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De perfecta caritate

OF CHRYSOSTOM On perfect love, and on the reward of works according to their worth, and on compunction.

1. Every good action is a fruit of love; wherefore also the discourse concerning it is extensive, with Christ saying: By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another; and Paul crying out: Owe no one anything, except to love one another. He did not say this simply, but as to those who owe one another. For just as we always owe nourishment to the body, and we always give it back—for such a debt extends throughout our whole life; so also he teaches us to do in the case of love; or rather, much more, inasmuch as it leads to eternal life, and remains with those who have it. For, he says, these three remain: faith, hope, love; but the greatest of these is love. But not only through words, but also through deeds we are taught this. And first, through the manner of our creation. For God, having fashioned one man, commanded all to be born from him, so that we might all consider one another as one, and hasten to live in love towards one another. Then also, through the interchange of transactions, he wisely wrought in us love for one another; and how, listen. Having filled the world with many goods, he gave to each country in turn a particular suitability for fruits, so that by the necessity of need, going to one another, and sharing what is superfluous, and receiving in return what we lack, we might love our own kind. This He has also done for each person. For He did not give all knowledge to all, but to one medicine, to another carpentry, and to another something else, so that needing 56.280.10 one another, we might love one another. And in spiritual things again, one might see the same thing happening, as Paul says, that To one is given the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, to another prophecy, to another gifts of healing, to another kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But nothing is higher than love; wherefore he also placed it before all things, saying thus: If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal; and if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries, and if I have faith, so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And he did not stop even at these things, but also declares that death for piety has no gain, if love is not present. And not in vain did he say so many things about it; for he knew, he knew clearly, as a farmer of the commandments of God, that, when this is securely rooted, the fruit of all good things sprouts forth. For, ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ And why must we speak of small things, while being silent about great things? Through love the beloved Son of God came down to us, and became a fellow-dweller and table-companion with men, so that having destroyed the polytheistic error, and having proclaimed the true knowledge of God, he might teach men love for one another, as John testifies, saying: God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Ignited by this, Paul uttered the heavenly voice, Who shall separate us from the love 56.281 of Christ? saying: tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? But despising these things as worthless, and the

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De perfecta caritate

ΧΡΥΣΟΣΤΟΜΟΥ Περὶ τελείας ἀγάπης, καὶ τῆς κατ' ἀξίαν τῶν ἔργων ἀνταποδόσεως, καὶ περὶ κατανύξεως.

