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De jejunio et eleemosyna

A DISCOURSE BY THE SAME ON FASTING AND ALMSGIVING. 48.1059 Fasting is good, and the reading of the Scriptures is good; but it is good when action also follows from it, since, if you read but do not do, the reading becomes for you a judgment, and a provision for punishment. For not the hearers of the law, he says, are just before God, but the doers of the law will be justified; and again Christ: If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. But blessed is he who speaks into the ears of those who hear, especially when they pay the interest; and the interest is obedience, and the working of the commandments of God, as the Lord says: And I, when I came, would have demanded what is mine with interest. What then have you gathered, brother, from your fasting? since a farmer for this reason sows, that he may reap, and a merchant for this reason makes journeys, that he may gather wealth, and a helmsman for this reason crosses many seas, that he may fill his ship with cargo. Do not tell me, that I fasted for so many days, I did not eat this or that, I did not drink wine, I endured not bathing, but show me if, being wrathful, you became meek, and if, being cruel, you became humane. For if you are drunk with anger, why do you afflict your flesh? if envy and greed are within, what is the benefit of drinking water? I do not now ask what sort of table you have, but if there has been a change from a wicked mind. If the mistress, I mean the soul, commits fornication, why do you scourge the handmaid, I mean the stomach? if the soul is carried away, why do you waste away the body? 48.1060 I say these things not to accuse you, but on account of the slothful. For however high I see you flying, I still want you to fly higher; for such is the tyranny of love. And just as the lovers of money, however much gold they gather, seek more; so also do we desire more of your progress. If therefore you wish to be accepted by God, fast as the Ninevites did, brother; they did not receive the law; about whom Paul says: For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves. Do not, therefore, show forth an idle fast; for fasting does not ascend to heaven alone, if it does not have its sister, almsgiving; for it is its companion, and not only a sisterhood and a pair, but also a chariot. And whence is this? To Cornelius the angel said: Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. For almsgiving is the wing of prayer; if therefore you do not make a wing for your prayer, it does not fly; but when your soul is winged, it flies up to heaven. How long will there be love of money and desire for possessions? All these things, brother, are dissolved with the present life. But you will surely say to me: Say these things to yourself. And I say them to myself, brother, and to you; for the counsel is common. I, hearing these things and being corrected, receive a favor from you; even if it is a slave who speaks, I accept the counsel, even if it is a free man, I listen eagerly. 48.1061 For it is not the difference of persons, but the usefulness of the counsel that makes me accept what is said. For if that Moses, so great a man, who spoke with God, did not turn away from the counsels of his father-in-law, though he was a barbarian, but even accepted them, and God confirmed them; how much more so should we? I do not say to you, become without possessions, but spend what is superfluous on the poor, so that your abundance may be for you a foundation of salvation

