Making Rich And Poor

...et mercatores terrae de virtute deliciarum ejus divites facti sunt... Divites peccatis dici eos qui pro abundantia temporali suas infelici mercatu animas commutant. Nam nimietas luxuriae pauperes potius quam divitis facit Sanctus Beda, Explanatio Apocalyspsis, Liber III, Caput XVIII Source: Migne PL 93.185c

...and the merchants of the earth made rich by the power of her delicacies... 1 It speaks of those rich in sin, those who barter their souls away in a wretched market for temporal wealth, for excessive luxury makes men poor rather than rich. Saint Bede, Commentary On The Apocalypse, Book 3, Chapter 18 1 Apoc 18.3

Confession And The Devil

Non enim ante ad confessionem venitur, nisi prius fuerit diabalo renuntiatum. Sicut nec aurilegus ante aurum mittit in sacculum, nisi prius terram vel limum laverit universum. Ideo oportet prius repudium dicere diabolicae vanitati, et amara ejus studia abrenuntiando projicere. Abrenuntiare autem oportet non nudo sermone neque solis labiis, sed fide fortissima, et indubitata scientia, id est ut Christo se homo tota animi virtute committat, confidens, quia Christi factus desinat timere diabolum. Deinde abrenuntiat et operibus ejus malignis, id est culturis et idolis, sortibus et auguriis, pompis et theatris, furtis et fraudibus, homicidiis et fornicationibus, superbiae et jactantiae, irae et avaritiae, commessationibus et ebriositatibus, choris atque mendaciis, et his similibus malis. Quid dicimus de his, qui superfluo carnis ornatu jactare se volunt, et videri mirabiles? Taceo de exquisitis inutiliter vestimentorum subtilitatibus. Oro vos, quid faciunt in viris capilli acu crispati, comae retro quidem cervicem cooperientes, ante autem frontem penitus abscondentes, ita ut nec signo Christi locus liber relinquatur in fronte; et unde se putant habere aliquam gloriam vel decorem, inde turpitudinem et ignominiam contrahant? Similiter et mulieres caput ligantes ut scutum, ut frons tamquam vallis inter duos subsidat colles; ut de auribus pondera lapillorum auro ligata dependeant, ut brachia onerentur auro, ut cervicem premant catenae vel lapides, et pedibus sanguineae calceamentis flammulae rutilent. Quis usus in his, quae utilitas invenitur, nisi sola inanis pompa, et mens desiderio infantili corrupta? Nicetas Episcopus Aquileiensis, Fragmenta Sex, III Source: Migne PL 52.873d-875a

No one shall come to confession, unless first he shall have renounced the devil. Just like a gold prospector does not place gold in his sack, unless first he has washed off all the earth or mud from it. Therefore it necessary that one should declare that one repudiates the vanity of the devil, and cast it from one in denunciation of his bitter desires. And this renunciation should not only be in speech, not only with the lips, but with strong faith, and certain knowledge, that is, so that the man commits himself with all the virtue of his soul to Christ, confident that in Christ he does not fear the devil. Finally let him renounce his wicked works, that is his cults and idols, with fortune telling and auguries, with pomp and theatre, with thefts and deceits, with murder and fornication, with pride and boasting, with anger and avarice, with gluttony and drunkenness, with dances and delusions, and other similar evils. What then do we say of those who are pleased to vaunt themselves in the superfluous ornamentation of the flesh and be seen as wonders? I am silent regarding exquisite and intricate and useless garments. But I pray you, why do they style men's hair in tight curls, and comb it fiercely over the head so as to leave no sight of the brow at all, so that there is no place free there for the sign of Christ? And why do they think they have any glory or beauty when they are the cause of depravity and disgrace? Likewise even women bind their heads like shields, so that the brow is like a valley sunk between two hills, and from their ears hang a weight of gems bound with gold, and the arms are loaded with gold, and the neck is bound with chains and stones, and the feet are ablaze with the red flames of slippers. What use in these things, what benefit do we find in them, but empty pomp, and minds corrupted by infantile desires? Nicetas of Aquileia, Fragment 1 Titus 3.8 2 Jn 14.27 3 Rom 11.20

