Yovhannēs Mandakuni, Čaṙkʿ (Homilies)

Letter on the Subject of Confession of the Life of the Sinful Those who desire the Holy Spirit and yearn for divine love await the coming of the Son of God and long for immortal glory. They always contemplate the highest things and perpetually desire those joys. They despise and renounce temporal things, and from day to day they ascend upward, not only by the truth of faith but also by the virtue of conduct. They always strive for purity of heart and are ever prepared for the integrity of the spirit. They live and dwell in the world, but not according to the pleasures of this world; rather, like strangers, wanderers, and exiles of another world, they are distressed and worn down by many necessities. They are emboldened by the hope that where I am, there my service shall be. Such are the honors of the spiritual and the gifts of the God-loving. But I have been wounded by many arrows of the evil one, and having been defeated, I have been vanquished. I confess my defeat and make known my wickedness. I recount my countless sins and lament my abundant lawlessness. For the pains of my wounds compel me to tell, and the sorrows of my calamities force me to lament, to seek a remedy for my wound, and to ask perpetually for streams of tears, with which I may weep for my sins and heal my wounds. This I constantly desire with many longings, and with fervent yearning I seek at all times that lamentation of the prophet.

for by joining with him in lamentation, and weeping with a voice of mournful tenderness, I would always say: Would that someone had taken my head from the storehouse of many waters, and my eyes from the fountain of tears, and that day and night I might weep unceasingly and bitterly over my wickedness, and bewail my evils, and lament the multitude of my lawless deeds, and always mourn my sins, and sigh over my boundless transgressions, and groan over my countless pollutions, and wail over my terrible ruin, and weep bitterly over the calamities of my torments. For the remorse for my transgressions consumes me at all times, as I look upon the countless multitude of my sins and the terrible lawlessness of my afflictions. It constantly wastes my body, rends my limbs, freezes my heart, twists my belly, and my soul trembles with fear, and it melts all my members perpetually. For I am troubled by the pains of my wounds, and my mind is fixed on them, for I know the good and do evil; I understand righteousness and commit lawlessness; I speak of rectitude and contemplate injustice; I appear holy and approach impurity; I recognize truth and adhere to error; I see the light and desire the darkness. And now, who will weep for me, or who will mourn me, dead in sins and ruined by lawlessness, fallen into the depths of darkness and the abyss of wickedness?

For my evils torment me, and my pollutions slay me. And now what kind of lamentation, or what kind of wailing, can I make for the multitude of my countless sins, I who have fallen ill from my transgressions and have been pained by my own sloth? For immortality was promised to me, and I remain in my mortality; I was summoned up to the heavens, and I descend into the abyss of the pit; the desirable paradise was prepared, and I chose the prickly thorns; and eternal life and glory, and I slay myself with my sins. And now for all this, what mourning is sufficient, or what wailing of the wailer; what kind of weeping of tears, or what kind of sighs of supplication; what labors, or what works of virtue, will heal my wounds, for they are countless and innumerable? And my soul, negligent through sloth, abandoned by the multitude of grievous sins, grows weak, and trembles in fear of the unquenchable fire of Gehenna; for remembering the great day of terrible judgment and the dreadful terror of the awesome tribunal, my soul quakes with fear, and my mind is stupefied with terror; my heart demands lamentation, and my eyes yearn for tears; the dread of the terrible time hastens me to repentance, and the deceits of the Evil One ever make me slothful. And now I am pressed from both sides and distressed in every way, for I have always spent my days in sin, and I have wasted my life in lawlessness, and I have done good to no one, and I have never acquired righteousness.

but all my limbs have been corrupted and destroyed by my manifold offenses. I have defiled my mouth with slander, and I have polluted my tongue with empty words; my ear with listening to evil, and my eye with impure sights; my heart with foul thoughts, and my soul with unseemly conduct I have constantly led; and I have not at all kept my body healthy nor my heart true, for by sins I am in pains, and by transgressions in illnesses. I wish to repent and confess, but the enemy delays me; I wish to enter into the labor of penance, but the enemy makes me slothful; I wish to fall before God, but the enemy drives me away; I wish to entreat and implore and beseech, but the enemy hardens me; I wish to mourn and weep with tears, but the enemy dries them up; I wish to have mercy on the poor, but the enemy reminds me of my own poverty; I wish to wear myself out with fasts, but the enemy reminds me of my bodily weakness; I wish to humble myself and obey my brother, but my heart hardens with pride; for whatever I attempt to atone for my sins, I find the snare of the enemy’s wickedness set before me. And now I am distressed in every way, and my soul groans constantly; remembering the multitude of my sins, I tremble with fear, and I am perplexed by the foulness of my thoughts.

Lamenting my impurity unceasingly, and by bringing my lawlessness to mind, terrors of perplexity fall upon me, and pains of the sides strike me. For I always see the terrible fear of the tribunal, and the dread of the great, lofty, and awesome throne, and the terrible sound of the trumpet, and the dreadful voice of the archangel; the sea-like expanse of fire, its conflagration spreading over the whole earth; the ascent of the righteous, and the abiding of the sinners; the gathering of all sinners, and the rendering of account of words and deeds; the fearsome face of the judge, and the inevitable day of judgment; the evil shame of sinners, and the bitter eternal torments of hell. And because of all this I groan and weep bitterly, unceasingly lamenting my sins, for I see the dread of hell as very terrible, and the sight of its fearful calamities; where neither possessions nor any entreaties avail; neither weeping nor tears are of use; neither groans nor sighs are of any benefit; the righteous do not intercede, and the saints do not plead for those who have gone forth in sins. You are unknown to those who know you, and far from those near you; you are hated by those who love you, and an enemy to friends; you are utterly desolate, and a stranger to all. You cannot entreat anyone, and no one knows you; you lament and weep piteously, and no one inclines toward you; you burn with thirst, and no one has compassion on you; you burn unceasingly, and you find no means of burning at all.

Wrapped in mist, you are in the fire of the furnaces, and in the dark gloom of the unseen Gehenna, in the pits of darkness and in the lower Tartarus, in the stench and in the conflagrations. Fire kindled from below, and terrible streams of fire from above, which, flowing, descend from the fiery rivers, where the darkness is terrifying. And you cannot see anyone at all, for covered with black mist and placed amidst the sparks, you weep and lament unceasingly, and you mourn only your own perplexities, for you consider only yourself amidst the pains of the terrible calamities in the torments of the tortures. You sigh perpetually and weep bitterly, restless and comfortless. Griefs, afflictions, and eternal sufferings, unceasing torments and unforgivable anguish, incomparable pains and unequaled pangs, perplexities in every way and utterly despairing. For there, only shrieking and wailing is the speech. There you hear only howling and groaning, sighing and anguish. Weeping and lamenting unceasingly, and finding no mercy. But you are always consumed in griefs, and perpetually wasted in want, with tears and supplications which no one hears, and they do not accept your supplications, for the time is inopportune. But here is weeping and here is lamenting. Here is howling and here is groaning. Here is beseeching and entreating and begging for forgiveness.

for here is the profit of tears and the benefit of prayers, the seeds of mercy and the fruit of repentance, the time for sighing and for seeking mercy. And now let us exchange the narrow affliction of the body for the unending torments of pain; for with the few days of labor in this world, let us live in the blazing flame and the terrible sparks of Gehenna; with the small toil of prayers, let us live in the rushing rivers of fire; with the narrow sorrow, let us live in the terrible furnaces and the evil-biting worms; with the barking and sighing here, let us live there in the bitter torments and the lightless darkness; with the narrow weeping and shedding of tears here, let us live there in the perpetual weeping and the ceaseless lamentation; and in exchange for one act of repentance here, let us live there in the mist-wrapped darkness, in the bitter death and the eternal shame. And now, considering all this, O my much-sinful soul, do not be negligent in the fasts, and do not be lazy in prayers; do not cease from repentance, and do not delay in confession, and do not despair of repentance, and do not labor for mercy; do not cease from weeping, and do not rest from lamentation; do not remain until the end, and do not hope in the labor of old age, and do not consider yourself to have many months in this world, and do not think that I will repent later.

The enemy is a thief and a deceiver; he deceives you and destroys you by making you delay in this way. Now you say, "I will do, then I will repent"; you say, "I will rest in my youth, and in old age I will repent"; you say, "Today I will live and enjoy, and tomorrow I will keep"; you say, "Now I will be delicate, and then I will be austere"; you say, "Now I will gather, then I will scatter to the poor." Such are the deceptions of the enemy, by which he deceives and destroys us, making us put off from year to year, and setting from time to time a limit for doing good. And now let us not be deceived by such deceptions. The day of the end is hidden; the ways of departure from this world are unseen. As birth pangs fall upon you, you will not have time to repent and do penance. As a thief comes in the night, he does not give time to mourn and do penance. As a fowler's snare suddenly seizes, it gives time to weep and groan and leave alms. As a lion rushes, roars, and snatches, you will have no time at all. And now, my soul, what will you do, or what will you accomplish, when you think of the good but do not do it? You wish to have mercy, and you delay. You say you will repent, but not as David, who with tears moistened the bed and the dust, saying, "I ate like bread, and I mixed my drink with tears"; and all night he groaned and wept bitterly without ceasing. You are rich in keeping, but you do not, like the Ninevites, go down into sackcloth and ashes.

And again he says, "Turn back from each of your paths and from your lawless ways," which they also did. The wretch laments luxuriously; you wish to have mercy on the afflicted, but not like the widow woman who sold everything. Now such is the fervor of penance that it spares nothing, not even bodily labor; rather, it afflicts, consumes, and torments, and seeks only the remission of sins and the healing of the wounds of the soul, by which we may atone for our sins and heal the wounds of our souls. For it is possible to atone for sins by fasts and with the labor of abstinence; it is possible to atone for sins by prayers, supplications, and compassionate entreaties; it is possible to atone for sins by sackcloth, ashes, and sleeping on the ground; it is possible to atone for sins by weeping, lamenting, and pity for the destitute; it is possible to atone for sins by sighing, groaning, and unceasing sobs; it is possible to atone for sins by meekness, humility, and obedience; it is possible to atone for sins by poverty, destitution, and nakedness; it is possible to atone for sins by good works and beneficence to all; it is possible to atone for sins by brotherly love and fear of God; it is possible to atone for sins by right instruction and teaching, according to that saying: "He who turns another from the evil way saves his own soul from death and conceals the multitude of his sins.

But a true and genuine repentance alone, and a straight confession, are sufficient, if only you would first confess your lawless deeds, that you might be justified. And what do you have to say now, O my much-sinning soul, that with so many remedies you are not healed? But hasten, do not delay; awake from your grievous sleep; turn back from your destructive path; disperse the darkness of ignorance; rouse yourself from your senseless error, and come to yourself; cast off from yourself the severity of your sins; lighten the weight of your lawless burdens; atone for the countless multitude of your offenses; heal the grievous wounding of your evil sores, and wash away the foul stench of the mire of your wickedness. So that, with a purified and cleansed spirit, and a body adorned with light and great splendor, with a bold face and a cheerful countenance, you may pass through the multitude of the universal, terrible, and countless hosts, to stand before the awesome and great tribunal of God, and to hear from Him the sweet-sounding voice of blessedness and the world-beholding proclamation: "Come, blessed ones of my Father, and enter, inherit the enjoyment of the goods of heaven with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." To whom is glory and honor unto eternity of eternities. Amen.

The Roots of the Medicine of Repentance The roots of physicians' medicines heal the pains of the body, and the flow of tears of repentance heals the wounds of the soul from sins, and especially when they repent with mercy and compassion for the poor. For there are many roots of the ailments that they cause to cease, which are mixed into the medicines of physicians; but there is one that is even more effective for the dispersion of pains. Likewise, in the medicines of this, there are many labors of repentance for the cleansing of sins; but mercy is more important and effective than all virtues for atoning for sins and healing the wounds, together with lamentations and sighs and compassionate tears. From this, let us not delay, and let us make the return of repentance for sins from early on, and let us not remain until the day of the end to perform the mercy of the property. For that day is a thief, it is a plunderer, the day of the end; the departures from this world are invisible, it is sudden and compelling, and it does not permit you to entreat and implore, to weep and lament, to have mercy and repent. It seizes like a snare, it plunders like a lion; and like a captive led away by a captor mercilessly, you sigh, weep, and groan with lamentation, and you find no benefit. For by putting off from hour to hour, you lost the time of repentance, by which you could have lightened the burden of sins and cleansed the filth of lawlessness.

...be companions of the righteous, a son of the heavenly Father, and an heir of the eternal blessings. And now, whether by the desires of voluptuous longings or by the threats of terrible torments, let us hasten to repentance, and let us not bind burden upon burden, nor add pain to pains. And let not Satan deceive us, saying, "Life is long," and let us not postpone repentance until old age. Let us not remain at the unforgiving end and before the merciless exactors; let us not be idle without reward, and depart without recompense. But let us atone for our transgressions and repent of our sins, and let us be emulous of the valor of the valiant and the virtue of the virtuous, whose hearts are purified and minds enlightened, innocent of sins and blameless of iniquities, who ever contemplate the higher things and constantly care for the celestial, who have bodies of earth yet are angelic in disposition, who are not in need of the teaching of books or of exemplary models, for they have shown forth the rectitude of their minds and the virtues of their conduct more than any book. We are far from the straight path, and alien to the virtues of conduct, turned aside by the stumbling blocks of the enemy and entangled in the mire of transgressions; we are in need of admonitions and teaching and some exemplary models, and perhaps we shall fear the severity of the terrible fire, and learn from the disastrous examples of the models. By the body let us perceive the corporeal, and by the visible let us know the invisible.

