Tractatus De Oratione Et Eleemosyna [Incertus]

TREATISE ON PRAYER AND ALMSGIVING. Not unknown to the Urbinate, and afterwards published by Vignier from a Royal codex with some gaps, although the end itself, as he attests, did not present Augustine with such certainty. But neither does it present a more certain beginning. To give alms freely to the poor. Mercy itself prays to Mercy; there is no limit to Mercy. Let prayer be the companion of Mercy. The praise of prayer. Blessed is he who understands concerning the needy and the poor; in the evil day the Lord will deliver him (Ps. 40). Therefore we must understand concerning the needy and the poor: but to understand concerning the needy and the poor is that we should not wait to be asked by such persons. For that mercy is not to be accounted as such which is extorted by clamors, nor does he who suffers himself to be long entreated receive the reward of his work: since he has not fulfilled the command of God, but has yielded to prayers, he has sold his mercy for tears. But he who understands gives freely, and with a sealed silence more readily conceals his work, which he desires to be hidden, lest the very voice of the poor man betray it, as it is written in the Gospel: When you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be seen by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. But you, when you give alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does: and let your alms be in secret; and He who sees will repay you (Matt. 6:2-4).

And through Solomon the Lord speaks, saying, "Store up your alms in the heart of the poor, and it itself will pray for you from every evil" (Ecclus. 29:15). First, He wished it to be hidden, which He commanded to be stored up in the heart. For since He Himself is the searcher of reins and heart, He surely wished to be reserved for Himself alone whatever He entrusted to the innermost recesses of the breast. Then He showed how great its services are, when He says that it is no longer the poor person who will pray for us, but mercy itself will plead: for the poor person can both doze in prayers and, being occupied with evil deeds, sometimes cease. But mercy, always laboring and watchful, obtains such efficacy that it does not allow its author to be without reward. How great and how necessary... from the treasures of the times... from our resources they would manifest. Certainly the celestial bread by which our soul is nourished, if ever we should reach it so that we may be fattened by it, from which now we scarcely gather crumbs, lest we perish in this famished desert. How, then, is one to reach the fatness of this bread, of which the Lord says, "He who eats this bread will not hunger, and he who drinks the drink which I give will not thirst forever" (John 4:13), promising a certain fatness and satiety without disgust? How, then, do we reach this satiety of bread, placed far from that satiety in this hunger? Counsel is needed: which counsel if we neglect, we knock at that bread without cause.

Indeed, this counsel which I am about to speak, or rather which I am about to commend—for I do not speak it from myself, but from what I have learned with you—this counsel, therefore, which I am about to speak, whoever despises it does not knock at all. For to follow and act upon this counsel is to knock. For what? Do you think, brothers, that God truly has, as it were, a bodily door, a hard door which He closes against men? And that He therefore bids us knock, so that we may come and beat upon the door, until by knocking we reach the ears of the master of the house, who is established in some secret place, and He orders it to be opened for us, saying, "Who is it that knocks? Who is it that wearies my ears? Give him what he asks, let him depart from here"? It is not so; nevertheless, there is something similar. Certainly, when you knock at someone, you act with your hands. Do you act with your hands when you knock at the Lord? You act entirely with your hands; you knock with your hands. Therefore, if you do not act, I do not say, "You knock in vain"; but I say, "You do not knock." Therefore you will not deserve, therefore you will not receive, because you do not knock. "When," you ask, "do you want me to knock? Behold, I pray daily." You do well; you pray very well. For this also has been said: "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you" (Luke 11:9). All has been said: ask, seek, knock. You ask by praying, you seek by disputing, you knock by giving alms. Therefore, let the hand not be idle.

The Apostle, when he was admonishing the people about alms, said, "I give this counsel: for this benefits you, that you have begun not only to do, but also to will, from the previous year" (2 Cor. 8:10). And Daniel, the Holy Spirit foresees... For if we entrust our riches to the hearts of the poor,... when later either a thief seizes them, or a plunderer lays them waste, or a moth consumes them, or rust corrupts them, or what a pernicious unjust time carries off? But what then? Our wealth passes over to the Lord, they occupy heaven if, giving to the poor, we keep the heavenly commands. Therefore, brothers, this work must be pursued with all our strength. This will of the Lord must always and everywhere be fulfilled without any summons. Only mercy is freed from excesses. While all things are hateful when they have exceeded their measure, only mercy has no limit. It alone is that whose excesses please, whose enormity delights, whose profusion can be praiseworthy. Thus only mercy is that which, the more it proceeds to greater things, the more it bestows both greater praise for itself and charity in the Lord. The Lord Himself urges that this be done continually; nor is Christ silent in the Gospel, nor has the Holy Spirit ceased through the Prophets. The Lord and Almighty Father God speaks through Isaiah, showing what rewards are prepared for the merciful: "Break your bread.

your bread to the hungry, and lead the roofless poor into your house: if you see someone naked, clothe him, and do not despise the members of your own household. Then your temporal light will burst forth, and light will quickly arise. And justice will go before you, and the glory of God will surround you. Then you will cry out, and the Lord will hear you. While you are still speaking, He will say, "Behold, I am here" (Isaiah 58:7-9). It is sufficiently clear, brothers, that what I have already taught from Tobit is confirmed by the testimony of Isaiah: that almsgiving must be joined to prayer, and fasting must be associated with it. "Then," he says, "you will cry out, and God will hear you; and to you crying out in prayer, while you are still speaking, He will say, 'Behold, I am here.'" "If you show mercy," he says, "as soon as you begin to ask, you will obtain it: the Lord will anticipate your words, and by your merits preceding, you will receive everything." For what is more excellent than prayer? What is more useful for our life? What is more sublime in our entire religion? It is prayer that calls us Christians; it is prayer by which we speak with God, by which we call Him Father, by which we pour out all our desires before the sight of His majesty. Prayer is what penetrates the heavens, passes through the clouds, reaches the ears of God. This is necessary for all ranks in the Church. It provides spirit to catechumens, protection to the faithful, comfort to penitents. It sustains the just, raises up sinners; through it, even those who stand do not fall, and those who have been cast down are lifted up.

Age, sex, every condition and rank uses it. This great thing preserves, this protects even the smallest. Through it the rich are safe, through it the poor do not fail. It watches from their abundance, it prays that want be driven away from them. In it we are governed in prosperity, through it we bear confidence in adversity. It is pleasant to us in joys; it is gentle in griefs. Through it we receive joy, through it we avoid sadness. To it we entrust our burden and weariness, all our votive offerings. We appoint it as a faithful trustee, we load it like a suitable and most safe ship with the cargo of all our desires, so that it may arrive at the almighty Lord with hands outstretched and prayers poured forth, on a prosperous and happy voyage. Through it we receive all the ornaments of the fear of the Lord. Through it we preserve by constant supplication whatever faith begins, the spirit cleanses, charity adorns. Through it we are protected by chastity, governed by continence and virtue. Through it we endure the bonds of the body for Christ; through it, finally, we consummate the blessed martyrdoms. Amen.