Master And Servant

Δεσπότης ἐστὶν ὁ νοῦς, δοῦλος δὲ τὸ σαρκίον. Μὴ τοίνυν τὸν δοῦλον ἀμέτρως θεράπευε διὰ γαστριμαργίας, ἵνα μὴ ἐπιλαθόμενος τῶν ἰδίων μέτρων εἰς τυραννίδα ἔλθῃ, καὶ ὅπλα πολμήσῃ ἆραι κατὰ τοῦ κτησαμένου· διόπερ ὁ Σολομὼν ἐπιστράμενος τὴν ἀφορσύνην τοῦ σώματος ἔλεγεν· Οὐ συμφέρει τῷ ἄφρονι ἡ τρυφὴ, κἂν οἰκέτης ἄρχῃ μεθ' ὕβρεως τοῦ ἰδίου δεσπότου. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΡΞ Δεκουριωνι Source: Migne PG 79.148c

The mind is the master, flesh the servant. Do not then indulge the body in gluttony without measure, lest neglecting the proper rule a tyrant come forth, and he dares to equip himself that he might take possesion. On account on which insolence of the body Solomon said: 'Do not give yourself to mindless luxury, lest an insolent house servant comes to rule over the master.' 1 Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 147, to Decurion 1 Prov 19.10

A Rich Man Warned

O delicate, qui deliciis et divitiis circumfusus atque confusus, confusionem exspectas et mortem; non est regnum Dei esca et potus, non purpura et byssus; quia dives ille utroque circumfluus, in puncto ad inferna descendit. Quid ergo? Sed justitia, et pax, et gaudium in Spiritu sancto. Attendis et intendis quia gaudium in fine est? Sic fatui filii Adam, et praecipiti saltu justitiam transilientes et pacem, rem finalem in principium convertere et pervertere vultis? Nemo enim est qui gaudere non velit. Non stabit et non erit istud; quia sicut non est pax impiis, sic nec gaudere impiis, dicit Dominus. Non sic impii, non sic. Prius est justitiam facere, inquirere pacem, et persequi eam: et sic demum apprehendere gaudium, imo a gaudio comprehendi. Sic angelicus ille conventus prius justitiam fecit, cum stetit in veritate, et veritatis deseruit desertorem. Post haec, illa pace firmati sunt quae exsuperat omnem sensum; quia cum diversis honorum primatibus ambiantur, nullus qui murmuret, qui invideat nullus. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermo IX, De eisdem verbis Apostoli, Non est regnum Dei esca et potus Source: Migne PL 183.590a-c

O luxurious man, surrounded and abounding with delight and riches, expect confusion and death. The kingdom of God is not food and drink, nor purple and fine linen, because the wealthy man overflowing with both in a moment falls into hell. 1 What is it then? Righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 2 Do you consider and look for the joy at the end? So foolish sons of Adam, you wish with headlong leap to spring over righteousness and peace and turn and pervert the final thing to the beginning? There is no one who does not wish to be happy. But it shall not stand and this shall not be, because as there is no peace for the impious, so there is no joy for the impious, says the Lord. 3 Not so the impious, not so. 4 First be righteous, seek peace and pursue it, 5 and so at last you shall seize on joy, or rather by joy you shall be seized. So the gathering of angels were first righteous when they stood in the truth and He cast down the one who abandoned the truth. 6 After this, confirmed with that peace which overcomes all understanding, because they were endowed with differing primacies of honour , there was not one who murmured, for there was not one who envied. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, from Sermon 9, On the same words of the Apostle: The Kingdom of God is not food and drink. 7 1 Lk 16.19,22 2 Rom 14.17 3 Isaiah 48.22, 57,21 4 Ps 1.4 5 Ps 33.15 6 Jn 8.44 7 Rom 4.17