...tance, and with desires for eternal goods. Penance must be taken as an example from the pains of the wounds of the spirit, the pain of the afflictions of the body, how the soul always laments painfully the fearful pains of the body, and continually weeps bitterly the momentary wrath of the afflictions, and sighs and groans unceasingly from the perplexities of terrible calamities, and the voices of supplications and woes soften the unmerciful. For from the severity of the painful labors, it does not rejoice in the love of the beloved, nor does it become angry at the enmity of the hated; it does not remember the softness of life, nor does it bring to mind the beauty of enjoyment; and it abandons all the honors and splendor of the world, making them of no account, from the perplexities of pain. But it remains always with mourning and tears and plaintive softenings; it only implores the sorrows of danger, with which many from among the near ones weep in pity, and hasten to be in search of physicians and remedies, dispelling the momentary pains, and they promise rewards to the physicians and prices for the remedies for the sake of dispelling the urgent pains. And all this happens for the sake of this corruptible body, which, even if it is healed, yet must die. But what shall we do for the eternal pains of the terrible fire of Gehenna, which is prepared and kept for our much-wounded souls, which are always afflicted by sin, and lie incurably in the bed of transgressions?

...and they constantly wound and always injure with the lawlessness of sins, and the torments of the calamitous pains cruelly torture you. And we do not sigh and groan and constantly beseech God. We do not lament the pains of sins, nor do we wash away the wounds of our transgressions. We do not ceaselessly weep and shed tears over our lawlessness and the terrors of eternal torments. Instead, we add wound upon wound constantly, and we do not heal with the plasters of penance. We do not seek a physician, nor do we search for remedies. We pay nothing, and we promise no recompense for the healing of these urgent wounds and for the incurable afflictions of our lawlessness. For we are not only in pain with salt and belly, but with our whole body we are in the wounds of sins. For our eyes, which gaze upon the wounds with a persistent stare, are in pain. Our ears, which incline toward pleasant occasions, are in pain. Our tongues, with slander and oaths, are in pain. Our hearts, with evil desire and foul thoughts, are in pain. Our hands, with plunder and oppression, are in pain. Our feet, with theatrical games and shameless wanderings, are in pain. And our whole body, inflamed with sins and swollen with lawlessness. And thus we are in pain and suffering from sins with all our limbs, and we do not approach the physician of souls, nor are we in search of the remedy of penance. We are tormented by the affliction of sin, and we are not healed by the tears of penance.

We do not cleanse the bitter pus of sins with lamentations, nor wash away the foul putrefaction of evil corruptions with tears. For if one does not heal here with prayers, fasts, and almsgiving, the terrible fire stands before, and the unquenchable flame of Gehenna blazes. The fiery rivers of fire and the dark abysses full of darkness are ready and waiting; the bitter torturers and merciless great terrors of unforgivable torments, which remain and are kept for the great terrible judgment. And now all this stands before, and we grow proud and indulge ourselves and sin fearlessly, and utterly heedless, we do everything carelessly, absorbed in earthly things. We eat and drink, and carelessly fall asleep, and with much self-indulgence we gather riches as if we were immortal and everlasting. And we never bring to mind the power, nor fear the judgment, nor the bitter eternal shame. And we do not at all remember what we shall have to endure after death, nor do we bring to mind the manifold stratagems of Satan's war with much vigilance and constant fear, who always fights in secret without ceasing, and invisibly wounds at every moment. And we do not feel and are not wary of his evil arrows and severe blows, but we carelessly enjoy all desires and rest without caution.

And thus we conduct ourselves with laziness and heedlessness, as if there were no torments, no Gehenna, no terrible judge, no merciless judgments, no examination of deeds, no inquiry into thoughts, no accounting of conduct, no demand for an idle word. And all these lazinesses are from the evil devices of Satan, who enters into all our hair and places there the snare of death. For Satan not only torments through the wicked, but also turns the straight conduct toward wickedness, and from the good art that he sees in a person, he places for him a snare of death. What you consider slight and do not hasten to atone for, by that he destroys you. For he destroys the keeper through hypocrisy and by striving for show; the one who prays, through contempt held before God and by turning the mind outward; the compassionate one, by not going to visit the sick. He also destroys the teacher through the hypocrisy of teaching, so that he does not teach the will of God with great fear. He also destroys the psalm-singer, Satan, if he does not guard against the evil passion of vainglory, but speaks for show and for the praise of the hearers, and does not recount the commandments of God and sing his blessings, who do not honor him as the glorifier. He also destroys the hearers, Satan, because of laziness and contempt in hearing the commandments of God and the word of teaching.

The devil destroys the labors of the laborers by their murmuring, and by appearing great over the negligent, and by bringing the work of his service to account and reckoning, and by revealing to all the toil of his labor; so that he finds no rest like the laborers, but is put to shame like the murmurers and the condemned. The devil also destroys the wealthy who are diligent only in gathering, and not in distributing to the poor; who do not know how to live by their wealth, but are condemned as merciless and greedy. The devil also destroys the poor by their groans and murmuring, and by not being grateful to God who wishes to magnify them among the eternal. The devil also destroys the artisans, if they take more wages than the work, or if with envy and malice they withhold the talent of the craft from those who seek to learn, so that they are condemned as debtors of the talent. The devil also destroys the rulers who are heavy in their rule, and with a bestial heart terrify the subjects, or who for the sake of splendid faces or bribes steal the rights of the just. The devil also destroys those who are under authority, if they do not obey as servants of God and with fear honor the dignity.

He destroys also the tax-collectors from the tax-payers, if they demand more than the royal commands and oppress the oppressed [...] and kindle the flame of Gehenna. And thus the devil sets snares of death for all, and leads them away from the straight ways and from the commandments of God. An evil fruit and a lawless reward, by which they think to receive the kingdom, by that same they inherit the torments. And to such a degree of plunder has the devil made them foolish, that even in praying, in fasting, and in performing works of mercy, he gives them cause to sin. And we do not strive to shake off from ourselves the stupor of the devil, and by prayers and repentance to reconcile the Lord. For repentance is able to whiten those blackened with sins, and to cleanse those stained with filth, to illumine those darkened by sins, and to dispel the gloom of lawlessness. And knowing this, the devil approaches the one who wishes to repent, and weighs down his mind, making him unwilling to begin repentance. For he knows that if the beginning is set right, then the labor of repentance becomes sweet. And for that reason, by every means, at the beginning of repentance he is wary, making him slothful, and putting off from day to day. And we, knowing this, let us hasten with haste, making a beginning of repentance. For only at the beginning does it seem difficult, and immediately the work becomes easy, and goes on sweet and desirable.

Just as the alphabet-maker does not dare to repeat the first letter or the names of the letters of the script for one who wishes to learn, but with broken syllables, half-names, and by breaking apart, and then by hanging the letter of the script, effortlessly brings the other [letters], so also penance, if it endures from the beginning, receives grace through confession, and through grace the mind is illuminated; they learn the fear of torments, and through fear they obtain tears and mourning; mourning teaches fasts, and fasts bring prayers; prayers render mercy abundant, and little by little, step by step, one ascends, and easily rises to the heavens. But you can also be justified by one single one of these, if you wish; for many lived by right confession alone; some were saved by mourning and grief; some did penance by sackcloth and ashes alone; some by weeping and tears reconciled the Lord; some did penance by fasts and prayers; some by mercy received the mercy of God; some by philanthropy and serving the weak found penance; some by humility and obedience received remission of sins.

For just as there are different paths of sins for each nation, so too are there different remedies of penance, by which you can heal all the infirmities of sins, not by number of years and much time, but only by true conversion and by withdrawing from evils with the heart you can be justified. And now, knowing all this, let us atone for our sins with penance; for the pollutions of sins condemn not only on the terrible day, but even here they torment the conscience of the mind with evils, and secretly moving about with shyness from people, with suspicions from acquaintances, with shame before loved ones, with reproaches from enemies, with threats from judges, with fear of prisons and punishments, with the reproach of the commandments of God, and with the fear of terrible torments. And going further, who can recount the distresses of the eternal unforgivable calamities, where the man and woman are with shame and reproach? But the fruits of penance you will enjoy not only in heaven, but even here you receive a hundredfold with joy, with freedom from care, with praise of the commandments, with the gladness of a conscience-free mind, without shyness from people, without suspicion from acquaintances, without blame from enemies, without shame before loved ones, with boldness in public places, without fear of judges, free from punishments, a peaceful life, an easy death, expectation of eternal and desirable delights.

But what mouth is sufficient to tell of the delights of the infinite blessings of the joyless? Now this is the reward of righteousness, this the fruit of penance. Therefore, do not fear to enter into penance because of the multitude of sins; only have recourse to God. He is not a judge, but a physician; not a torturer who kills, but a loving Father. He comes to meet you like the father of the prodigal son; he falls upon your neck when you turn to penance. The heavenly Father kisses you on the eyes and mouth; he commands that the first garment of innocence be put on you; he again fortifies you with the shield of the enemy's arrows. You are nourished by the sacrament of the body of the Son of God. The chosen servants partake of the sacrament with you, and all the saints sing and dance at your return from your prodigality. At which the first people, amazed and somewhat envious with circumcision, not entering into the joy of the anointing of the Son of God, went out to hunt, and the true God came in the flesh, entreating the Jew who believed in the Father to call the repentant pagan to the faith, and to rejoice at the return of his prodigal brother, and together to partake of the anointing of the Son of God, and to inherit the delights of the infinite blessings with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, to whom is glory and honor forever and ever. Amen.

The Benefit of the Strictness of Fasts The strictness of fasts and the temperance of abstinences are beneficial and important, and especially when they approach it with discerning knowledge, and truly recognize how profitable is the strictness of fasts. But those who are not heedful of that, it is necessary to know from these visible things the purity of abstinence, and the harmful fullness of the belly. And they know that just as drought-stricken places do not produce plants of various kinds, so also dried-up bellies do not give birth to thoughts of impurity. And just as a filthy land produces and grows mixed plants, so also bellies softened by the filth of foods constantly bring forth inappropriate thoughts; for a barren land encircles the womb, and a maddened belly the passions of impurity. For he who is pampered by delicacies also knows thoughts of various kinds; and he who is abundant in scanty food brings the fear of hunger to mind; for thickened bellies do not give birth to holy thoughts, but guard and conceal the senses of the body under pretext. And those who serve the belly cannot be faithful servants of God. For those who are purified and sanctified by fasts not only cleanse the impurity of lawlessness, but also cause the holy God to dwell within themselves.

And so great is the strictness of fasts and the virtue of temperance, which, bound, causes all the members of the body to cease from desires and impure thoughts, and constantly drives from the mind's thoughts the assault of demons, who wish to disturb and defile the hearts of the purified. For the strictness of fasts, as if bound with iron chains, preserves all the virtues of conduct and the steadfastness of faith; for it is a mighty tower against the enemy, and a wall of strength against all the arrows of Satan. And since the virtue of fasts is very important for our nature, and many deficiencies arise from the humility of fasts, from the very creation of man, our nature was fortified with the strictness of fasts, and the first commandment given to the first man was the strictness of fasts—not to eat from the tree. For if he had kept the commandment of fasts, he would have inherited a life without affliction, without death, and without sin, and the blessings of heaven in heaven; for many who kept the strictness of fasts lived through many afflictions. By the same strictness of fasts, the great Daniel lived from the jaws of lions, for even the bestial nature feared to approach the holy body of the faster; and just as he prevented himself from approaching the king's table, which was defiled by impure sacrifices, so the beasts were prevented from approaching the holy body of the faster.

Of the fasts, by the strictness of the three youths lived through the raging flame, and they quenched the drunkenness of the desires for food, and with a little lentil, they lived many days; they quenched the high-rising terrible fire of the furnace. For within, the cooling dew comforted the keepers, and outside, the raging flame intensified the boastful, and extending forty-nine cubits, it destroyed all. By the strictness of the fasts, the populous city of the Ninevites lived, for they turned from all lawlessness and from the paths of evil; with sackcloth and ashes, they turned aside the hardened wrath of God. And because they did not spare themselves from affliction with fasts and supplications, with lamentation and weeping and groans, God had mercy on their souls and bodies. By the strictness of the fasts, Moses received the God-given laws, for by the purity of forty-day fasts he was deemed worthy to approach the Pure One, and he spoke mouth to mouth with Him as with a friend. By the strictness of the fasts, Elijah the Thesbite was purified, and with the word of his mouth he opened and closed the heavens, and brought fire down to earth. And what more shall I say of the strictness of the fasts, that even the Lord's own body needed the strictness of fasts for our example, by which the first fathers became virtuous, and they made the hair of the incorporeal angels appear in the bodies of men.