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De jejunio et eleemosyna

ΤΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΛΟΓΟΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΝΗΣΤΕΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΕΛΕΗΜΟΣΥΝΗΣ. 48.1059 Καλὴ ἡ νηστεία, καλὴ καὶ ἡ τῶν Γραφῶν ἀνάγνωσις· καλὴ δέ ἐστιν, ὅταν καὶ ἡ ἐκ ταύτης πρᾶξις ἕπηται, ἐπεὶ, ἐὰν ἀναγινώσκῃς μὲν, μὴ ποιῇς δὲ, γίνεταί σοι εἰς κρῖμα ἡ ἀνάγνωσις, καὶ εἰς ἐφόδιον κολάσεως. Οὐ γὰρ οἱ ἀκροαταὶ τοῦ γόμου, φησὶ, δίκαιοι παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ, ἀλλ' οἱ ποιηταὶ τοῦ νόμου δικαιωθήσονται· καὶ πάλιν ὁ Χριστός· Εἰ μὴ ἦλθον καὶ ἐλάλησα αὐτοῖς, ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ εἶχον· νῦν δὲ πρόφασιν οὐκ ἔχουσι περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὑτῶν. Μακάριος δὲ ὁ λέγων εἰς ὦτα ἀκουόντων, ὅταν μάλιστα τὸν τόκον καταβάλωσι· τόκος δέ ἐστιν ἡ ὑπακοὴ, καὶ ἡ τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐργασία, καθώς φησιν ὁ Κύριος· Κἀγὼ ἐλθὼν ἀπῄτησα ἂν τὸ ἐμὸν σὺν τόκῳ. Τί οὖν συνήγαγες, ἀδελφὲ, ἀπὸ τῆς νηστείας; ἐπεὶ καὶ γεωργὸς διὰ τοῦτο σπείρει, ἵνα θερίσῃ, καὶ ἔμπορος διὰ τοῦτο τὰς ἀποδημίας ἀποτελεῖ, ἵνα χρήματα συναγάγῃ, καὶ κυβερνήτης διὰ τοῦτο πολλὰ πελάγη διαπερᾷ, ἵνα τὸ σκάφος φορτίων ἐμπλήσῃ. Μή μοι εἴπῃς, ὅτι Τόσας ἡμέρας ἐνήστευσα, τὸ καὶ τὸ οὐκ ἔφαγον, οἶνον οὐκ ἔπιον, ἀλουσίαν ὑπέμεινα, ἀλλὰ δεῖξόν μοι, εἰ θυμώδης ὢν, πρᾶος ἐγένου, καὶ εἰ ὠμὸς ὢν, ἐγένου φιλάνθρωπος. Ἐπεὶ ἐὰν μεθύῃς τῷ θυμῷ, τί τὴν σάρκα καταθλίβεις; ἐὰν φθόνος ᾖ ἔνδον καὶ πλεονεξία, τίς ἡ ὠφέλεια τῆς ὑδροποσίας; Οὐ ζητῶ νῦν ποταπὴ ἡ τράπεζα, ἀλλ' εἰ γνώμης κακῆς ἐγένετο μεταβολή. Ἐὰν ἡ δέσποινα, ἡ ψυχὴ λέγω, πορνεύῃ, τί τὴν θεράπαιναν, τὴν γαστέρα φημὶ, μαστίζεις; εἰ ἡ ψυχὴ παρασύρεται, τί τὸ σῶμα τήκεις; 48.1060 Ταῦτα λέγω οὐχ ὑμῶν κατηγορῶν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τοὺς ῥᾳθύμους. Ὅσον γὰρ ἐὰν ἴδω ὑμᾶς πετομένους, ἔτι βούλομαι ὑμᾶς ἀνωτέρω πέτασθαι· τοιαύτη γὰρ ἡ τῆς ἀγάπης τυραννίς. Καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ φιλάργυροι, ὅσον ἐὰν συναγάγωσι χρυσίον, πλέον ἐπιζητοῦσιν· οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς πλέον ὀρεγόμεθα τῆς ὑμετέρας προκοπῆς. Εἰ οὖν θέλεις παρὰ Θεῷ προσδεχθῆναι, νήστευσον ὡς οἱ Νινευῗται, ἀδελφέ· ἐκεῖνοι νόμον οὐκ ἔλαβον· περὶ ὧν φησιν ὁ Παῦλος· Ὅταν γὰρ ἔθνη τὰ μὴ νόμον ἔχοντα φύσει τὰ τοῦ νόμου ποιῶσιν, οὗτοι νόμον μὴ ἔχοντες, ἑαυτοῖς εἰσι νόμος. Μὴ τοίνυν ἀργὴν τὴν νηστείαν ἐπιδείκνυσο· οὐ γὰρ ἀναβαίνει μόνη εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἡ νηστεία, ἐὰν μὴ ἔχῃ τὴν ἀδελφὴν αὐτῆς τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην· ξυνωρὶς γὰρ αὐτῆς ἐστι, καὶ οὐ μόνον ἀδελφότης καὶ ξυνωρὶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὄχημα. Καὶ πόθεν τοῦτο; Τῷ Κορνηλίῳ ἔλεγεν ὁ ἄγγελος· Αἱ προσευχαί σου καὶ αἱ ἐλεημοσύναι σου ἀνέβησαν εἰς μνημόσυνον ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ. Πτερὸν γάρ ἐστι τῆς εὐχῆς ἡ ἐλεημοσύνη· ἐὰν οὖν μὴ ποιήσῃς πτερὸν τῇ εὐχῇ, οὐ πέταται· ὅταν δὲ πτερωθῇ ἡ ψυχή σου, ἵπταται εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν. Ἕως πότε ἡ φιλαργυρία καὶ τῶν κτημάτων ἡ ἐπιθυμία; Ταῦτα πάντα, ἀδελφὲ, συγκαταλύεται τῷ παρόντι βίῳ. Ἀλλὰ πάντως μοι ἐρεῖς· Ταῦτα σεαυτῷ λέγε. Καὶ ἐμαυτῷ λέγω, ἀδελφὲ, καὶ ὑμῖν· κοινὸν γὰρ τὸ συμβούλιον. Ἐγὼ ταῦτα ἀκούων, καὶ διορθούμενος, παρ' ὑμῶν χάριν λαμβάνω· κἂν δοῦλος ᾖ ὁ λέγων, δέχομαι τὴν συμβουλὴν, κἂν ἐλεύθερος ᾖ, προθύμως ἀκούω. Οὐ 48.1061 γὰρ τὸ διάφορον τῶν προσώπων, ἀλλ' ἡ χρῆσις τῆς συμβουλῆς ποιεῖ με δέχεσθαι τὰ λεγόμενα. Εἰ γὰρ Μωϋσῆς ἐκεῖνος, ὁ τηλικοῦτος, ὁ τῷ Θεῷ ὁμιλήσας, τὰς τοῦ κηδεστοῦ αὐτοῦ συμβουλίας οὐκ ἀπεστράφη, καὶ τούτου βαρβάρου ὄντος, ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖνος κατεδέξατο, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἐβεβαίωσε· πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἡμεῖς; Οὐ λέγω σοι, ἀκτήμων γενοῦ, ἀλλὰ τὸ περισσὸν εἰς τοὺς πένητας ἀνάλωσον, ἵνα ἡ περισσεία σου ὑπόθεσις σωτηρίας σοι