Virtues And Snares

Antiquus vero inimicus castitatem in nobis, si sine charitate fuerit, non timet, quia ipse nec carne premitur, ut in ejus luxuria dissolvatur. Abstinentiam non timet, quia ipse cibo non utitur, qui necessitate corporis non urgetur. Distributionem terrenarum rerum non timet, si eidem operi charitas desit, quia divitiarum subsidiis nec ipse eget. Valde autem in nobis charitatem veram, id est amorem humilem quem nobis vicissim impendimus timet, et nimis concordiae nostrae invidet, quia hanc nos tenemus in terra, quam ipse tenere nolens amisit in coelo. Bene ergo dicitur: Terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata, quia electorum multitudinem eo maligni spiritus pertimescunt, quo eos per charitatis concordiam unitos contra se et conglobatos aspiciunt. Quanta autem sit concordiae virtus ostenditur, cum sine illa virtutes reliquae, virtutes non esse monstrantur. Magna enim est virtus abstinentiae; sed si quis ita ab alimentis abstineat, ut caeteros in cibo dijudicet, et alimenta eadem quae Deus creavit ad percipiendum cum gratiarum actione fidelibus etiam damnet, quid huic virtus abstinentiae facta est nisi laqueus culpae? Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia VIII Source: Migne PL 76.857-858a

The old enemy does not fear our chastity if it is without love, because he does not need to afflict the flesh when he might bring ruin in luxury. He does not fear abstinence because he does not need to make use of bread whom the necessity of the body does not drive. He does not fear the distribution of things of the earth, if that work lacks love, because he does not need the support of riches. However, true love, that is, humble love, which we give to one another, he fears greatly, and he envies our harmony, which we hold to on earth and he was unwilling to hold to in heaven. Well, then, it is said: 'Fearsome like a camp established,' 1 because by the multitude of the elect the wicked spirits are terrified, those whom they see united and gathered in love set against them. How great is the virtue of harmony is shown when without it the other virtues are shown not to be virtues. Great indeed is the virtue of abstinence, but if someone eschews food, that he might condemn others who take food, and he denounces that same food which God created for the taking up with the action of grace for the faithful, 2 what is this virtue to him but a snare of fault? Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, from Homily 8 1 Song 6.9 2 Rom 14.3,6

Wealth And Wisdom

Magnificavi opera mea: aedificavi mihi domos, plantavi mihi vineas, et caetera usque ad eum locum, in quo ait; Sapientis oculi in capite ejus, et stultus in tenebris ambulat. Antequam de singulis disseram, videtur mihi utile brevi cuncta sermone comprehendere, et quasi in unum corpus sensum redigere, ut possint facilius intelligi quae dicuntur. Omnia quae putantur in saeculo bona, quasi rex et potens habui. Aedificavi mihi in excelsum palatia, vitibus montes collesque conseri. Et ne quid deesset ad luxum, hortos mihi pomariaque plantavi, diversas arbores instituens, quas collectae in piscinas aqua desuper irrigarent, ut longius viror humore perpeti nutriretur. Servorum quoque sive emptorum sive vernaculorum fuit innumerabilis multitiduo, et quadrupedum greges multi, boum scilicet et ovium, quantum nullus ante me rex habuit in Jerusalem. Sed et thesauri argenti et auri innumerabiles condebantur, quos mihi diversorum regum munera et gentium tributa contulerant. Unde et accidit, ut nimiis opibus ad majores delicias provocarer, et musicarum artium chori, mihi tibia, lyra, voce concinerent et uterque sexus in conviviis ministraret: sed quanto ista crescebant, tanto sapientia deerat. Nam in quamcunque voluptatem me cupido traxisset, infrenis ferebar et praeceps, putabamque hunc esse fructum laborum meorum, si ipse in libidine luxuriaque consumerer. Tandem in memet reversus, et quasi de gravi somno evigilans, aspexi ad manus meas, et opera mea plena vanitatis, plena sordium, plena spriitu erroris intuitus sum. Nihil, enim, quod in mundo putabatur bonum, bonum potui reperire. Reputans igitur, quae essent sapientiae bona, et quae stultitiae mala, consequenter in laudem illus hominis erupi, qui post vitia se refrenans, virtutum possit esse sectator. Magna quippe distania est inter sapientiam et stultitiam, et quantum dies distat a nocte, tantum virtutes a vitiis separantur. Videtur mihi itaque, qui sapientia sequitur, oculos in coelum semper erigere, et in sublime, os habere surrectum, eaque, quae supra suum verticem sunt, contemplari. Qui vero stultitiae et vitiis deditus sit, versari in tenebris, et in rerum ignorantia volutari. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius Ecclesiasten, Cap I Source: Migne PL 23.1025a-1026a