They killed the earthly desires on the earth, and enlivened their spirits in the heavens. They rejected these guiltless pleasures, that they might receive those guileless goods. Having withdrawn from homes and possessions, they were tormented by many trials, and, pressed on all sides, they mortified their bodies with hunger, thirst, and coarse clothing. For some of them, even with a diet of herbs, they were satisfied; and some lived only on the tastes of fruits. Some ate only the bark of trees and the roots of herbs; some fasted with a little of something; some, with a bread of three ounces, from hour to hour; some, the fourth part of a loaf, and others the sixth; some made a meal of a grain of wheat; some, with only a pig-nut or acorn, would still the pang of hunger. Some considered the communion of the spiritual food sufficient for the day for the needs of the body; but any other delicacy of foods was utterly dead among them. For some would partake from hour to hour; some after two days; some after three; some after seven days; and those who remembered the need for food even more, would partake of it by measure, and drink water by measure, and with unceasing groaning they were occupied with prayers and worship, and passed the whole night in tears and sobs, and with suppliant entreaties and sighs they reconciled God. Some slept fallen on the ground; some passed the night in standing toil.

Some sat for a short while; some held their hands raised up until dawn; some, having bowed their necks, fasted until daybreak; some would trace hundreds of prayers. Some would be speechless, speaking only the Psalms; some would not utter a word without being questioned; some would speak only with a chosen, useful companion, and would pass the day with constant toil and supplication; and for the sake of some spiritual instruction, they would go to another land; and they would love enemies as friends; and with humility they would consider the companion better than themselves; and for the sake of obedience, they would even submit to fire and face wild beasts; and they would offer themselves into the service of their companion; and from their righteous labors they would feed the needy, the homeless, and the sick. They governed their bodies with moderation and placed a bridle on their thoughts; and thus, with various and manifold hardship, they established the strength of their fasts. For all this is the narrow gate and the straitened path that leads to eternal life; by which they also performed many signs and wonders: they cast out demons, healed the sick, raised the dead, walked upon waters, and halted the course of the sun by the purity of their upright fasts; and the steadfastness of their fasts wrought even greater power than this.

For the first saints, when they wished to draw near to God, they would first purify themselves by the fasts, and then approach the pure one and become God-seers. But those who were far from the fasts were far from the grace of God, and were tormented by many evils. Behold, Adam was far from the steadfastness of the fasts, and went out from Paradise into a thorn-bearing land. The offspring of the race of Noah were far from the steadfastness of the fasts, and were destroyed and drowned by the universal flood. The people of the Hebrews were far from the steadfastness of the fasts, and the chosen among them were destroyed. The inhabitants of the Sodomites were far from the fasts, and were consumed by fire. And all who despised the fasts were despised by God, and were far from his mercy. But those who keep the fasts must do so with discerning knowledge, for Satan destroys those who fast and the fasts of the faster, if he slanders the most innocent, or shows himself superior to others, or considers the foods unclean, or if he fasts with hypocrisy, as if he hides the steadfastness of the fasts from the eyes of others so that he may not appear vainglorious and hypocritical, but wishes that his abstinence be proclaimed by others. And if no one knows, then he himself wishes to harden the steadfastness of the fasts under a pretext, so that they may know and marvel at his endurance. For such fasts do not purify and justify, but defile and destroy.

But if one becomes modest in food, yet does not keep the fast with the other members, it is in vain and contrary to effort. This is what I say: if one does not make the tongue modest, and does not take heed with the eye and ear and thoughts and mind, and harbors rancor against a companion, and holds hatred against a brother, or shows love to someone with hypocrisy, or does not serve a companion with humility, and desires honor and authority, and considers oneself to be in the fast, such a one is in very great ruin from satanic counsels. For these are not fasts of humility, but of deceit and hypocrisy, vain and fruitless, which burn in fire and are consumed in water perpetually, which the moth destroyed, and thieves cut and carried away, and no benefit came from such fasts of the wretched, but rather great punishment and calamity. For here the hypocritical fasts are punished, and there, condemned by the just judgment, one is tormented in the fire of the furnace, and is more liable even than drunkards and gluttons, because one considered the all-knowing God ignorant by the evil hypocrisy of the practices. But there are also some who, when they wish to enter into the fast, hasten to wash and anoint themselves, and stuff the belly and the stomach, and revel with much gluttony and drunkenness, and then enter into the rigors of the fasts.

And what shall we call such persons—fasters or drunkards, temperate or gluttons, ascetics or debauchees? For it is impossible to find purity through impurity, and to attain righteousness through sins. No one obtains chastity through fornication, nor receives the sanctity of the fast through debauchery and drunkenness. For it is impossible for this to happen: that I first fornicate and then become chaste, or that I indulge in debauchery and dissipation through drunkenness and then enter into the sanctity of the fast. For it is not fitting for a fornicator to become chaste, nor for one who is debauched through drunkenness to be a faster and an ascetic. For the chaste one receives the crown of chastity through chastity, and not through fornication; and the faster receives the reward of the fast through abstinence, and not through drunkenness, debauchery, and the dissipations of gluttony. But there are some who call the fast of the Forty Days a half-fast, who deem a part of the week essential, and they persist and strive in sanctity, but they call the other part a half-fast, and they weaken the rigor of the fast, and they partake of something unacceptable from delicate foods, and through gluttony they dissolve the holy and manifest fast of the Forty Days. For this essential fast of the Forty Days the Son of God kept for our sake, as our example; and there he did not call it a half-fast. The same forty days Moses kept on the mountain; and there he did not call it a half-fast. The same forty days Elijah kept on the mountain in the desert.

And there he did not name it a fast-breaker. The same forty days we, with our weakness, complete day by day with fasts. And it is not fitting for us to call the forty-day fasts a fast-breaker, and to dissolve the strictness of the holy fasts. For from the beginning of the fasts until their completion, they are fasts from delicacy, if you wish to practice asceticism and to fast. But if you wish to dissolve them with gluttony, you would not dissolve the light fast-breaker, but the essential fasts. For "fast-breaker" is named from laziness and from the imperfect, and not from the chaste and from those who fast. But fasts are named not only from foods, but also from refraining from all sins. For fasts are also silences of the mouth, and not speaking to anyone without necessity and questioning. Fasts are also poverty and destitution, and not caring for superfluities, but seeking the needs of the day, and asking for the same from God. Fasts are also sitting in one place with humility, and not wandering about wantonly here and there in pleasures and in amusements. Fasts are also being unkempt and squalid without washing and anointing. Fasts are also a rough garment of some kind, providing only for the needs of nakedness and cold. Fasts are also lowering the eyes from persistence, and the ears from hearing, and the heart from impure thoughts.

Fasts are: not seeking honor and authority, not becoming angry, not shouting, not envying, not seeking vengeance for oneself, and not striving to justify oneself before a companion. Fasts are: not being covetous, and not being obsequious, and not being vainglorious with garments. Fasts are: humility and obedience, and loving everyone with a holy heart. Fasts are also: when one has paid the due of the nature of sleep, and has no desire for sleep, but only the first [necessary sleep], and then, having arisen, works or prays. And indeed all these are true fasts, and more than the shortening of foods. And these, and those that are similar, it is necessary to shorten during the time of fasts, and then the shortening of foods also becomes acceptable. But the shortening of foods is not uniform, but according to each one's ability: some complete it with one meal, some with two meals, some with three meals, and some with a week's abstinence, according to each person's strength. Some with plain vegetables, some with only lentils, some with a little bread, some with various [foods], and even the unseasoned broth they add; and some are only wine-drinkers, and some are only broth-drinkers, and some are only bread-eaters, and they utterly banish and reject soft foods and delicacies.

but if they increase only by one kind of food and by abstinence, which merely preserves life, and does not add to the body and blood that which stirs up the passions of desire; and that little eating, little drinking, little sleeping, and unceasing prayers. But it is especially necessary during the days of fasts that what you withhold from your belly, you bestow upon the poor, so that you may hunger, and the hungry may be sated, and your sins may be atoned. These are holy and God-willed fasts, and by these the ascetic practices of all afflictions become acceptable, which heal those wounded by sins, rescue those captured by Satan, restore those fallen by iniquities, raise up those weakened by impieties, cleanse those defiled by pollutions, enlighten those darkened by error, and purify and justify those who observe them from all transgressions, and adorn them with resplendent light before the awesome and luminous tribunal of God; and together with that, they inherit the enjoyments of the eternal goods in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is glory forever. Amen.

Concerning the Acceptable and Unacceptable Prayers Let us collect our thoughts and understand the words of this discourse, and through the visible perceive the invisible, and know what trembling and terrible dread are in the guilty when they stand before the judge with shame for their sins; how their faces grow pale and change color; how they shudder and tremble; and how they are struck with trembling fear before the terrible countenance of the judge, and stand before him with bowed heads, downcast eyes, and speechless. And if they dare to entreat and implore anything, they speak with fearful heart and faltering voice, like the sick; and with many supplications they offer grievous petitions; they weep, they entreat, they implore, that they might move the judge to pity and mercy, to be spared from the punishment for their offenses. Their minds are fixed nowhere else, their eyes nowhere else, their ears nowhere else. And when the judge speaks to them, they cannot turn their faces away, nor speak with any of his attendants, but only gaze upon the judge with great reverence, entreating and seeking forgiveness for their guilty torments. But how much more important it is for us to stand with great reverence before the terrible great judge, to enter and stand before the face of God with terrible fear and dreadful trembling, and with grievous lamentations and flowing tears to beg and seek forgiveness. We must not direct our minds elsewhere, nor our thoughts elsewhere.

in one place to make what is heard, and in another to make what is seen manifest, when on account of the transgressions of sins one wishes to beseech and entreat from God. For with groans and sighs we shall reconcile the Lord, and we shall humble ourselves in the compassion of supplications, whereby he may atone for our sins and cleanse our iniquities, and save us from the terrible torments of afflictions and from eternal shame, through the prayers, entreaties, and the warmth of a compassionate heart. For many have received many benefits through prayers and have become pleasing to God, whereby they found remission of sins and salvation of souls; and especially those who prayed with tears and compassion for the poor, not only did they find remission of sins, but they also received the requests of the body and the blessings of heaven. For prayers are the hands of the supplicant, and he has a fist raised at the feet of God, and they quickly humble the one who entreats before the supplicant; for God greatly desires and delights in giving to the one who asks. "Ask and I shall give to you, seek and you shall find." And now it is necessary for all who are weighed down by sins, afflicted by sorrows, endangered by enemies, and tormented by pains, always to beseech, to give, and to ask continually and unceasingly through prayers and supplications. For those who pray to God with a single-minded mind and unfeigned faith, and ask for the good, receive all that they request, just as our forefathers received.

But if someone should say, "I asked and did not receive, I prayed and was not heard," then you did not ask with earnestness, like the widow woman from the unjust judge, and like the friend who in the middle of the night sought the request of the gift, which he received not for the sake of friendship, but for the sake of earnestness. Likewise, Anna, with a sorrowful soul, by her tears and the earnestness of her prayers, received Samuel. Likewise, the people in the valley of sorrow wept before God, and because of the fervent prayers and supplications, he raised up Gideon for them and saved Israel. And because of the tearful prayers of Hezekiah, he added yet another fifteen years to his life. And if you, with such tears and with a whole heart, pray to God and do not waver, you will receive what you have requested. There is no need for the addition of many words in the prayer. The publican uttered a single cry, and his prayers became acceptable, and he lightened the heavy burden of many sins. And Moses, even with a speechless mouth, cried out and divided the sea to its depths. And if you, with a whole heart, beseech, you will dry up only the sea of sins and cause the waves of wrath to cease. For not receiving from God is due to lack of earnestness and not praying with a whole heart, or if you should request something most harmful. But if with unceasing prayers you request what is beneficial for souls, it is impossible not to receive from God.

Behold, the prayers of Elijah closed the heavens and opened them; the prayers of David halted the sword of the angel; the prayers of Jonah brought him out alive from the belly of the whale; the prayers of the Canaanite woman drove the demon from her daughter; prayers purified harlots, healed the sick, cleansed lepers, gave light to the blind, and justified sinners. And now all these examples stand before you as acceptable prayers. If you wish, you are able to imitate them, and to draw yourself out from the prison of sins, and to be released from the satanic bonds. Only pray to God with tearful supplication, and you will be lightened from the afflictions of wickedness, you will heal the pains of lawlessness, and you will cure the sickness of transgressions. Only pray to God with a whole heart, and you will escape from the snares of Satan, you will be saved from the evil-toothed dragon, and you will survive whole-limbed from the armed enemy. Only be diligent before God with unceasing prayers, and the darkness of error will be illumined; the filth of the pollution of sins and the mire of lust will be dried up. For when you pray to God with unfeigned faith from your whole heart, you receive forgiveness of sins and atonement for transgressions; you receive the kingdom of heaven and the boundless blessings; you receive health of body and salvation of soul; you receive good days and a peaceful life, free from all slanderers.

