from vainglory, no one is by nature superior to envy, but to show mercy is by nature innate in all, even if one is cruel, even if one is harsh. And what wonder? We pity wild beasts; so abundantly is mercy innate in us. Even if we see a lion's cub, we feel something; and much more for one of our own kind. See how many are maimed; and this is sufficient to lead us to mercy. Nothing so gladdens God as almsgiving. Therefore the priests were anointed with this, and the kings and the prophets; for the oil was a symbol of the loving-kindness of God. Again, I learned that a ruler must have more mercy; it showed that the Spirit also is to come to man through mercy. Since God has mercy on men and shows loving-kindness, for this reason they were anointed with oil. For He made the priesthood from mercy; and kings were anointed with oil. For you have mercy on all, he says, because you can do all things. Even if one praises a ruler, 63.855 he will say nothing so fitting for him as mercy; for this is the peculiar quality of rule, to show mercy. Consider that through mercy the world was established, and imitate the Master. A man’s mercy is on his neighbor, but the Lord’s mercy is on all flesh. Whether you speak of sinners, or whether you speak of the righteous, we all have need of the mercy of God, we all enjoy it, whether it be Paul, or Peter, or John. And hear them speaking; there is no need of our words. For what does this blessed one say? But I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly. What then? After these things did he not need mercy? Hear what he says: I labored more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. And concerning Epaphroditus he says: For indeed he was sick nigh unto death; but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow; and again, We were pressed, he says, out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God, who delivered us from so great a death, and will deliver; and again, I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion; and the Lord will deliver me. And everywhere we will find him boasting this, that he was saved by mercy. And Peter was such a one from having obtained mercy; for hear Christ saying to him, that Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat, and I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not. And John was such a one in mercy; and simply all of them; for hear Christ saying: You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. For we all need the mercy of God; For the mercy of God, he says, is upon all flesh. But if these needed the mercy of God, what could one say about the rest? For whence, tell me, does He make His sun to rise on the evil and on the good? What if, for only a year, He withheld the rain, would He not have destroyed everything? what if He caused a downpour? what if He sent too much