'I vaunted my works, I built houses for myself, I planted vines...' and the rest even until that place where it is said: '...the wise man has eyes in his head, the fool walks in darkness. 1   Before I discuss each part, it seems to me useful to give in brief words a summary of the whole, as to bring it under one body of sense, that the things which are said are easier to understand. Everything, then, he says, which is thought good in this world, as a king and a powerful man I have. I have built myself palaces on high, I have covered mountains and hills with vines. And lest some luxury be lacking to me, I have planted apple orchards for myself, and I have planted other trees, which set by fish pools may be irrigated by them, being continually nourished with moisture. Also I have a countless number of servants, bought or born in the house, and many herds of cattle, cows and sheep, much more than any king ever had before in Jerusalem. And even treasures of untold silver and gold are mine, to which are brought the gifts of many different kings and tribute peoples. Whence it happens, that with such excessive wealth I am provoked to great pleasures, choirs of musicians on the flute and the lyre and singing with the voice, and both sexes minister to me in feasts, and yet as much as these things grow greater, so much less is my wisdom. For in whatever pleasure I desired myself to be drawn, borne off without bridle and headlong, I thought that to be consumed in pleasure and luxury was the reward of my labours. Until at last I returned to myself, as waking from a heavy sleep, and I looked at my works, and I understood that they were full of vanity, full of filth, full of the spirit of error. Indeed nothing which in the world is accounted good, I was able to discover as good. Reflecting, then, on the nature of the goods of wisdom and the evils of foolishness, it followed that I was taken up by the praise of a man, who after the curbing of vices was able to be a pursuer of virtue. Great indeed is the distance between wisdom and foolishness, and as much as the day differs from the night, so is the separation between virtues and vices. So it seems to me, who follow wisdom, eyes ever directed to the heavens, and to the heights, having a mouth uplifted, in contemplation of things above. However he who is given to foolishness and vice is turned to the darkness and is embroiled in ignorance of things. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chap 1 1  Eccl 2.4-14

Dwelling Places Of Demons

Sed quid existis videre? Hominem mollibus vestitum? Ecce qui mollibus vestiuntur, in domibus regum sunt. Vestem ambitum corporis quo induitur anima significat, quod luxu ac lasciviis mollescant. Sed qui vestiti mollibus sunt in domibus regum sunt. In regibus, transgressorum angelorum nuncupatio est: hi enim saeculi sunt potentes, mundique dominantes. Ergo vestiti mollibus in domibus regum sunt, id est eos, quibus per luxum fluida et dissoluta sunt corpora, esse daemonum habitationem, consimilem sedem propsitis suis atque operibus eligentium. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Cap XI Source: Migne PL 9.980b-c

But what did you go out to see? A man in soft vestments? Behold, they who wear soft vestments are found in the the palaces of kings. 1 This signifies the covering of the surrounding body by which the soul is endowed, which luxury and lust soften. But they who are garbed in softness are found in the the palaces of kings. And among kings means among the fallen angels, for these are the powers of the world and the rulers of it. Therefore those garbed in softness are found in the palaces of kings, that is, those who by luxury have weak and dissolute bodies and being a dwelling place of demons have chosen a similar place for their thoughts and works.   Saint Hilary of Poitiers, from the Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 11 1 Mt 11.8

