Righteousness And Appearances

Attendite ne justitiam vestram faciatis coram hominibus, ut videamini ab eis: alioquin mercedem non habebitis apud Patrem vestrum qui in caelis est. Cum ergo facis eleemosynam, noli tuba canere ante te, sicut hypocritae faciunt in synagogis, et in vicis, ut honorificentur ab hominibus. Amen dico vobis, receperunt mercedem suam. Te autem faciente eleemosynam, nesciat sinistra tua quid faciat dextera tua: ut sit eleemosyna tua in abscondito, et Pater tuus, qui videt in abscondito, reddet tibi. Et cum oratis, non eritis sicut hypocritae qui amant in synagogis et in angulis platearum stantes orare, ut videantur ab hominibus : amen dico vobis, receperunt mercedem suam. Tu autem cum oraveris, intra in cubiculum tuum, et clauso ostio, ora Patrem tuum in abscondito: et Pater tuus, qui videt in abscondito, reddet tibi. Instructis illis in perfectiori justitia agit de fine, ut non tamen hoc fine faciant, scilicet propter humanum favorem. Et agit de tribus virtutibus, eleemosyna, jejunio, et oratione, removendo a singulis hunc finem. Non prohibet fieri opera coram hominibus, quia superius dixit: Luceat lux vestra coram hominibus, sed hac intentione fieri prohibet, ut videantur, id est ut velint videri. Cum ergo, etc. Quando quidem nullam justitiam, ergo nec eleemosynam pro laude faciatis. Tangit morem Judaeorum, qui quando pauperes congregare volebant, tuba sonabant in publicis locis, et hoc praecipue faciebant hypocritae, qui sub specie boni laudes quaerebant, quasi dicat: Noli tuba canere, id est noli facta tua notificare et innotescere, ea intentione sicut hypocritae, quia receperunt mercedem laudis: vel receperunt quidam eorum in inferno mercedem suam, id est aptam. Tu autem, etc. Quia aliquis diceret: Ego faciam pro utroque, et pro aeterno bono, et pro humana laude, prohibet illud, quia Deus non patitur secum esse participem. Dextra est amor coelestium bonorum, sinistra vero est amor temporalium bonorum, laudis scilicet et caeterorum: non ergo consocientur isti amores, et nesciat sinistra, id est petitio humanae laudis, quid faciat dextra, id est amor et coelestium respectus: Ut sit eleemosyna tua in abscondito, id est in pura conscientia, ubi homo non videt, sed Deus tantum. Et cum oratis, etc., qui amant orare stantes, quasi cum labore in synagogis, id est in angulis platearum. Duo genera notat hypocritarum, alios qui aperte orant in publico ut viderentur, sicut illi qui orant in synagogis, ubi est totus conventus hominum, et alios qui licet in publico orarent, tamen latere se velle simulabant, cum tamen vellent videri, sicut illi qui in plateis orabant, sed tamen in angulis. Tu autem cum orabis, intra, etc. Ad litteram est hoc bonum facere, tamen aptius accipitur per cubiculum secretum conscientiae, in quo cubili oportet ut non sit litigiosa uxor, id est carnalitas, quae inquietet et faciat foras vagari mentem, non permittens sibi quiescere. Oportet igitur eam domari et comprimi, ut non inquietet et litiget. Sed non valet refugere ad cubiculum, nisi clauso ostio, ne intret turba phantasmatum. Ostia sunt ut quinque sensus corporis, et praecipue timor et amor terrenus. Per haec enim duo ostia intrant omnia phantasmata peccatorum, quae claudenda sunt. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput VI Source: Migne PL 162.1303d-1304c

Take care you do not do your righteousness before men, to be seen by them, otherwise you shall not have a reward from your Father who is in heaven. Therefore when you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honoured by men. Truly I say to you that they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be given in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners, so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, enter into your chamber, and having shut the door, pray to your Father in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 1 Having instructed them in the more perfect righteousness, He treats of the end, that they do not act for this end, that is, for the favour of men. And He treats of the three virtues of alms giving and fasting and prayer, removing this end from each one. He does not prohibit us from doing works before men, because previously He said, 'Let your light shine out before men,' 2 but He prohibits the intention of appearing, that is, that they wish to appear. 'Therefore when...' Do not give alms for praise when then there is no righteousness in it. This touches on a custom of the Jews who when they wished to gather the poor together they would blow a trumpet in a public space, and the hypocrites especially did this, who beneath a mask of goodness sought praise, as if He said with, 'Do not blow a trumpet,' 'Do not proclaim your deeds or exhibit them for notice, for this is to act like a hypocrite,' because they received the reward of praise, and some of them received their reward in hell, as is fitting. 'But you,' Because if someone were to say, 'I act for both reasons, for the eternal reward and also for human praise,' He prohibits it because God does not suffer to be a participant in it. The right hand is the love of heavenly goods, but the left is the love of transient goods, that is, praise and the rest of them. Therefore they should not associate with the latter loves, and the left does not know, that is, the wish for human praise, what the right hand does, that is, for the love and reverence of heaven. 'So that your alms be given in secret.' That is, with a pure conscience, when no man sees but only God. 'And when you pray,' those who love standing in prayer as if toiling in the synagogues, that is, on street corners. He notes two types of hypocrites, one sort who openly pray in the streets so that they might be seen, and those who pray in synagogues when there is a great gathering of men, and it is possible that there others who pray in public, who feign they wish to be hidden but they do wish to be seen just like those who prays in the streets but on the corners. 'You, however, when you pray...' According to the letter prayer is good, but it is more fittingly performed in the secret chamber of the conscience, in which chamber there should not be a nagging wife, that is, carnality, which disturbs and makes the mind wander outside and does not allow quietness. Thus one must rule and suppress this, so that it does not disquiet and provoke to argument. But one cannot withdraw to this chamber unless the door is closed, lest a crowd of illusions enter. The doors are the five bodily senses, and also the fear and love of worldly things. For through these two doors pass in the illusions of errors, which must be shut out. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 6.1-6 2 Mt 5.16