And the prayers calm the wrath of violent tyrants; they turn back the fury of God's anger. Prayers make the poor great and strengthen the weak. Prayers heal the sick and drive away the madness of the insane. Prayers make the barren fruitful, the childless multiply. They rescue from the depths of the sea, save from the torrents of rivers, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, prevent untimely deaths, and fulfill all requests of those who strive with faith. Such is the power of true prayers for those who wish to approach it. Such is the bloodless sacrifice of reason. For each person's prayers are a sacrifice to God. And if you do not delight in love with your neighbor, your prayers are not an acceptable sacrifice, for they do not ascend to God. For if you hold enmity against your neighbor, it is impossible for his prayers to ascend to God. But if he prays to him with heartfelt love, before you have even cried out, I would say, "Behold, I have arrived." For pure prayers, with tears and mercy, as the one praying prays, open the gates of heaven and ascend to the hearing of God, if only they are read to him without ceasing. And knowing all this—that great powers and boundless benefits are wrought by prayers—Satan approaches the one who wishes to pray.

and first of all, in the bedchamber, he should do battle with her, making the limbs supple, sweetening the sleep, making the body heavy; this one stirs and agitates. And when he arises and goes to church, stumbling, and enters within, he stands before God; and there too Satan distracts his mind so that he does not recall the multitude of his own transgressions; and he does not know that he is before God; he does not hear the blessing, and does not understand the doxologies, and the teachings of the readings do not enter his heart. He does not sigh nor groan over the lawlessness of his sins; he does not weep nor lament over the wounds of his soul; he does not entreat nor implore God, nor does he reconcile the Lord with tearful supplications; he does not confess the multitude of his evils, nor reveal the hidden stores of lawlessness, that he might be saved from the terrible torments and the unillumined darkness. But instead of weeping and supplications, with much fearlessness and contempt he stands before God; and not with reverent fear and trembling, like the condemned before judges, or like guilty servants who entreat at the feet of their masters, and entreat and implore with much fear and supplication. And we do not weep with sighs and groans and mournful lamentations, like those condemned to death who are dragged to the place of torments.

and not with ashes and dust and great mourning do we fall before God, that he might save us from the inflamed Gehenna and from the severe torments, from the evils of the wicked and from the unillumined darkness. And now, not with fear and with fervent prayers or with will do we beseech and entreat before God for the healing of the wounds; but at the hour of prayers and supplications and while seeking remission of sins, we wash and anoint ourselves and adorn our garments, as if we were preparing for a brothel, or for a theatrical play. And having entered the church with vain pomp and mad pride, women with the appearance of harlots stand before God, and men with the appearance of whoremongers, and with the effeminate softness of debauchery they become womanish in foul lust, and, inflamed with lewdness, resemble the rutting of goats and the heat of mares. And there, in the church itself and in the presence of the holy things, they perform these pollutions and commit fornications and adulteries; even if they do not do so with the body, yet with the mind they accomplish the same through glances and persistent gazes and lascivious whispers, as the Lord himself says: he who looks with lust is a complete adulterer. They are worthy of lightning and thunderbolts and bolts of fire descending from above, and of being burned and destroyed on the spot; and thereafter, of the eternal fire, the terrible darkness, and the inexorable torments; instead of which, at the hour of prayers, they should have placed lust for pollutions in the heart.

For you have come, O wretched one, to weep and to plead before God, to shed tears and to lament with supplications, to beseech, to groan, and to ask for forgiveness. And now, are these the forms of those who entreat—adorning and anointing and washing yourself before the eyes of onlookers? Are these, for God, the forms of one who seeks and asks for remission of sins—to be inflamed, to be consumed, and to gaze with foul desire? Are these, for God, the forms by which you would reconcile the Lord to your evils—to examine your beauty and your stature with the passion of desire, like a harlot? You yourself become satanic, and you beg to live by the devil; you willingly become possessed, and you ask before God with such forms. Or how can you groan with such thoughts? Moreover, you have even dared to enter before God with abominable thoughts and satanic forms, and to make the church of God a brothel. And you do not fear nor tremble at the holy sanctities and the awesome countenance of God. Do you not know that the heart-knower examines your thoughts and knows everything? Have you not heard that judgment is of thoughts, and that the demand is of the strained eyes? And now, come to yourself, and cast away from yourself the hypocritical deceit of thoughts and adornments. Then enter before God and listen. Those condemned to death, when they enter before kings, do not make any adornments, but rather supplications and entreaties.

When the wounded enter the infirmary, they have no need of other counsels, but only to seek the remedy above and to heal their pains. Likewise, the one wounded by sins and afflicted by lawlessness has no need of adornments and foul counsels when he enters the church, nor of anointing and weaving garlands at the time of prayers when pleading before God. Rather, he must afflict the body, purify the mind, and enter with a disheveled form, a broken heart, and a humble self to stand before God, and with many supplications to mourn and weep bitterly, to entreat and implore with unceasing groaning, to beat the breast, to stretch out the hands, to let the tears flow, to confess the evils with a distressed heart, with a timid tongue, with a shameful face, with a mournful voice, and with a plaintive utterance to reconcile God and obtain forgiveness of sins. These are the forms of prayers and petitions for which the Lord stoops and listens, through which he grants pardon for transgressions and atones for lawlessness, through which we are cleansed and purified from evil passions, pollutions, and satanic counsels, through which we receive the kingdom and the delights of immortal life. But we, remembering all this, enter before God with much contempt, and we wish, along with Satan, who in confusion disturbs our minds with thoughts of every kind, and scatters and dissipates our counsels into the cares and distractions of this world.

and those who are captive from the benefit of the aid of prayers, we are seized by evil thoughts, and the mind, wandering outside with many distractions, roams about. For in prayer we think of the cares of the house and of the estates; in prayer we count the revenues of those places and the fruits of the vineyards, how many bushels of bread I may have, or how many measures of wine; and we bring to mind in prayer the livestock and the cattle, how many oxen there may be, or how many sheep; likewise we also remember the work and the wages of the laborers, woe that this should go out from my house. Moreover, we also remember in prayer the judgments of our neighbor, and there we judge before God; and while we are still standing in prayer, we further contrive accusations against our brother; and not yet dismissed from the church, we immediately begin to accuse the enemy, and as with gall we embitter the sweetness of prayer. And thus Satan snatches away our minds, even causing us to recall impure thoughts in prayer; and we count in prayer the debts of exchanges and usuries, in prayer we remember envy and enmity toward our neighbor. And not only are we condemned by such evil thoughts, but we are also wounded in prayer by perverse tongues and much speaking, for we harm the spirits of many, whose minds we captivate, and we cast them out, rejected from prayer and from the offering of glory; we turn them to dark words and cause them to descend into the abyss of perdition.

And is all this not worthy of terrible wrath and the kindled flame of Gehenna, of manifold torments and impenetrable darkness, that we commit such lawlessness before God, and, chastised, depart from prayer condemned? And we are not honored as those who pray, but are held liable and punished as blasphemers and despisers. But if we sin in prayer and in doing good, how much more are we liable in doing evil? For we who are sunk within the harbor into the depth of evils, what shall we do when we go out into the sea of sins, entering into marketplaces, into oaths, into blasphemies, into oppressions, into vainglory, into slanders, into envy, into wrath, into usury, into drunkenness, into gluttony, into pride, into the multitude of all passions? These, more than the surging, wave-tossed seas, drown and engulf, and, plunging deep, destroy with manifold transgressions. And so how, or by what means, shall we manage to live amidst the countless and evil deeds of ours and the many devices of Satan, who not only torments and slays with bitter evils, but also contrives to turn the sweetness of holy prayer into the bitterness of a harsh tongue? We cannot escape from the evil serpent and the bitter asp unless we are ever prepared against the machinations of Satan and are on guard against his invisible arrows.

If we always bring to mind the end of our life with fear of that peril, we can live when we are separated from the body with the unbearable anguish of the soul, and, violently seized, be enveloped by the dark mist. And if we recall the terrors of the terrible great tribunal and the dreadful day of judgment; if we lament that shame which will occur before the universal assembly, the multitude of torments, the horror of venomous worms, the terrifying darkness of the abyss, the fetid depths of Tartarus, the blazing kindling of the fire of Gehenna, the loud roaring of the furnaces, the terrors of the fiery rivers in flood, the perpetual burning and consuming of sinners, and the inexpressible pangs of calamities and pains—if you always keep all this in mind, you can escape the snares of Satan; you can stand with fear before the face of God; you can offer holy prayers; you can mourn, weep, and lament bitterly.

you can also soften the face of the judge, incline him to mercy and compassion, and receive remission of sins and atonement for offenses, the inheritance of the luminous tabernacles, and the longed-for delight of paradise, and the pleasures of eternal joys, the hopes of immortal life, and the enjoyments of infinite blessings with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, to whom are glory, honor, and thanksgiving for everlasting eternity. Amen. LETTER ON THE TOPIC OF MERCY FOR THE HOUSEHOLDERS Let no one, childishly, with good intentions and undiscerning thoughts, rush into the ministry of the word of God; but always look to the minds of the hearers, and with great caution sow the word of teaching in the wild and untended ears; and do not from the beginning at once bring the heavy-hearing and the bearers of difficult conduct upon the uncultivated. For those who wish to tame the wild sapling, if they hang the first burdens heavy and difficult to bear, either they themselves break, or they cast off the burden openly, and bring it to completion. Likewise, skilled among laborers who work the land do not, in vain, sow precious seeds in the fallow and untilled thorns, which either perish from the wildness, or birds snatch away; but first they cut the thorns, and soften the earth, and then sow the precious and profitable seeds.

By the same token, those who wish to perform the rational works must first, through confession, remove the filth of sins, and by fasts and prayers soften the hardened and withered parts for the sake of chastity, humility, mercy, and torments unto death. For although the commands of mercy are heavier than death for the avaricious, they are yet more profitable and beneficial than all the virtues of reward; and it is so far above all the ascetic practices of temperance, as if the fruits of mercy were not even visible with the greater brightness of all the virtues of reward. And what shall I say of the other virtues, that even the sanctity of chastity has been honored in both the Old and the New [Testaments]? Yet without mercy it was found despised and excluded from the outer court. And not that they did not perform mercy, but little and insufficient; for in the midst of the night their lamp went out. Likewise, those who have many possessions and do but scanty mercy, it cannot suffice for their salvation; for mercy is acceptable according to one's means. Those who have many possessions require much mercy; and one whose possessions are few, even small mercies are acceptable. As in the material of the tabernacle, gold was needed, and also hair; those who had gold but brought hair, it was unacceptable and impure.

And those who were of no means and offered only a hair, it was acceptable and pleasing to God, and they received a blessing. For God does not look to the measure of possessions, but to the will of the givers. He accepts the great from the great as great; He accepts also the small from the small as great. For if one has ten dahekans and spends one dahekan on alms, and a poor man has only ten lumas and gives even that one, the poorest, it is considered the same before God. But the poor man is even more admirable, for from his poverty he spent the measure of the wealthy. At this also Jesus marvelled, when the widow who had only those two lumas and spent the same on alms, Jesus says: The great ones brought the superfluity of their possessions, but the afflicted widow bestowed all her things upon the poor, for those two lumas were her only possessions. And so by this Satan deceives the wealthy and the magnate when they do not give according to their greatness, and would dispense great alms, but rather something meagre and small, like the poor, making them think that this is sufficient for salvation. But some bestowed all their things upon the poor, and impoverished themselves, for they yearned for the eternal greatnesses; and some gave half of their possessions to the needy, and shared the common things of souls and bodies as brothers.

And the first ones would bring tithes, give fruits, offer sacrifices, present whole burnt offerings, and give for their sins the firstborn of man and beast, and the first-fruits of the field and of the harvest and of all fruits. Moreover, they would celebrate many feasts of God throughout the year, and dedicate Sabbaths and new moons with offerings. In addition to this, they would fill the poor and the needy, feed the orphans and widows, tend to the companies of virgins, care for the sick, receive strangers, comfort the afflicted, and remove all the needs of the weak. Now if in the imperfect old [covenant] God demanded all these works of righteousness, how much more in the new and perfect [covenant] would He require even greater righteousness and mercy than all this? For if your righteousness does not exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of God. Then what forgiveness of sins can we have, if we do not perform more merciful deeds than the imperfect old [covenant] and the merciful deeds of the Jews? We Christians, who are in the new and perfect [covenant], who are taught by Christ. For if we only fulfill the righteousness of the Jews, then the coming of Christ is in vain for us, if we do not surpass the Jews in sanctity, fruits, and sacrifices, and in the commandment of love.

For in the new [covenant], the poor and the wealthy are all one body in Christ, and members of one another. If you are a servant of Christ and keep his commandments, it is necessary that you care for your fellow as for your own member; for if one member is pained, it is said, all members are pained with it. And now, if Christ is the head, and we are the body of Christ and members of his members, it is necessary that we consider as common to the members all that Christ placed in the hands of the wealthy, and appointed stewards and distributors, so that they might distribute with knowledge, knowing to whom much and to whom little is needed. Just as the possessions of the apostles were common, and of all the faithful as of one person's member, and no one was permitted to say of possessions that they were his own; but they would bring and distribute, and give those things to the one whose person was in need of what was requested. That was mercy from the heart, that was piety and perfect philanthropy, that they distributed with such compassion that they would even inquire into the need. And so very important was the care for the poor among the apostles that they taught this mercy equally with the preaching of Christ; they would bring and lay at their feet the multitude of possessions, over which they appointed the Stephenites as distributors.