Real Food and Drink

' Cognovi quia non est bonum, nisi laetari, et facere bonum in vita sua. Et quidam omnis homo qui comedit, et bibit, et ostendit bonum in omni labore suo, ex dono Dei est.'   Propterea colonus et hospes mundi homo datus est, ut brevi vitae suae fruatur tempore, et spe prolixioris aetatis abscissa, cuncta quae possidet, quasi ad alias profecturus aspiciat, et quod potest bene faciat in vita sua: nec frusta ob congregandas opes cogitationibus torqueatur. Neque se putet plus de suo labore lucrari posse, quam cibum et potum, et si quid de opibus suis in bonis operibus expenderit, hoc solum donum Dei est. Ex quibus, non, ut quidam aestimant, ad luxuriam et delicias, et ad desperationem, secundum illud Isaiae: 'Manducemus et bibamus, cras enim moriemur' instar animalium provocamur; sed secundum Apostolum 'Habentes victum et vestitum, his contenti sumus,' ut quidquid, supra habere possumus, in pauperibus nutriendis et egentium largitione consumamus. Porro, quia caro Domini verus est cibus, et sanguis ejus verus est potus, juxta ἀναγογήν, hoc solum habemus in praesenti saeculo bonum, si vescamur carne ejus, et cruore potemur, non solum in mysterio sed etiam in Scripturarum lectione. Verus enim cibus et potus, qui ex verbo Dei sumitur, scientia Scripturarum est. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius Ecclesiasten, Liber I

' I knew there was no good, unless to have joy and to do good in this life. And every man who eats and drinks and shows good in all his labour, it is a gift from God.' 1   Because man is given to the world as a farmer and a guest, that he may profit from the time of his brief life, having hope cut off of extended age, he should see that everything which he possesses will go to another, and that he is able to act well in this life, lest vainly for the gathering of wealth he torment himself in his thoughts. He should not think how he could collect more coin by his labour than he needs for bread and drink, but rather that if he has expended his wealth on good works, that this is the only gift of God. And so those who judge the matter in this way, do not go to luxuries and delicacies and desperation, as  Isaiah says, 'We eat and we drink, for tomorrow we die,' 2 indeed as much as we are ruled by our animal side, but according to the Apostle: 'Having victuals and clothing, with these we are content,' 3 that whatever we have beyond this we give to the nourishment of the poor and the supplying of the needy. However, because the flesh of the Lord is true bread and his blood is true drink, according to anagoge, this good alone we have in the present age, if we eat his flesh and drink his blood, not only in mystery, but even in the reading of Scripture. For true food and drink, that we take up from the word of God, is the knowledge of Scripture.   Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Book 1 1 Eccl 3. 12-13 2. Isa. 22.31 3 1 Tim 6.8

