Prayer and Wealth

Augustinus Episcopis Servus Christi Servorumque Christi, Religosae Famulae Dei Probae, in Domino Dominorum Salutem. Et petisse te et promisisse me recolens, ut de orando Deo ad te aliquid scriberem, ubi tribuente ipso quem oramus, tempus facultasque concessa est, oportuit ut debitum meum iam iamque persolverem, et pio studio tuo in Christi caritate servirem. Quam me autem laetificaverit ipsa petitio tua, in qua cognovi quantam rei tantae curam geris, verbis explicare non possum. Quod enim maius oportuit esse negotium viduitatis tuae, quam persistere in oratione nocte ac die, secundum Apostoli admonitionem? ille quippe ait: Quae autem vere vidua est et desolata speravit in Domino, et persistit in oratione nocte ac die. Unde mirum videri potest, cum sis secundum hoc saeculum nobilis, dives, tantaeque familiae mater, et in eo licet vidua, non tamen desolata, quomodo occupaverit cor tuum praecipueque sibi vindicaverit orandi cura; nisi quia prudenter intellegis quod in hoc mundo et in hac vita nulla anima possit esse secura. Proinde qui tibi eam cogitationem dedit, profecto facit quod Discipulis suis, non pro seipsis, sed pro humano genere contristatis, et desperantibus quemquam posse salvari, posteaquam ab illo audierunt facilius esse camelum intrare per foramen acus, quam divitem in regnum coelorum; mirifica et misericordissima pollicitatione respondit: Deo esse facile quod hominibus impossibile est. Cui ergo facile est ut etiam dives intret in regnum coelorum, inspiravit tibi piam sollicitudinem, de qua me consulendum putasti quonam modo esset tibi orandum. Ille namque cum etiam hic adhuc esset in carne, Zachaeum divitem in regnum coelorum misit, et resurrectione atque ascensione glorificatus, multos postea divites impartito Spiritu sancto fecit huius saeculi contemptores, et finita divitiarum cupiditate ditiores. Quomodo enim tu sic studeres orare Deum, nisi sperares in eo? quomodo autem sperares in eo, si sperares in incerto divitiarum, et contemneres praeceptum saluberrimum, quo Apostolus ait: 'Praecipe divitibus huius mundi non superbe sapere, neque sperare in incerto divitiarum, sed in Deo vivo qui praestat nobis omnia abundanter ad fruendum; ut divites sint in operibus bonis, facile tribuant, communicent, thesaurizent sibi fundamentum bonum in futurum, ut apprehendant veram vitam? Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, ex Epistula CXXX, Probae

The Bishop Augustine, servant of Christ, and of the servants of Christ, to Proba, a pious handmaid of God, in the Lord of Lords, greetings.  Recalling your request and my promise, that I should write to you something about praying to God when the time and ability should be given by Him to whom we pray, now indeed is the time that I should discharge my debt and be of service to your pious desire in the love of Christ. How indeed I rejoiced because of your request, in which I marked how great is the care that you have for this matter, I have not the words to express. For what better business could your widowhood have than to persist in prayer night and day, according to the Apostle's admonition, who says, 'She that is truly a widow and desolate trusts in God, and persists in prayer night and day' ? 1 Whence it is possible to appear wonderful that while you are according to the world noble, and rich, and a mother of such a family, and so, though a widow, not desolate, care about prayer should occupy your heart and persist there, were it not that you wisely understand that in this world and in this life no soul can be secure. Whence He who gave you to this thought is surely doing what He did to His disciples when not for themselves, but for the whole human family, they sorrowed and were despairing that anyone be saved, after they heard from Him that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And with a wondrous and merciful promise he replied: 'That which is impossible for men is easy for God.' 2 So He to whom it is easy to make even the rich enter into the kingdom of heaven, inspired you with that pious anxiety by which you think you must have my counsel on how you should pray. He while He was in the flesh sent the rich Zaccheus into the kingdom of heaven, 3 and after He was glorified in His resurrection and ascension He made by the gift of the Holy spirit many who were rich despise this present world and by extinguishing the desire for wealth enriched them. For how could you desire so much to pray to God if you did not hope in Him? And how could you hope in Him if your hope was fixed on uncertain riches, disdaining the most wholesome exhortation of the Apostle, who said: 'Exhort the rich of this world that they know not to be proud, nor have hope in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us in abundance all things to enjoy, that they be rich in good works, happy to distribute, and communicate, and to provide for themselves a good foundation in the future, that they may lay hold of eternal life? 4 Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Letter 130, To Proba 1 1 Tim 5:5 2 Mt 19:21-26 3 Lk 19:9  4 1 Tim 6:17-19