And those who did not bring alms to the poor out of compassion, but as if from some compulsion, perished: Anania and Saphira. And Tabitha, who with compassion and care fed and clothed the orphans and widows, rose from the dead through their prayers. And Paul says: This was commanded to us, that we should remember the poor, which I also hastened to do. For this is the fulfillment of the commandment of all the scriptures of God, as Christ said to the rich man: If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all your possessions, and give to the poor, and you will find treasure in heaven. And to the covetous he says: It is easier for a needle to pass through a hole in a sieve than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. For those who gather many things here and do not sow alms, even what they have goes from this world, and they go into the merciless and unforgiving fire. And having made this known, the Lord says: Make for yourselves friends from the mammon of iniquity, who will receive you into the eternal dwellings. And Paul also says this: If you go after love, and be zealous for the alms of the poor, that you also may receive mercy from Christ. And elsewhere he says: He scattered and gave to the needy; his righteousness remains forever and ever. And not only did he make a refuge in the hands of Paul, but he also placed a command upon the rich, saying:

Your wealth's abundance shall be for the need of the poor, and the abundance of the poor's prayers shall make remission of your sins. For nothing lightens the heaviness of sins as much as mercy and care for the destitute. As also the holy Daniel taught Nebuchadnezzar, when he was sick from his sins, he asked the prophet, "What remedies are there for this pain?" And Daniel, acting as a physician, said, "O king, neither fasts nor vigils, nor sackcloth nor solitude can help you. But go, atone for your sins with mercy, and your iniquities with compassion for the destitute. And that is the price which justifies you, and the path which leads to eternal life." Do you see what power mercy has, and with how bold a face it sets the merciful one before God? And especially those who feed the hungry with heartfelt intent, as also Isaiah says: "Break bread for the hungry with heartfelt intent, and bring the poor and naked into your house. And if you see the naked, clothe them, and do not turn your face from the suffering of your people. Then you shall cry out, and God will hear you. And before you have even cried out," he says, "I have arrived." And such swift-winged mercy also rises to the hearing of God, and quickly inclines the merciful one to helpfulness.

And not only does God help and save the merciful one in this, but also when this [mercy] is lacking, and we are changed in the future, He returns the mercy of the merciful one with manifold abundance. For the Lord Himself says: "I am the debtor for the mercy of the poor, and I am the lender for their loans." For he who has mercy on the poor lends to God, and He returns it a hundredfold with imperishable bounty; moreover, it atones for sins and saves from the terrible torments. Blessed is he who considers the poor and the destitute; on the evil day the Lord saves him. And what is it to consider the poor and the destitute? That consideration is when you bring his afflictions to mind: that he is my brother, and a limb and a body, and has needs like me, and is lacking in every possession and shelter, and is driven about and wanders restlessly in the danger of the violence of hunger; in heat he is scorched, in cold he shivers, his belly empty, his body naked of limb, his hair matted, his face yellow and withered, and his whole body emaciated and shriveled; he roams, he wanders, and, tossed and lingering out of doors, he cries out, and casts forth pitiable and lamentable cries at the calamities of grief; and, knowing our minds to be utterly unfeeling, he shows his shameful limbs unashamedly, so that he may incline our mercilessness to compassion; he grows bold, he becomes shameless, and with great toil he finds some scant food.

with fear at the doors, with fear in the vestibules, with fear he enters the houses; for in the house everything trembles at the beasts, he is afraid of the animals; for the horses kick, the oxen gore, the dogs wound, and evil and merciless men slander and become hostile, and wound as if with an arrow, and especially if they are lame and blind and afflicted with pain; and because of hunger he is driven away, and he proceeds into such stormy seas, he goes and arrives at the faces of the merciless as if facing wild animals; from whom they first become hostile, then if they can take anything, with much slander. Now this is to consider the poor and the destitute, when he brings all this to mind, and with sweet-spoken words and compassionate mercy he consoles the needy, and sighs and draws forth groans over him. The prophet gives blessedness to those who receive the poor with such compassion and mercy, and save them from the evil day. But the evil day is that of the merciless and sinners. It is the day of terrible judgment when the heavens are shaken, and the earth is disturbed, when the sun darkens, the moon and stars vanish; when terrors strike, and great dread intensifies; when the sound of the trumpet grows strong and causes terror, and the voices of the angels cause wonder; when powers and authorities and principalities are moved, and hosts of angels spread over the earth.

When the thrones fall, and we see Christ the King descended; when the seraphim and cherubim tremble in fear of the glory of the judge; when rocks split, and graves open, and the multitudes of the sleeping arise, and the countless living are renewed; when the ranks of the saints rejoice, and the assemblies of the righteous shine forth; when the whole world stands gathered, and the universal fire runs and spreads throughout the universe—then those bound by sins, the sinners, and those entangled by lawlessness are brought forth, and, shrouded in a dark mist, they are displayed on the world-visible stage as a spectacle and an unbearable mockery with shame, and they are set before the terrible tribunal in the presence of the great and fearsome judge, whose fire burns and scorches, and blazes and rises, and the sparks of the furnace and the fiery streams of the rivers of fire; where the fire burns and descends downward, and the burning embers are spread within; where there are dark pits, and abysses of gloom; Gehenna, evil-tormenting, and bitter-poisonous worms, which threaten and are prepared to take vengeance on all sinners on the terrible last day. Now this is the evil day of sinners, from which the mercy of the compassionate one saves through charity to the poor and pity to the destitute; which the Saviour himself blesses, saying: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy.” And very highly does mercy boast over judgment.

and a harsh and merciless judgment will be for him who did not show mercy. Merciless are his accusers, and merciless the torments; merciless the burning of the furnace fire, merciless the scorching of the heat; and utterly unceasing and unforgivable are the tortures of the terrible calamities. This is the merciless judgment and unforgivable torment of the merciless, which the merciless rich man also received—the terrible scorching of the fire and the unforgivable frying—because he did not show mercy to the hungry, the naked, and the sick, with whom he also received a merciless cutting off. And now, hearing all this, let us not delay in showing mercy to the oppressed poor, and especially to the crippled and the sick, to orphans, widows, and the afflicted, to strangers, guests, and the elderly, and to all those in need of the essential necessities by which their labors and life in this world are sustained. If you are a worshiper of God, be their spirit-raiser and overseer; if you wish to disperse your sins, be their feeder and clother; if you wish to see Christ with a confident face, do not sadden the faces of the oppressed and needy; if you wish to enter the tabernacles and dwellings of the saints and inherit the abundant blessings, be a dwelling and host to strangers, the needy, the sick, and the afflicted.

soothe and comfort them with earthly provisions, for you too shall be soothed and shall enjoy the spiritual food and the imperishable delight. For that is piety which with a single abundant mercy looks upon the distressed and the needy. For such a one does not merely perform acts of mercy, but receives the enjoyment of imperishable goods, and here finds many benefits when he does good. And if there were no poor on earth, who could lighten the manifold burdens of sins, or survive the storm-tossed and wave-surging lawlessness? But the mercies of the poor carry us through the slippery and treacherous life of this world, and bring us to the haven of peace. And the prayers of the afflicted tear out and remove the pus of sins; they cleanse and purify the filth of sinful defilement; they heal and cure the wounds of Satan; they disperse and lighten the weight of iniquities, and send us, absolved and justified, to heaven. Such are the powers of mercies, which from the bitter bond and from the depths of transgressions draw out, for a little silver, which they spend on the needy. Do not grieve over the loss of possessions, for along with them your sins also diminish. And when you part with your silver, you part with your sins as well, and you cleanse the impurity of your foul deeds. As it is said: Give mercy, and all that is yours shall be holy.

For with mercy the body of the merciful is sanctified, and the soul is sanctified; his goods are blessed, and the labors of his ever-increasing servants prosper. And his flocks multiply, and his vineyards bear fruit—if only he performs mercy according to divine will. For mercy to the destitute is a repayment to God. And not only does He repay that which is said above, but He also grants the kingdom, delivers from the snares of the enemy, and from the hands of hell rescues the merciful. For although virginity is a great sanctity, yet the merciful is even more honorable; although the strictness of fasts is great, and there are many and great virtues, yet mercy is greater, more important, and more acceptable to God. Great and honorable is the merciful man. And he who does not perform mercy—such a one the divinely inspired books do not even call a man, but call him a dog, a swine, and a solitary beast. For such are a lamp without light, an eye without sight, a spring without water, and withered trees which have only the name but not the benefit. And how then shall we know the unmerciful as a man? For a spring is called a spring from water, and a lamp is called a lamp from light.

likewise, a man is known by mercy to be a man, who ever humbles his heart in love and compassion toward the poor, and extends his hands in mercy to the needy, and through the hands of the poor and hungry feeds Christ. For Christ himself considers the reception of the poor as his own. "I was hungry," he says, "and you fed me; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you received me; I was sick and in prison, and you visited me." And now, if you believe the true word of God, take it to heart truly, that when you feed the hungry, you feed Christ; if you give drink to the thirsty, you give drink to Christ; if you receive guests, you receive Christ; and if you are a host to the stranger, you are a host to Christ; if you go to visit the sick, you go to see Christ; if you comfort the afflicted, you comfort Christ; if you help the helpless, you are a helper to Christ; if you serve the weak, you are a servant to Christ; and everything you offer to the hungry, you place into the hands of Christ, and he repays manifold on the last day, where there are no stored goods, nor beloved ones nor acquaintances, where saints cannot help, nor the righteous can save, where fathers do not pity, nor brothers have mercy, but only the mercies of the poor and good deeds help.

So let us not remain at the end, and let us not be greedy, let us not deprive the poor, let us not sadden Christ; but let us nourish the orphans, let us take upon ourselves the widowers, let us gather the exiles, let us feed the hungry, let us comfort Christ. On earth let us sow with bountiful philanthropy, and in heaven let us reap mercy. Let us ascend to the upper chambers, and let us enjoy the eternal joys with great radiant gladness in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is glory and honor forever and ever. Amen. HOMILY ON FRUITS, SACRIFICES, AND MERCY With many hidden arrows Satan wounds us, and does not show the wound. He shows the beginning of things as if it were something virtuous in conduct, and completes it in terrible iniquities. And instead of the rewards of the labors, he casts us into sins with iniquity. And like the offerings of Cain and the offerings of Jephthah, which in the guise of good accomplished the works of iniquity. This Satan also now accomplishes in many, and makes the ecclesiastical labors of fruits and sacrificial offerings vain and fruitless. And not only do we see the labors as vain and fruitless, but also with enmity in reproach.

and let them receive the curse of punishment from God, as the prophet Malachi says: "Cursed be the man who is able and yet keeps back the male of his flock, and offers to the Lord the useless, the defective, and the blemished as a sacrifice." And also the priests who accept the defective from the people, he chastises and says: "You are the priests who revile my name, and place on my altar the bread of defilement, the defective, the plundered, and the useless—that is, the poor—and if you accept that from your hands, I will send a curse upon you, and I will anathematize your blessing, and I will remove you along with them; because you did not set in your hearts to fear me." Now if those who in ancient times offered the defective were punished with such chastisements, what will be done by those who in the present time take the defective and offer it to God for harvest, and give the blemished and the useless from the flocks to the poor as alms, by which Cain perished because of his defective and unacceptable sacrifice? For it is said: "You did not divide rightly, and that too shall return upon you." Therefore it is necessary for us to fear these words; for if those who sinned without the law were punished thus, how much more we, if we sin with the law?

for those who were not worthy of the graces that were in the old [law], and who sought such rectifications, how much more should rectification be demanded with great certainty in the new [law], even if we show a little mercy. We who were instructed by the laws, and were made worthy of the graces, and have seen the examples. And now, if we offer the defective to God, what forgiveness will be granted to us? For it says: "Keep the firstborn of your flock and the shearling, and the choice of the choice of the sheep, and offer them to your God. And honor the Lord with your righteous labors, and bring to him fruit from your righteous plantings." This is acceptable before God. But if from plunder, or from theft, or from slander, or from usury and interest, or from violent sales, or from the oppression of the oppressed, one offers a sacrifice—whether an ox, a sheep, or a lamb—it is impure to me, as if someone were to slaughter a dog, or strike a man's head, or spill the blood of a pig. And now, why would anyone dare to offer such abominable sacrifices, which are a cause of Gehenna, or to destroy the honor of the powerful and the needy by the acceptance of the poor's alms?

which Christ also forbade, saying: "When you prepare a meal or a reception for the poor, do not invite your brothers, nor your neighbors, nor your friends, nor the wealthy, lest they also invite you, and that be your recompense. But when you hold a reception for the sake of your soul's salvation, call the poor, the needy, the blind, and the lame; and blessed are you, for they have no recompense to give you in return; and your recompense shall be in the kingdom of the righteous." Whose words and commands are these? Are they not indeed those of Jesus, the Son of God? And why then do you despise the commands of Christ? If you wish to honor your magnates, honor them; you have three hundred and sixty-five days for your body, and dedicate one of them to your soul. Now behold, you refuse to give even that one day to the spiritual ones and to the calling of your soul. If you, as a physician of your wounded soul, have made the poor your advocates and intercessors before God, and have called them to your house as atonement for your sins, then on that day of reception for the poor and for your soul, on which day sins are atoned, cease your carnal thoughts, and likewise your carnal friends.

and do not bring any of the capable or of your fleshly beloved into your house, lest you fall away from the remission of your sins by serving them, by the same act of honoring them, by associating with them, by exalting them, and because food and wine are not lacking from them. And your penance for sins—the assembly of the poor within looks upward, and their tables are empty, causing sighs; and some of them even remain outside as if despised, and they hear only the noise of the multitudes, and in their hearts they are troubled by their own contempt, sitting confused and dejected. Now do not make such invitations on the day of the reception of the liturgy, from whose expenses you will be unrewarded. But if you wish to seek remission of your sins, call the orphans and the widows, the oppressed and the afflicted, the lame and the blind and the crippled, the needy and the captives, and all the hungry and the disconsolate. Comfort them, console them, feed them, serve them alone, associate with them, and let this be for the remission of sins and the salvation of your house. And thus arrange the invitations of the reception of the liturgies, and do not bring the wealthy and the great into the reception of the wretched and the poor; rather, let them be the elders, and let them be the high-headed; let them be above, and let them be within.

them only with tearful entreaty, and send them away only with supplication. And if you receive thus, you have not given, but taken; you have not sold, but gathered great profits, and received remission. For this reason Christ says: when you hold a reception, do not call the great ones, lest the poor be despised by their distractions. And you, for the sake of eye-service, be judged as a transgressor of the law, according to that which says: If one has splendid garments, say to him, 'You sit here with honor'; and to the poor man say, 'Go sit at the footstool.' And by doing this, he says, you will not have pity on your own selves, and you will become judges of evil counsels; for by pleasing the great ones you commit sins, openly convicted before the laws as transgressors. And now have no such condemnations in the calls of the poor, gathering the poor and the great together; for the great ones, having entered, seek high place and honor and preeminence and vainglory and respect and false service from you; and the poor sit below, bowed down and humbled in silence. It is not good to hold a reception; no one sows tares among the wheat, and plants a thorn among the vine; and it is not fitting for you to mix false service and vainglory with humility and with the expiation of your sins; they are mutually obstructive and destructive.