rain? what if He sent flies? But what am I saying? If He had acted as He once did, would not all have perished? What is man, that thou art mindful of him? It is timely to say now: If He only threatens the earth, all become one grave. As a drop of water from a bucket, he says, so are the nations before Him; they will be counted as spittle, as the turn of a scale. As it is easy for us to move the balance, so it is for Him to destroy all things, and to make them again. He, therefore, who has so much power over us, and sees us sinning every day, and does not punish, does He not sustain us by mercy? Since even the beasts exist by mercy; For you will save men and beasts, O Lord. He looked upon the earth, and filled it with living things. Why? For you. And why did He make you? For His goodness. Nothing is better than oil; it is a cause of light, and there it is a cause of light. And your light, says the prophet, shall break forth as the morning, if you show mercy to your neighbor. And just as this oil contains the light, so almsgiving there a great light for us

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ἀρετήν· οἷον, πρὸς τὸ ἐλεεῖν ἀπὸ φύσεως κινούμεθα πάντες ἄνθρωποι, καὶ οὐδὲν οὕτως ἀγαθὸν ἐν τῇ φύσει ἡμῶν ἐστιν ἄλλο, ὡς τοῦτο. Ὅθεν ἄν τις εἰκότως ἐξετάσειε, διὰ τί τοῦτο μάλιστα τῇ φύσει ἡμῶν ἐνέσπαρται, τὸ κατακλᾶσθαι δάκρυσι, τὸ ἐπικάμπτεσθαι, τὸ ἑτοίμους εἶναι. Οὐδεὶς φύσει ἐστὶν ἀργὸς, οὐδεὶς φύσει ἐστὶν ἀκενόδοξος, οὐδεὶς φύσει ἐστὶ ζήλου κρείττων, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐλεεῖν πᾶσιν ἔγκειται φύσει, κἂν ὠμός τις ᾖ, κἂν ἀπηνής. Καὶ τί θαυμαστόν· θηρία ἐλεοῦμεν· οὕτως ἐκ περιουσίας ἡμῖν ὁ ἔλεος ἔγκειται. Κἂν σκύμνον ἴδωμεν λέοντος, πάσχομέν τι· ἐπὶ δὲ ὁμοφύλου πολλῷ πλέον. Ὅρα πόσοι ἀνάπηροι· καὶ τοῦτο ἱκανὸν εἰς ἔλεον ἡμᾶς ἀγαγεῖν. Οὐδὲν οὕτως εὐφραίνει τὸν Θεὸν, ὡς ἐλεημοσύνη. ∆ιὸ οἱ ἱερεῖς τούτῳ ἐχρίοντο, καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς καὶ οἱ προφῆται· τῆς γὰρ τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας εἶχον σύμβολον τὸ ἔλαιον. Πάλιν ἐμάνθανον, ὅτι τὸν ἄρχοντα πλέον ἐλέου δεῖ ἔχειν· ἐδήλου, ὅτι καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα εἰς ἄνθρωπον δι' ἔλεον μέλλει ἔρχεσθαι. Ἐπειδὴ ὁ Θεὸς ἐλεεῖ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ φιλανθρωπεύεται, διὰ τοῦτο ἐλαίῳ ἐχρίοντο. Καὶ γὰρ τὴν ἱερωσύνην ἀπὸ ἐλέους ἐποίησε· καὶ βασιλεῖς ἐλαίῳ ἐχρίοντο. Ἐλεεῖς γὰρ, φησὶ, πάντας, ὅτι πάντα δύνασαι. Κἂν ἄρχοντά τις ἐπαινῇ, 63.855 οὐδὲν οὔτως αὐτῷ πρέπον ἐρεῖ, ὡς ἔλεος· τοῦτο γὰρ ἀρχῆς ἴδιον, τὸ ἐλεεῖν. Ἐννόησον ὅτι δι' ἔλεον ὁ κόσμος συνεστάθη, καὶ μίμησαι τὸν ∆εσπότην. Ἔλεος ἀνθρώπου ἐπὶ τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ, ἔλεος δὲ Κυρίου ἐπὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα. Κἂν ἁμαρτωλοὺς εἴπῃς, κἂν δικαίους εἴπῃς, πάντες τοῦ ἐλέους τοῦ Θεοῦ δεόμεθα, πάντες