αʹ. Πᾶσα πρᾶξις ἀγαθὴ καρπὸς ἀγάπης ἐστί· διὸ καὶ πολὺς περὶ αὐτῆς ὁ λόγος, τοῦ μὲν Χριστοῦ λέγοντος· Ἐν τούτῳ γνώσονται πάντες, ὅτι ἐμοὶ μαθηταί ἐστε, ἐὰν ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους· τοῦ δὲ Παύλου βοῶντος· Μηδενὶ μηδὲν ὀφείλετε, εἰ μὴ τὸ ἀγαπᾷν ἀλλήλους. Οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἶπεν, ἀλλ' ὡς ὀφείλοντας ἀλλήλοις. Ὡς γὰρ τῷ σώματι τὴν τροφὴν ἀεὶ μὲν ὀφείλομεν αὐτῷ, ἀεὶ δὲ ἀποδίδομεν πάσῃ γὰρ ἡμῶν τῇ ζωῇ τὸ τοιοῦτον συνεκτείνεται χρέος· οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγάπης διδάσκει ποιεῖν· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ πολλῷ πλέον, ὅσῳ καὶ πρὸς αἰώνιον ὁδηγεῖ ζωὴν, καὶ συμπαραμένει τοῖς ἔχουσιν αὐτήν. Μένει γὰρ, φησὶ, τὰ τρία ταῦτα, πίστις, ἐλπὶς, ἀγάπη· μείζων δὲ τούτων ἡ ἀγάπη. Οὐ μόνον δὲ διὰ ῥημάτων, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ πραγμάτων διδασκόμεθα ταύτην. Καὶ πρῶτον μὲν διὰ τοῦ τρόπου τῆς ἡμετέρας κατασκευῆς. Ἕνα γὰρ πλάσας ὁ Θεὸς ἄνθρωπον, ἐξ αὐτοῦ πάντας προσέταξε γενέσθαι, ἵνα πάντες ἀλλήλους ὡς ἕνα νομίζωμεν, καὶ ἐν ἀγάπῃ πρὸς ἀλλήλους διάγειν σπουδάζωμεν. Ἔπειτα καὶ διὰ τῆς τῶν συναλλαγμάτων ἐπιμιξίας σοφῶς ἡμῖν τὸ φιλάλληλον ἐπραγματεύσατο· καὶ πῶς, ἄκουε. Πολλῶν πλήσας τὴν οἰκουμένην ἀγαθῶν, ἔδωκεν ἑκάστῃ χώρᾳ πάλιν ἰδιάζουσαν ἐπιτηδειότητα καρπῶν, ἵνα διὰ τὸ τῆς χρείας ἀναγκαῖον πρὸς ἀλλήλους βαδίζοντες, καὶ τῶν περιττευόντων μεταδιδόντες, καὶ τῶν λειπόντων ἡμῖν ἀντιλαμβάνοντες, ἀγαπῶμεν τὸ ὁμόφυλον. Τοῦτο καὶ ἐφ' ἑκάστου πεποίηκεν ἀνθρώπου. Οὐ γὰρ πάντα πᾶσιν ἔδωκεν εἰδέναι, ἀλλὰ τῷ μὲν ἰατρικὴν, τῷ δὲ τεκτονικὴν, καὶ ἄλλῳ ἄλλην, ἵνα χρῄζοντες 56.280.10 ἀλλήλων, ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους. Καὶ ἐν τοῖς πνευματικοῖς δὲ πάλιν τὸ αὐτὸ γινόμενον ἴδοι τις ἂν, ὥς φησιν ὁ Παῦλος, ὅτι Τῷ μὲν δίδοται λόγος σοφίας, τῷ δὲ λόγος γνώσεως, ἄλλῳ δὲ προφητεία, ἄλλῳ δὲ χαρίσματα ἰαμάτων, ἄλλῳ δὲ γένη γλωσσῶν, ἄλλῳ δὲ ἑρμηνεία γλωσσῶν. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲν τῆς ἀγάπης ἀνώτερον· διὸ καὶ πάντων αὐτὴν προέθηκεν, οὕτως εἰπών· Ἐὰν δὲ ταῖς γλώσσαις τῶν ἀνθρώπων λαλῶ καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, γέγονα χαλκὸς ἠχῶν, ἢ κύμβαλον ἀλαλάζον· καὶ ἐὰν ἔχω προφητείαν, καὶ εἰδῶ τὰ μυστήρια πάντα, καὶ ἐὰν ἔχω πίστιν, ὥστε ὄρη μεθιστάνειν, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, οὐδέν εἰμι. Καὶ οὐδὲ μέχρι τούτων ἔστη, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας θάνατον οὐδὲν ἔχειν ἀποφαίνεται κέρδος, μὴ προσούσης ἀγάπης. Οὐ μάτην δὲ τοσαῦτα περὶ αὐτῆς εἴρηκεν· ᾔδει γὰρ, ᾔδει σαφῶς, ἅτε γεωργὸς τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅτι, ταύτης ἐῤῥιζωμένης ἀσφαλῶς, ὁ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἁπάντων βλαστάνει καρπός. Τὸ γὰρ, Οὐ μοιχεύσεις, οὐ φονεύσεις, οὐ κλέψεις, οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις, καὶ εἴ τις ἑτέρα ἐντολὴ, ἐν τούτῳ τῷ λόγῳ ἀνακεφαλαιοῦται, ἐν τῷ, Ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν. Καὶ τί χρὴ τὰ μικρὰ λέγειν, τὰ μεγάλα σιωπῶντας; ∆ι' ἀγάπην κατῆλθε πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὁ ἀγαπητὸς Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ὁμόσκηνος καὶ ὁμοδίαιτος τοῖς ἀνθρώποις γέγονεν, ἵνα τὴν πολύθεον καταλύσας πλάνην, καὶ τὴν ἀληθῆ καταγγείλας θεογνωσίαν, τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀγάπην διδάξῃ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, καθὼς Ἰωάννης μαρτυρεῖ λέγων· Οὕτως ἠγάπησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν κόσμον, ὅτι τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται, ἀλλ' ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον. Ὑπὸ ταύτης ἐκκαιόμενος ὁ Παῦλος τὴν οὐράνιον ἀφῆκε φωνὴν, Τίς ἡμᾶς χωρίσει ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγά56.281 πης τοῦ Χριστοῦ; λέγων· θλίψις, ἢ στενοχωρία, ἢ διωγμὸς, ἢ λιμὸς, ἢ γυμνότης, ἢ κίνδυνος, ἢ μάχαιρα; Καταφρονήσας δὲ τούτων ὡς εὐτελῶν, καὶ τὰ