It is impossible for you to look to heaven with one eye and to earth with the other, and on that same day to please both the fleshly and the spiritual at once. The spiritual entreat and implore you to bring you to heaven, while the fleshly, with false hope, vainglory, much falsehood, and lying promises, drag you into the abyss. The spiritual summon you to the light, and the fleshly dispatch you into darkness. Behold, such hinderers are harmful to you on the day of receiving the poor, by inviting the great ones. But comfort the poor, give rest to the poor, entreat the poor, break bread for the hungry, clothe the naked, and bring the shelterless under shelter. And then you shall read, and God shall hear you; and before you have spoken, He shall say, “Behold, I have arrived.” Such are the profitable receptions of the poor, and their prayers are near to God, as the prophet says: “Blessed is he who thinks of the poor and the destitute; on the evil day the Lord saves him; He blesses him upon the earth, and does not deliver him into the hands of his enemies.” Now these are the blessings for feeding the needy, which Christ also counts as His own. But from the invitations of the non-needy, what profit do you gain, or what benefit is wrought? For the reception of the hungry is profitable, not that of the honored; and Christ does not say, “Feed the clothed,” nor did He say, “Give drink to the drunken.

but look upon the needy and give them drink, look upon the naked and clothe them, and practice charity. Such are worthy of reward and blessedness, and not the admiration of the sated and the unneedy. For whoever feeds the poor and the needy, the stranger and the sick, receives not a man but Christ, feeds Christ, clothes Christ, comforts Christ, consoles Christ, gives rest to Christ, and serves Christ. For the Lord’s word is not false. If it is Christ whom you receive, it is not fitting and proper for you, in the reception of Christ, to gather the assemblies of the dissolute, to bring them inside, and to leave Christ outside the court. They are honored above, and Christ is despised below; they are esteemed in the pulpit, and Christ is despised at the footstool; they are comforted above with the service of the minister, and Christ sits here below, covered. It is not fitting to receive Christ with such contempt, for you will provoke him to wrath and anger, and not to mercy and forgiveness of sins. For if your reception is for mercy, why do you summon many spectators and receive recompense from men? Behold, Christ teaches you: “Be careful,” he says, “not to perform mercy before men. For what is done before the eyes of men receives recompense from men. But let your mercy be in secret.

and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. So do not deprive yourselves of such rewards, and do not gather spectators for your almsgiving. Rather, administer with caution in secret, for the thief is near, who steals your reward; the brigand lies in ambush, who plunders your almsgiving; deceivers are close at hand to deceive and take your good from you; the wicked circle around and strive to make you idle and vain in your labors. But prepare yourself with fear toward all, prepare with wisdom, and beware of the snare of flattery and the demon of vainglory, lest they turn your good into evil and your light into darkness. For if the light that is in you becomes darkness, how much more will the darkness be? For if your almsgiving becomes evil, how much more will evil become? Therefore, conceal your almsgiving from all, and just as you do not wish to show the filth of your sins, do not let the almsgiving of your penance be known. Rather, conceal the virtue of your penance as you would the shame of your sins, and at all times your penances will be acceptable, and you will find forgiveness for your sins.

Do not, for the sake of vainglory, make the calls of reception, and do not make the gifts of alms to the poor for the show of men, and do not distribute and summon the great and the worthy to the reception of the needy poor, and do not offer to God the remnants of the threshing-floor or the harvest, and do not cast an evil eye upon all the gifts of fruits of the church or of the priests, whereby Cain was reproved; and let us not abandon the wheat and the straight from our own persons, and let us make the useless and the worthless the reception of the poor and give them to the needy. And let us not offer to the divine gifts from possessions gathered by greed, plunder, and injustice, for all oppressors and their possessions are unclean before God. But let us do all this according to the pleasure of God, whereby God may be pleased and receive, and grant remission of sins. Let us abide in holiness and innocence, and with glory and honor let us inherit the heavens, and let us be deemed worthy to attain the promised goods in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom glory and honor are due now and always and unto eternity. Amen.

CONCERNING USURY AND INTEREST Very evil are the passions of avarice, and more incurably evil than all are the interests of loans, which are perpetually reviled and denounced in the Old and New Testaments. And those who wickedly seek interest and loans are threatened and punished, for they give their silver at interest contrary to the commandments of God, and then demand it back with interest, and mercilessly devour the flesh of the destitute and drink their blood. And they do not heed the inspired prophet Ezekiel, who places the interest of loans among the greatest evils, and compares them to the abominations of idolaters, saying: "The house of Israel was defiled in its idols, and demanded usury and interest." And Moses says: "Do not give usury to your neighbor, for it is iniquity before God." He also excludes from the heavenly tabernacles those who demand usury and interest. But he who does not give his silver at interest, and does not take profit on property, shall never be shaken. And another prophet says: "He who did not sacrifice on the mountains, and returned the pledge to the debtor, and did not demand usury and interest, is righteous and shall live and endure. But those who demand usury and interest are opposed to the commandments of God and contrary to the commands of the Spirit, for they wickedly put into practice with lawlessness what is forbidden by the commands of the Spirit.

And so utterly lawless is the passion of loan interest that it seeks a child by force from the womb, and demands fruit from aged rocks, and wishes to gather harvests without sowing, and to require offspring from the barren, and to milk milk from stone, and to obtain wool from rocks: it receives in full the number of the silver that was given, and without seed it presumes to gather harvests, and to fill its house with lawless acquisitions. Then it sits and first plans to increase the abundance of its possessions, and then, amidst its lawlessness, to perform alms for the destitute and sacrifices of propitiation, which Isaiah rebukes, saying: “He who offers me the plundered as a sacrifice—it is as abominable as if someone were to slaughter a dog, or as if someone were to strike the head of a man.” For it is better for the poor to be neglected from almsgiving than to receive anything from plunder. It is better for priests to die of hunger than to be fed by the unworthy. “Whoever,” he says, “takes from one and distributes to another will not receive reward, but rather punishment and severe torments.” For the offspring of loans are burning fire and destroying sword. And those who think to worship God from the iniquities of their possessions provoke him all the more. “Honor,” he says, “the Lord from your righteous labors, and offer him fruit from the plantings of your righteousness. Do not think to gather plunder and then to perform alms for the remission of sins.

For never does fire quench fire, nor do wounds heal wounds, nor do sins cleanse sins, nor are lawless deeds atoned for by lawlessness. For the lawlessness of usury is exceedingly evil, and their terms are like the pangs of a pregnant woman. And if the debtor is also poor, he is constantly consumed by cares and anxieties; sleepless and with bitter sleep is his night; sad, sorrowful, and anxious, he wanders in the streets, and does not know where to go. Sometimes he wishes to sell something of his possessions cheaply, in order to pay the interest on the usury; and sometimes he desires the lawless act of theft, to lose his life and to turn away from God because of the one demanding the interest on the loan; and sometimes he contemplates fleeing secretly to a foreign land. He wanders about in confusion because of the oppression of the debt, and is perplexed by many thoughts, and his confused mind forgets his prayers to God. And when the sound of footsteps is heard, he is inwardly heartbroken from fear; and if from outside the debtor sees the creditor, he flees and hides as if from the calamities of distress, and his heart trembles and beats, and he stands with bowed head and speechless; and he is utterly unable and dares not look upon his face, because the interest on the usury has multiplied upon him, and he has nothing with which to pay and satisfy the creditor.

And now see, O you who demand usury, with how many torments and with what grief you cast your brother, and how many groans and calamities you cause for yourself, turning back against God and becoming debtor of many sins, by placing interest upon the loan, and interest upon interest, you beget evil offspring of evil grandchildren. And these are the brood of serpents. The offspring of serpents pierce the belly of their mother and come forth, and the offspring of loans pierce and slay the souls of the usurers, and prepare them for bitter torments and terrible fire. For a bitter art and a lawless occupation you have acquired, which dares to plant without land and to reap without seed, whose seed is venomous, and whose harvests are evil, and whose laborers are lawless, and Satan is the helper, driver, and instigator of the lawless reapers of these evil usurious interests. He who burns as if with fire from the lawless desire for usury, and continually gathers sword and fire into his treasuries, and gathers more evil-destroying things than serpents and vipers and the offspring of asps into the houses of loans and interests. And he did not hear the lament of the prophet, who wished for wings like a dove to flee from the city, because usury and deceit did not diminish in their marketplaces. And he did not heed the entreaties of the prophet to God, that he might save their souls from evil usury, but with closed eyes and stopped ears he ceaselessly gathers the interests of usury. O evil passion of lawless gain!

from which he was obliged to withdraw with fear from usury through compassion, he instead with much iniquity becomes intimate with the profits and interests, so that he astonishes the mind, not looking to the commandments of God; he makes the heart foolish, not remembering the power of the terrible judgment; he petrifies the thoughts from inclining with pity toward the groaning brother; he closes the ears and the eyes; he is not ashamed before the shame of the onlookers, but, emboldened and turned aside, he gathers and hoards fire eternal for the wretched soul. And just as farmers pray and beseech God for rains for the sake of the seeds and the abundance of the world, so the usurer desires want and perplexities and severe famines and tax demands of the world, so that the goods may fall into the work and profit of usury. At the time of giving the loan he is cheerful and hypocritical; and when the appointed time for the usury arrives, seeing the poverty and perplexity of the debtor, he does not have mercy, and does not believe the oath of the suppliant, does not bow to the entreaties of the one in distress; but, harsh, unbending, and irreconcilable, he considers the borrower his servant, the lender his master. He examines whether any of his goods are worthy of him; he searches out where he has taken and hidden them; outside he guards the doors, in the midst of the multitude he is hostile, he shames the loved ones, he strangles in the public squares. The evil happening in the house, in life he sees as worse than death for the debtor.

He hates the day of reckoning, he fears the shame, his face lowers when seeing the creditor. His eye, like a dog caught in a place, trembles with shame. Behold the pitiful sight! Behold the evil machinations of Satan! Behold the lawless profits of the curse! For those shameless in their perverse passion impoverish the wealthy, strip the poor, strangle the naked, and gather silver from tears and rejoice in the lawless profits of their usury. The evil of lawless usury is a snare of death for its possessors, and they do not know. It is a strangulation of souls, a bond of the spirit, a cause of Gehenna, a leader of darkness, and a preparer of all torments and eternal shame. Therefore, flee with great caution from the desires of possessions. Flee from that evil passion. Flee from the evil-toothed beast. Flee from the satanic machination. For usury is the teaching of the evil serpent. Usury is a demonic invention. Usury is the seed of the enemy. Usury is a pledge of torments. Usury is a destroyer of piety. Usury is a road to Gehenna. Usury is a deprivation of the kingdom. Usury is a corruption of the body and a destroyer of the soul and a rejection of all righteousness. Now flee from that accursed passion, from the teacher of darkness, from the man-slaying serpent. I beseech you: let us not be afflicted with that sickness. And if we have fallen into that passion within, let us flee from it without.

But those who conduct themselves wickedly with usury are worthy of mourning and lamentable tears. For it is as if one took a sword and wounded himself; such is the evil of this passion, and it has many heads. It is avaricious—this same passion makes one an idolater. It is shameless—this same passion makes one bestial in mind. It is pitiless—this same passion makes one merciless. It is unjust—this same passion makes one a plunderer. It is self-loving—this same passion makes one a hater of Christ, contrary to the will of God. And now what shall I say? That man is not a Christian who gathers wealth by injustice; rather, such a one is an altar of Satan filled with human sacrifices, and a tomb filled with putrid corpses, and likened to the blazing fire of Gehenna which consumes everything and is never sated. Let us be horrified, beloved, at where the desire for possessions has led us. Let us be horrified and with great vigilance tear out the root, lest its developed branches sweep us down into the abyss of the fire of Gehenna. And now what shall we do, or by what example shall we tear out the evil root, since we speak as if among serpents and wild beasts, and not among Christians and lovers of Christ who are obedient to the commands of God? They declare war, saying: "If silver does not return to us with usury, then even in giving we will withhold the loan, and we will not have mercy on a brother in distress." This declaration is lawless and contrary to the will of God.