ἀπολαύομεν αὐτοῦ, κἂν αὐτὸς ᾖ Παῦλος, κἂν Πέτρος, κἂν Ἰωάννης. Καὶ ἄκουσον αὐτῶν λεγόντων· οὐδὲν δεῖ λόγων τῶν ἡμετέρων. Τί γάρ φησιν ὁ μακάριος οὗτος; Ἀλλ' ἠλεήθην, ὅτι ἀγνοῶν ποίησα. Τί οὖν; μετὰ ταῦτα οὐκ ἐδεῖτο ἐλέους; ἄκουσον τί φησι· Περισσότερον αὐτῶν πάντων ἐκοπίασα· οὐκ ἐγὼ δὲ, ἀλλ' ἡ χάρις τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ σὺν ἐμοί. Καὶ περὶ Ἐπαφροδίτου φησί· Καὶ γὰρ ἠσθένησε παραπλήσιον θανάτου· ἀλλ' ὁ Θεὸς αὐτὸν ἠλέησεν, οὐκ αὐτὸν δὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐμὲ, ἵνα μὴ λύπην ἐπὶ λύπῃ σχῶ· καὶ πάλιν, Ἐβαρήθημεν, φησὶν, ὑπὲρ δύναμιν, ὥστε ἐξαπορηθῆναι ἡμᾶς καὶ τοῦ ζῇν. Ἀλλ' αὐτοὶ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τὸ ἀπόκριμα τοῦ θανάτου ἐσχήκαμεν, ἵνα μὴ πεποιθότες ὦμεν ἐφ' ἑαυτοῖς, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ, ὃς ἐκ τηλικούτων θανάτων ἐῤῥύσατο ἡμᾶς, καὶ ῥύσεται· καὶ πάλιν, Ἐῤῥύσθην ἐκ στόματος λέοντος· καὶ ῥύσεταί με ὁ Κύριος. Καὶ πανταχοῦ εὐρήσομεν τοῦτο αὐτὸν καυχώμενον, ὅτι ἐλέῳ ἐσώθη. Καὶ Πέτρος δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐλεηθῆναι τοιοῦτος ἦν· ἄκουε γὰρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν λέγοντος, ὅτι Ἠθέλησεν ὁ σατανᾶς σινιάσαι ὑμᾶς, ὡς τὸν σῖτον, καὶ ἐδεήθην περὶ σοῦ, ἵνα μὴ ἐκλίπῃ ἡ πίστις σου. Καὶ Ἰωάννης ἐν ἐλέῳ τοιοῦτος ἦν· καὶ πάντες δὲ ἁπλῶς· ἄκουε γὰρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ λέγοντος· Οὐχ ὑμεῖς με ἐξελέξασθε, ἀλλ' ἐγὼ ἐξελεξάμην ὑμᾶς. Πάντες γὰρ δεόμεθα τοῦ ἐλέους τοῦ Θεοῦ· Ἔλεος γὰρ Θεοῦ, φησὶν, ἐπὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα. Εἰ δὲ οὗτοι ἐδέοντο τοῦ ἐλέους τοῦ Θεοῦ, τί ἄν τις εἴποι περὶ τῶν λοιπῶν; Πόθεν γὰρ, εἰπέ μοι, τὸν ἥλιον ἀνατέλλει ἐπὶ πονηροὺς καὶ ἀγαθούς; Τί δὲ, εἰ μόνον ἐνιαυτὸν τὸν ὑετὸν ἐπέσχεν, οὐκ ἂν ἅπαντα ἀπώλεσε; τί δὲ, εἰ ἐπομβρίαν εἰργάσατο; τί δὲ, εἰ ὑπερέβρεξε; τί δὲ, εἰ μυίας ἔπεμψεν; Ἀλλὰ τί λέγω; εἰ οὕτως ἐποίησεν, οἷόν ποτε, οὐκ ἂν ἅπαντες ἀπώλοντο; Τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος, ὅτι μιμνήσκῃ αὐτοῦ; Εὔκαιρον εἰπεῖν νῦν· Ἂν ἀπειλήσῃ τῇ γῇ μόνον, πάντες εἷς ἐγένοντο τάφος. Ὡς σταγὼν ὕδατος ἀπὸ κάδου, φησὶν, οὕτω τὰ ἔθνη ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ· ὡς σίελος λογισθήσονται, ὡς ῥοπὴ ζύγου. Ὡς εὔκολον ἡμῖν τὴν τρυτάνην κινῆσαι, οὕτως αὐτῷ πάντα ἀπολέσαι, καὶ ποιῆσαι πάλιν. Ὁ τοίνυν τοσαύτην ἔχων ἐξουσίαν ἡμῶν, καὶ ὁρῶν ἡμᾶς καθ' ἑκάστην ἁμαρτάνοντας, καὶ μὴ κολάζων, οὐχὶ ἐλέῳ διαβαστάζει; Ἐπεὶ καὶ τὰ κτήνη, ἐλέῳ ἐστίν· Ἀνθρώπους γὰρ καὶ κτήνη σώσεις, Κύριε. Εἶδεν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἔπλησεν αὐτὴν ζώων. ∆ιὰ τί; διὰ σέ. Σὲ δὲ διὰ τί ἐποίησε; δι' ἀγαθότητα. Οὐδὲν ἐλαίου κρεῖττον· φωτός ἐστιν αἴτιον, καὶ ἐκεῖ φωτὸς αἴτιον. Καὶ ἀνατελεῖ, φησὶν ὁ προφήτης, πρώϊμον τὸ φῶς σου, ἐὰν ποιήσῃς ἔλεον εἰς τὸν πλησίον. Καὶ ὥσπερ τὸ ἔλαιον τοῦτο τὸ φῶς κατέχει· οὕτως ἡ ἐλεημοσύνη ἐκεῖ φῶς μέγα ἡμῖν