Charity And Oneself

Esuerientes satiandi sunt, sitientes potandi, nudi operiendi, infirmi et qui in carcere sunt visitandi, et hospites colligendi, dicente Domino, Esurivi enim, et dedistis mihi manducare: sitivi et dedistis mihi bibere, etc. Nam haec omnia, et in se quique debet spiritaliter agere, et in aliis corporaliter adimplere, quia pene nihil possunt haec omnia ad vitam aeternam compensandam, si luxuriose, superbe, invide, et, ne singula replicem, si vitiose et inordinate quis vivat, et a caeteris bonis operibus vacet. Qui ergo videt se Christum non habere, qui dixit, Ego sum panis vivus qui de caelo descendi, et charitatem, quae est pastus animae, non habet, esurit quidem: sed si per bona opera Christo adjungit se, et charitatis dulcedine replet, esurientem omnino se pavit. Qui doctrina Spiritus sancti et Scripturarum sanctarum fluentis caret, sitiens est, sed si se fluentis verbi Dei irriget, et mentem suam spiritalis poculi dulcedine ebriet, iste se sitientem potat. Qui vide se justitia, sive caeteris bonorum operum exhbitionibus nudatum, et induit se justitia, sive caeteris virtutibus, nudum se procul dubio vestit. Si in lecto vitiorum suorum jacet, et morbo iniquitatis suae laborat, et funibus peccatorum suorum constrictus est, et vitiorum suorum obsitus pariete in tenebris iniquitatis suae, est infirmus quidem; sed si de luto vitiorum per confessionem egreditur, et per poenitentiae lamenta vinculis peccatorim absolvitur, et ad lucem bonorum operum egreditur, infirmum et in carcere positum se procul dubio visitat, Si in hujus vitae via videt se laborare, et vitiorum procella quasi quadam aeris intemperie inquietari, et receptaculum bonorum operum non habere, sciat se in itinere positum hospitio egere: at si se ad virtutum domum deducat, et sese in earum tutamine recipiat, hospitem quidem suscipit. Quae omnia cum sibi spiritaliter exhibet, Christum in se cujus ipse membrum est, pascit, potate, vestit, visitat, ac suscipit. Theodulfus Aurelianensis, Capitula ad Presbyteros Parochiae Suae, Capitula XXXII Source:Migne PL 105.201-c-202a

The hungry should be fed, the thirsty given drink, the naked covered, the sick and those in prison visited, and guests accommodated, with the Lord saying, 'For I was hungry and you gave me to eat, thirsty and you gave me to drink, etc.' 1 For all these things a man should do spiritually in himself, even in the satisfaction of others in corporeal things, because all these things profit not at all for the reward of eternal life if in luxury, pride and envy, and not to tell every one of them, if in vice and disorder a man lives, and from these good works is absent. He therefore who sees that he does not have Christ in himself, He who said, 'I am the bread of life which descended from heaven,' 2 does not have charity, which is the pasture of the soul, and he hungers. But if by good works he joins himself to Christ, troubled by his utter hunger, he is filled with the sweetness of charity. He who lacks the flowing waters of the Holy Spirit and Sacred scriptures, he thirsts, but if he waters himself with the flowing waters of the Word of God, and intoxicates his mind with the sweetness of the spiritual cup, he gives drink to the thirsty. He who sees himself to be naked of righteousness, or one of the other goods works, and he endows himself with righteousness, or one of the other virtues, without doubt he clothes the naked. If he falls on the bed of vices and labours in the sickness of his iniquities, and is bound in the bonds of his sins, and he is hemmed in by the walls of darkness of his vices in his iniquity, he is indeed sick, but if confession draws him out from the filth of vices, and through the laments of penance the chains of sin are broken, and he goes out to the light of good works, this one certainly visits the sick and those in prison. If in the way of this life he sees himself labouring, the wars of vice buffeting him like a wild storm, and the refuge of good works he does not have, let him know himself as one placed on the road who lacks hospitality, and if he leads himself to the house of virtues, and he takes himself into their protection, he certainly welcomes the guest. Which when in himself all these things he spiritually exhibits, so Christ in himself, of whom he is a member, he feeds, give drink, clothes, visits, and welcomes. Theodulf of Orleans, Chapters For His Local Priests, Chapter 32 1 Mt 25.35 2 Jn 6.41