This speech is a satanic birth of words, which removes one from God. This speech is the seed of the evil enemy, that it might lead you astray from the truth. For these are the very counsels of evil teaching against the commandments of God. For Christ said: Give a loan to him from whom you have expectation of receiving the measure; this also the sinners do. But you, He says, Give a loan to those from whom you have no expectation of receiving, when we take up one another's burden and fulfill the law of Christ, which says: Let your abundance be for the need of the poor, that there may be equality between the two. And now consider: it does not command you to give alms to the poor in some measure, but to make his poverty equal to your wealth. For God called the poor and needy your brother, and a member of your limbs. And it is not lawful for you to see your members naked and to disregard them, or to deprive them of their share of property. For he was called your brother. And now, if you consider him your brother, do not fall away from the commandments of God in a pagan manner, but keep the commands of the Lord in a Christian manner, which commanded not to fill the lack of the poor, but even to increase for many. Now you have this command from God, and you either give the loan with evil usury, or you close it off lawlessly and godlessly. But you are even shameless to say: I take a loan.

You love that well: if I give one, you take two, rather than if I do not give. But he wishes to scatter the hours of the week, and under compulsion he takes unwillingly. Yet if you are a worshiper of God, look to the commandments of God, for it was commanded even to give a gift to the perplexed, and to cast off from the violence of the demanders. For you also shall be delivered from the enemy, who constantly keeps you in toil to gather and store and hoard the things of others, and to enjoy and never; for the eye is not sated by seeing, nor the lover of silver by gathering and taking the things of others. The souls of the greedy are hell, and they are never filled, and they never say "enough." Why do I prolong? For what reason do I transgress, O wretched one? Why do you gather the barrenness of silver, the occasion of eternal Gehenna? Set before your eyes the judgment of Christ. What answer will you give when the wronged ones from the usuries surround you, accusing you before the judge? What will you do, O wretched one, how will you entreat? There no prayers, no possessions, no grandeurs; you are bereft of loved ones, far from helpers; without an advocate, without an answer; ashamed, sorrowful, sad, solitary, without boldness. For wherever you turn your eye, you will plainly see the images of the evils which you have done.

From there you see the tears of the orphans, from there the groans of the widows, elsewhere the poor man beaten by you, the servants you tormented, the neighbors you enraged. All rise up against you, and harshly they ever circle behind you because of your evil deeds. For just as the splendor of his glory is inscrutable to man, so too the sins follow inscrutably after the guilty one. Manifestly it displays the forms of the multitude of sins before the whole public. Therefore no one can there deny the defilements of his evil works; rather the tongue of the slanderer is bound, the mouth of the lawless is shut, the body of the sinner trembles, for each one's sins bear witness to their doer, not by uttering any speech, but just as the blackness of goats appears among the sheep, so too the souls of sinners, clothed and veiled in darkness, will appear among the light-adorned public. And why, for the sake of your transient life and your corruptible silver, do you deliver yourself to unbearable torments and eternal shame? Why do you not renounce the evil passion of avarice? Why do you not withdraw from the mercies of usurious profits, which condemn you more than the lawless to the fire of the terrible furnace? But you will say: If I scatter the surplus of my possessions, I am despised, I become poor and needy. Did you not hear the prophet who says: I have not seen the righteous man despised, nor his offspring begging for bread.

If even poverty has befallen you, it is better for you to groan and wander, to go about and beg from the merciful, than to feed yourself from the cruel and lawless usury. You have hands, you have feet, you have a craft: work, earn wages, serve, and eat. There are many means for the care of your body, if you are willing to labor. For even the ant, a tiny creeping thing, can feed itself, and the bees provide their own food for kings, though they have neither hands nor acquired crafts. But God gave you hands, and crafts, and a mind of all resources: with innocence make equal the sustenance of your life. And now what answer do you know concerning your own righteousness, you to whom it was commanded to work and to give to him who is in need? You are not even sufficient for yourself. And you deliver yourself to the terrible calamities for the sake of the exchange of usury, which cast you, body and soul, into the fiery furnace of torments, where there is weeping without ceasing and gnashing of teeth. From this may the grace and mercy of the Holy Spirit save us, to whom are glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.

On the Mercy of the Poor What shall I say, or what shall I recount, or what shall I leave and despise? And that which I deem not unimportant moves my tongue and gathers my thoughts into my counsel. And since I see the matter of my discourse to be important, willingly I also shall speak and recount the despairs of the oppressed, the torments of the poor—the foolishness of lawlessness—even to the point of utter folly, making blasphemy against God. And they call him the eye-charmer and the eye-giver of the great wealthy. They say: God loves the wealthy, and he charms their eyes, and he prospers their labors, and he does not look upon the oppressions of the afflicted, but makes them despised and neglected. With such lawless speech they deny the truth and the righteousness of God, and they make his true work seem an accomplice of lawlessness. And by this they send blasphemy to the heights, and they speak of the injustice of God; by this they deny the truth of God, and they sink into the abyss of the heretics. For neither the Jew nor the pagan can deny the truth of the righteousness of God. The blasphemer, perverted, denies it, and awakens the fierce wrath of God upon the lost souls. And now, do you speak of the injustice of God, O poor and impoverished one? Has God perhaps deprived you of something of his own?

not also did the great ones and the poor equally partake as brothers—the eyes of all the same, the hands and feet the same. From the sun, from the air, and from the rains we all enjoy in common. All are from the earth and from Adam. All have one baptism, one grace, one body, and one blood of Christ. All have one earth, one heaven, and one matter of everything. Behold, these are the gifts of God which he granted in common to the poor and the powerful. Now why did he deprive you, and become an eye-plucker of the great ones? But I know that you have nothing to say to this. Yet you say, "But whence then is his greatness?" Take heed. It is not that God took him, showed him many things, and gave to him, and deprived you. Rather, for some, greatness comes from greed and plunder; for others, from hard labor; and for others, from ancestral inheritance. But why are you saddened, you who are in your poverty and carefreeness, in tranquility and peace, easily and with little you sustain the necessary needs of your body? But for the great ones, their lunches and dinners are prepared with difficulty, and their enjoyments are full of many cares. And especially if the foods come from murder and from deprivations, their conscience constantly gnaws and consumes them. And because of the many filth of the belly, many diseases of fear cover their minds. And summer and winter, from all sides, there stands over them suspicion of thieves and fear of brigands.

terrors from slanderers, distress from the oppressed, afflictions from the envious, evil words from enemies, deceits and ambushes from all sides; for all have opened their mouths against him like dragons, and wish to devour him. Behold, the cares and sorrows of the great are more than their peace and joy. And where indeed is the joy of the great, when they constantly pray for rains from the heavens, sigh for the wintry blasts, sigh for the pasturage of the fields, sigh for the beast-slaying of the flocks, tremble at the old ones, grieve with the sheep-slaughter, are anxious for their treasures, waste away at any loss? Even the moth rules over the great, and causes them anxiety. What more shall I say concerning the terrible day, the terrors and the grievous lamentation of the torments, which even here from the fear of the commandments terrifies and frightens them constantly, when the readings of the prophets and the apostles openly rebuke the pitiless and covetous great? Now where is the joy of the great, or where is the consolation for him whose poverty you desire and covet, and you grieve over your own easy and peaceful life, and consider yourself wretched and miserable, and despise your manifold wisdom? For you have no fear of thieves, nor suspicion of robbers; you do not sigh for the verdure of the fields, nor for the harvest of the mountains; you do not fear the deceit of shepherds, nor the plundering of wild beasts.

you are not frightened by the violence of the violent, nor by the tax-collection of the princes. The envious do not envy you, and the slanderers do not slander. You have no fear from anyone, nor disturbance. No terror of the princes can frighten the poor man, nor the severity of lords. No one can take anything from the poor man, nor disturb and threaten him. The wealthy are troubled and agitated, and the poor man mocks them. The princes, arrogant and raging against the rich, and the poor man considers them as nothing. The land is full of thieves and brigands, and the poor man is fearless of them. The marketplaces are full of slanderers and violent men, and the poor man is carefree of them. The judges are wolfish and bestial, and the poor man is unafraid of them. For because of his poverty, the life of the poor man is in great peace and carefreeness, free from everything and unconstrained by all, unenvied and ungrudged, and innocent of many vices. He has no need of many buildings. He has no need of locks on doors. There is no sorrow in the poor man's illness, and no disturbance and uproar at his death. But the lives of the poor are in great carefreeness, and their rest is undisturbed. All these freedoms are here. But as for the greatness and delicacy and the enjoyment of those other goods which are prepared there for the endurance of poverty—what mouth is sufficient to tell?

than all the delights of the kings of this world, it is desirable and longed for. If only one would endure poverty without complaint, one would pass through the life of this world lightly and without care. For he seeks only the day's meal, which he partakes of with great desire, savoring it as sweet and pleasing, and he sleeps without care. But for the great ones, the abundant and not insipid things seem not pleasing, but useless and loathsome. They enter into costly wine, become drunk and foolish. But the poor man, with cheap water, satisfies the same need of thirst, and finds himself sober and healthier than the drunkard. And so, why do you consider yourself wretched and miserable? For I see the life of the poor as carefree and pleasant, and their food as sweet and pleasing, more than that of the great ones. For they are pure from all deceit, and their enjoyments are free from grievous disturbances. But the luxuries of the great ones are, first of all, impure and unseemly, and their dissipations are full of all filth. And then, because they are gathered from plunder and oppression, with lawlessness and greed. Moreover, their tables are set from the sweat of many. With much fear, and little enjoyment. Cares of every kind, and little rest, and that with much suspicion. For the need of the hungry poor man is small, and his rest in sleep is easy.

But the rich man has not yet risen from his bed, when already his thoughts surround him like enemies and combatants—the cares of the household and servants, fear of thieves and slanderers, the treachery of neighbors and rulers. And all the waves of greatness have surrounded and besieged him, saying: By what means shall we increase our possessions? Behold, the bed of the greedy rich man is bitter, and in every place sorrow is added upon sorrows. For he sees loss and error in the house and is grieved; he sees error in the field and is grieved; he sees error in the livestock and is grieved; and in every place, like waves of tears, cares and sorrows seize him. But what shall I say or what shall I recount of those torments and of the fire of Gehenna, which is prepared for the greedy and merciless rich? And now, you poor and needy one, why do you distress, grieve, and struggle over the harbor of your poverty, and seek such storms and billows of greatness? Is it not great for you that you are carefree at night, and carefree at dawn; carefree at home, and carefree in the squares; fearless on the road, and fearless in the inn; unafraid of the powerful, and unenvied by all slanderers; and especially if you endure with patience even in these brief times of trials and your poverty?

For it is great to distribute one’s possessions to the poor, but even greater is to make oneself poor through humility and to be thankful to God. This the Lord also praises: “Blessed,” he says, “are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” For if poverty were something evil, Christ would not have chosen poverty in everything; for it was possible for him to appear in a royal city, to be born from the daughters of kings, and to be born in the palaces of kings. But he appeared in a poor village, and was born in a wretched city, where he could not find a house or a suitable place, but a stable of stone, where there were no beds, and he could find no cradle; but he laid the Lord of all creation to rest in a manger of stone, and he was nourished in a hut of reeds, and traveled on foot. And he descended so far into humility that he washed the feet of his disciples in a servile manner. And by this example, all who wished to be exalted in heaven chose poverty and humility. But why do you tremble at your poverty, through which you enjoy heaven without care, and inherit the infinite goodness of heaven in exchange for your meager poverty? For there are two kinds of afflictions and pleasures for man: one here, and one in the hereafter; for either you will inherit the eternal, unending goodness, or the temporal one; either you will be poor and afflicted in the eternal, or in this brief time.

Either here to mourn and weep, or there. Either here to endure afflictions and bear them, or there. As the prophet Elijah was afflicted and impoverished here, and in heaven was glorified with great glory; likewise John the Baptist was impoverished here, hungered and thirsted, and in heaven inherited the abundant goods. So too all the prophets and apostles, through transient afflictions, obtained the abundant enjoyments of the eternal life. Moreover, our first fathers chose the life of poverty, for they knew that it is very difficult to inherit the greatness of heaven through the greatness of this world, and not to enjoy the eternal softness through this transient softness. For it is said: It is difficult for a lover of luxury to see the face of Christ, and for a great one to enter the kingdom of God. But rest is for the afflicted and the toilers, and the kingdom is for the needy. Those who are here as if in prison of poverty, for them the door of the kingdom is open. For God is not unjust, that he would take the afflicted and the tormented out of the prison of torments and cast them into the prison of hell; rather, he takes them out of this vain life and settles them into the endless joys. If only they bear the poverty with gratitude, many greatnesses are prepared in heaven, and boundless joys.

And now, what lack of joy is there for you, the needy and the poor, that you send blasphemy to the heights and speak of the injustice of God? But you will say, "From the multitude of possessions the wealthy man distributes many alms." Yet the alms of the poor man are more wondrous and acceptable than those of the wealthy man. For when someone with love beholds the afflicted, and from his own scant possessions distributes and gives to the afflicted, and feeds the hungry, he surpasses the gifts of many wealthy men. For God does not look to the measure of the gifts, but to the will of the givers, and accepts the small as the great. But if you have nothing with which to comfort the needy, you have a house in which to give rest to the stranger; you have water, which you can give to the thirsty to drink; you have compassion and mercy, with which you can weep and mourn over the sorrowful and those afflicted with suffering. For mercy is greater than the distribution of possessions. But you will envy if the wealthy man brings offerings and fruits from his wealth. Even more in this is it fitting for the poor man to surpass the wealthy man. Offer yourself as an offering to God with humility and innocence. This is an offering to God: a humble spirit. And this is greater than whole burnt offerings of rams and calves. For the prophet calls a holy heart and a humble spirit an offering acceptable and pleasing to God.

The three youths offered their bodies and souls as a sacrifice to God. And if you envy the fruit of the field or the harvest of the wealthy man, which is greater than all good works, than sacrifices and alms and than the strictness of fasts—to bring forth fruit from their own plants in field and harvest, by which God is pleased with a sweet fragrance, and God blesses his house and his labors. And a house from which fruits of blessing do not go forth to the churches and to the priests and to the servants of the churches—that divine blessing does not enter that house, nor into their labors, and that house is continually in want. For this reason God commanded Moses: "You shall give me the first fruits of your plants, the firstborn of your flocks, the ram and the sheep you shall dedicate to me, so that in everything you set your hand to, I may increase and multiply." Likewise Solomon says: "Honor the Lord from your righteous labors, and bring forth fruit from your righteous plants." He says: "Let your granaries be filled with wheat, and your harvests of wine overflow for you." Now if you have no possessions, O poor one, and [...] bring forth fruit even from your own limbs. For from the eyes there is fruit: to lead the blind and bring him to the door; from the feet there is fruit: to give a staff to the lame and to support the burden of his feet; from the hands there is fruit: to lead the paralytic and to help the bedridden.

The fruit of the tongue is to teach the erring, to console the sorrowful. The fruit of the ears is to hear promptly the command of the brother and to obey with humility his will. Now this entire mercy without gold is possible for everyone to bestow, and to receive greater reward than from mercy with possessions. Now what have you to say, that even liturgies and fruits and alms of the poor are easy and acceptable, more than those of the wealthy? For this reason, endure the afflictions with much patience, and receive them with gratitude. But if you are saddened and blaspheme, you will be liable to the payment of evil rewards. For it is not false that which is said: there are some who are tormented here and there. For here they are oppressed by poverty, and because of their murmuring they are rebuked and reproached by the righteous judge, and they are burned and consumed in the fire of Gehenna, like the Sodomites, who were tormented here and are to be tormented there. May it not be for us to fall into that place of torments and condemnation. But let us repent of our sins, let us love poverty, let us endure affliction, let us be grateful for the gifts, let us glory in indigence, let us inherit the heavens with much virtue, and let us enjoy the enjoyments of the infinite goods in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is glory and honor forever and ever. Amen.

I am full of countless faults and empty of the virtues of conduct, destitute of good deeds, and stripped of righteousness, who at every hour heap sin upon sin, which cruelly slay me. And now who, clouded with many transgressions and living in the dark ways of lawlessness, would presume to enlighten others, or could the one sick with sins attempt to heal others? It is great audacity for those weighed down by sins to strive to lighten others, and for those fallen from the mind to desire to be teachers to others, or how shall one who is astray in lawlessness presume to lead others? But because divine love works impossibilities, and strives for the sake of salvation, and endeavors to enter through narrow and subtle crevices for the benefit and advantage of hearers—behold the power of the divine word: go, turn your brother, that your sins may be atoned; for he who strives, it says, to turn back a straying soul disperses the multitude of his own sins; and he who brings forth the honorable from the base shall be called the mouth of God. For great is the benefit and advantage and importance of striving and seeking the salvation of companions. And now, you shepherds of the flock and leaders of the church, you desire this flock; you see Satan manifest, and Christ made an enemy, and the fold of the church despised, and you have run after wolves.

and you shepherds of my flock have fallen silent and ceased, and you do not ceaselessly proclaim the command of the commandments to all who hear. Your forces are in distress among enemies, and you, the commander, have fallen asleep. Your ship is in the waves and tossed among the billows, and you, the captain, have fallen and lie carelessly. Beasts have entered and are destroying your vineyard, and you, the vinedresser, see and pretend not to see at the proper time. Thieves have entered and are digging around your corners, and you, the guard, are in sleep and snoring. Your people are wounded with wounds, and the physician is not among them. The flock, devoured by wolves, has been scattered over ravines and over rocky precipices, and wolves and beasts mercilessly slaughter them, and death-bringing birds tear them piece by piece, and they lie fallen and scattered, and you shepherds do not appear. Do you not tremble before the terrible chief shepherd who says: "I will judge sheep by sheep and ram by ram." And again the prophet denounces the priests, saying: "The priests have dishonored my laws, for they did not separate the holy from the profane, nor did they separate the mortal from the immortal; but they eat the milk and wear the wool, and they do not pasture my flock, they do not strengthen the weak, they do not heal the sick. You are shepherds who pasture yourselves, not the sheep. And I will cast the shame of the feast upon your faces," he says. "And now I will lift you up by the ears, and I will send curses upon you, and I will curse your blessings, and I will anathematize you.

instead, you have not taken to heart the fear of me, nor have you been ashamed before my face. Now see that such curses and threats are from God upon negligent priests. And you, be terrified by the threats of God, and do not be negligent in the oversight of your spiritual flock, but by night and by day labor unceasingly for their salvation and for your own sanctity. Remember the care of Moses and Aaron and Samuel, for they too were leaders of the flock. Remember also the care of Paul and Peter, for they too were leaders of the flock. Remember also the care of the saints who came after them, for they too were leaders of the flock, who were tormented by fire and sword and various tortures for the sake of the flock's oversight, and who departed from this world through blows, bonds, and many torments because of the great love of God and the fervent oversight of the flock. And it is incumbent upon you, in like manner, upon all priests and teachers to labor perpetually in this same work; and especially upon him who by his own free will has undertaken the office of oversight, which is praiseworthy if he has not come to know it for the sake of some personal livelihood, and has been empowered by the Spirit to enter into the work of ministry for the salvation of many. For it is praiseworthy for the worthy and the obedient to desire the office of oversight spiritually for the sake of the greater love of God, as Peter said: "If you love me more than these, tend my sheep.

And Paul says: “He who desires the office of overseer desires a good work, and not an evil one.” But let us also learn to be overseers of good works, so that they may not be fruitless; for that is good and beneficial for men. For even more than the sun, which is illumined by its rays, it is great to dispel the error of sins. This is the work of God, and it surpasses all virtues. Because of this, it is said: “Priests shall be worthy of double honor, and especially those who labor by word and by teaching.” For the labor of the priesthood is great and unceasing, and the grace of teaching is profitable. The priest is a physician of souls and a co-worker in the works of God. God created man with free will for good and for evil, and the priest, by directing the will, adorns it with works of virtue. God created nature, and he, by his God-inspired wisdom, illumines it and removes it from every satanic deception, and, having rejected it, dispels the fog of error and the darkness of ignorance. And he makes known the Creator of creatures, and the giver of all goods, and the fullness of sea and land. And, illumined by true faith and by upright ways of virtue, he leads those who love God to virtues and to joys. Because of this, they are honored with many honors and are resplendent with luminous crowns.

And now, everyone who holds the office of the priesthood must show great zeal and restless labor for the salvation of the flock. For if Jacob, for the sake of the speechless sheep, was chilled in the open cold and burned in the scorching heat, and denied sleep to his eyes, how much more must you labor and toil unceasingly for your rational flock, always trembling and caring, and with warm compassion, more than a merciful father and more than a mother who has borne a child, tend and love them, and seek the salvation of their souls, and constantly teach by the word of teaching, both privately and in the midst of the congregation. And what one teaches by words, one must first fulfill by deeds; for a word without deeds is of no profit. Jesus began by doing, and then by teaching. And he who himself does and teaches others, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Take heed: for lamps are lit from a burning lamp, and not from those that are darkened; and the congregation is sanctified by the hands of the holy, and not by those defiled by sins. For the priest is like an eye in the body among the congregation, and he must look upon all, and set in order, and cleanse all the filth of sins. He is like a lamp upon a lampstand, and he must dispel the thick darkness and illuminate all the house.

He is a watcher and a guardian, and he must constantly cry out, lest the enemy come and wound with the sword of sins, and the blood of the slain be demanded from your hands. You are a physician for those wounded by Satan; constantly wash, bandage, and heal. You are salt for seasoning; cleanse all the putrefaction of sins. You are a fountain of salvation; wash and purify all from evils. You are a shepherd of the flock; be watchful against wolves. You are a leader of the people; see how you lead; for there are judgments, punishments, and strict scrutiny. Priest, be watchful with fear; for man is not created in vain, nor are the lives of this world in our hands; there are demands from wandering eyes, examinations from immodest ears, punishments for empty words, and a claim for improper thoughts. For if calling a brother foolish or stupid condemns, what other store of great sins do deeds produce? And if a glance commits fornication, how much more does the deed itself? If swearing is from Satan, how much more so false swearing? And if tumult and clamor cause harm, how much more does bearing a grudge torment in Gehenna? And if desiring corrupts, how much more if we fulfill the deed of desire? And if the evil eye destroys with evil death, how much more envy and error? And if not sharing one's own possessions condemns, how much more does one who deprives others?

And if one who offers rottenness to God receives curses like Cain, how much more so one who offers from extortion? If secret slander of a brother harms, how much more so slander with deceit? And if one who slanders a companion is consigned to fire, how much more so those who slander the priest and the teacher? And if fasts and vigils lead to idolatry, how much more so incantations and demonic spells? And if mourning for the dead is paganism, how much more so wailing and tearing of hair? And if those who are wanton and laugh are cast into fire like Ornan, how much more so those who go to the theaters? And if adorning the house is not praiseworthy, how much more so one who adorns himself for public spectacles? And if defrauding at the table is condemned, how much more so cheating and stealing from a brother? And if being drunk with wine is punishable, how much more so those who are debauched with dissipation and drunk with gluttony, which the old and new commandments punish? And now see, that all this and whatever is similar to these condemns those who do them to torments. And you who are the overseer of the church, if you are at all negligent, and do not diligently admonish and examine all this with care, know that the blood of the lost will be demanded from your hands. And if no one can appease the torments of a single soul, how much more so must you be debtor for so many souls?

How many darknesses would he traverse, and how many rivers of fire would be sufficient for him, and how many dark pits? But be vigilant, complain constantly, cry out unceasingly, examine and heed everything; read diligently and admonish. Some by severity, some by entreaty, some by the desirable sweetness of the kingdom, coax them; some by the terrible fear of harsh torments, terrify them; some admonish within the church, that others may learn; some reprove in private, lest those ashamed before the multitude despise reproof; and if they should indeed despise it, do not cry out in opposition, for it is not fitting for the servant of the Lord to be contentious, but gentle with all, for perhaps repentance may remain. But do not consider yourself honored in any way; rather, despise the glories of this world; scorn the praise of false servants; remember the punishment of Herod, who received praise. Concerning which, do not set yourself up in any splendor, nor claim any honor for yourself; but having served all, be a servant to all, call yourself a servant. Remember also the service of Christ, the wiping of the towel, the pouring of water into the basin and the washing of the disciples' feet—not man of man, but God of man; which is true confession and humility and earnest service. He did not come to receive service, but to serve.

This is your teacher, and not the mounted and the honored. Now you be an imitator of him, and your flock will imitate you, as also Paul says: "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." Behold, you are Paul himself, who preaches, and the same people whom you teach; and behold, there was a man who imitated you from the province of Cilicia, from the city named Tarsus; and he had nothing more than you, but only the diligence and the labor by which he received the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are not forbidden to you either, but only to be diligent and to labor, and to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. So do not make any excuses, and do not babble about this and that; but only be vigilant in prayer and in the care of teaching. According to the likeness of Paul, be sick with the sick, mourn over the one who errs, grieve with those who stumble, strengthen the weak, and show them zeal, cross the sea and the dry land for them. Do not weary in labors, do not be negligent in service, do not be ashamed of words; but even if it should happen that you become famished and parched with thirst for their salvation, receive it with joy. For no one became a prophet by gluttony, nor an apostle by drunkenness; but they were oppressed and tormented in all desires.

It is also necessary for you to be an imitator of the brave and the virtuous, and not of those shepherds who have become wolves, who are shepherds in name only, and in the faith rush like beasts and tear apart like wolves, and scatter and destroy; and they take no care at all for the souls, and are not troubled by their sins. They are not seekers of thieves, nor reckoners of fornicators; they do not examine slanderers, nor do they care at all about drunkards; they are not punishers of magical incantations, nor demanders of usury; they are not despisers of demonic theaters, nor hinderers of pagan lamentations; they do not rebuke the envious, nor oppose the avaricious; they do not chastise for any evils, nor punish for any negligences; they do not urge some to mercy, nor hasten them to prayers, nor do they ever sadden anyone for the sake of righteousness. But they show all concern for the bodily things; they take the priesthood as if it were some means of life in this world, for the sake of bodily pleasure, for eating and drinking, and for the acquisition of wealth, for the sake of honor and preeminence and satanic vainglory. Because of this, they do not have mercy on the orphan, nor do they spare the widow; but they seek entrance through punishments, and gather things through torments in the name of the church; they conduct themselves with violence, and command with authority, and show nothing of the priestly.