Discipline and the Animals

Dicunt aliquanti disciplinam satis duris legibus constitutam. Loquatur ista satis miseri, quos ad omne facinus ille diabolus auctor mortis invitat, quorum mentes insatiabilis gula possidet, super quos regnat ebrietas, quos turpis luxuria captivos tenet, et a quibus numquam superbia ingrata discedit. Illis autem quibus est studium honeste fidem servare continentiae, humilitati pietatique servire, dulce disciplinae onus est et leve jugum Domini, quod non gravat nisi aut perditos aut perituros. Erubesco dicere in confusionem humanae negligentiae, quare apud aliquentos parvum proficiat disciplina, cum videamus pastorale magisterium etiam apud muta animalia non perire. Doceat nos esse servare ordinem disciplinae tam dociles equorum animi, cum in gyrum ducti flexuosis gressibus membra componunt, et sub unius habenae retinaculo ita laxari se consentiunt, ut et currendi et standi modus sub quadam legum dispositione servetur. Ita quos natura numero dividit, studio disciplinae conjungit. Videte quam fortia boum corpora plaustro subjaceant: quae in tantum imperio animum parant, ut jumentia naturaliter levi jugo colla supponant. Ita disciplinae constitionibus serviunt, etiam quae in feritate nascuntur. Unde miror aliquoties hominem cui inest sapientia et intellectus prudentiae, passim praecepta disciplinae negligere, cum videamus mutum animal vitia cavere, jussis obtemperare, imperio deservire, atque ita ad omnem obedientiam animum aptare, ut cum opus fuerit armatis legionibus occurrat, et hostilibus se telis jusum objiciat. Audite in hoc loco prophetam dicentem: 'Cognovit bos possessorem suum, et asinus praesepe domini sui: Israel autem me non cognovit.' Vereor dicere, ne nostram negligentiam pulset ista sententia: non autem cognoscit Dominum, qui conditionis suae non cognoscit officum. Sanctus Valerianus Cemeliensis, Homily I

Some say that any discipline is enough to make laws burdensome. Let it be enough to say to such wretches that the devil, that author of death, beckons them to every crime whom gluttony possesses the mind, over whom drunkenness reigns, whom rank luxury holds captive and from whom graceless pride is never absent. It is for those of faith to attend to the noble study of continence, to serve in humility and piety. Sweet is the weight of discipline and light the yoke of the Lord and it is no burden unless on those damned or to be damned. I blush to speak about the confusion of human negligence, why discipline is of little benefit to so many, when we see that its directive teaching is not absent in dumb animals. Let that teach us to serve the order of discipline. The docile souls of horses when led in a circle adapt their limbs to the winding steps and controlled by one reign they consent to be allowed to be free in such a way that it is under a certain control of law that they run and halt for a time. This is how nature takes creatures diverse in number and unites them through obedience in discipline. See how the strong bodies of oxen are hitched to a wagon. They prepare their spirits for control such that though naturally wild they submit their necks to a light yoke. This is the way in which even beasts, born wild, submit to the controls of discipline. Thus I am often amazed at the behaviour of man. He is endowed with wisdom and prudence yet at a whim he lightly rejects the precepts of discipline. How different the conduct we see in beasts. They avoid vices, obey commands, submit to control and shape their spirits to perfect obedience, so that when needs must they will rush against armed legions and on order they will throw themselves at the spears of the enemy. Here listen to the Prophet saying, 'The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib, yet Israel has not known me.'1 I fear to speak on lest the passage overwhelm our negligence. He who does not know the Lord does not know the office of his nature.  Saint Valerian of Cimelium, from the First Homily 1 Isaiah 1.3

The Chains of Wealth

Dissimulanda, fratres dilectissimi, veritas non est, nec vulneris nostri materia et causa reticenda. Decepit multos partimonii sui amor caecus, nec ad recedendum parati aut expediti esse potuerunt quos facultates suae velut compedes ligaverunt. Illa fuerunt remanentibus vincula, illae catenae quibus et virtus retardata est, et fides pressa, et mens vincta, et anima praeclusa, ut serpenti terram, secundum Dei sententiam, devoranti praeda et cibus fierent qui terrestribus inhaererent. Et idcirco Dominus, bonorum magister et praemonens in futurum, 'Si vis,' inquit,' perfectus esse, vade, vende omnia tua, et da pauperibus, et habebis thesaurum in coelis; et veni, sequere me.' Si hac facerent, per divitias suas non perirent; thesaurum in coelo reponentes, hostem nunc et expugnatorem domesticum non haberent. Esset in coelo cor et animus et sensus, si thesaurus esset in coelo, nec vinci a saeculo posset qui unde vinceretur, in saeculo non haberet. Sequeretur Dominum solutus et liber, ut Apostoli et sub Apostolis multi, et nonnulli saepe fecerunt, qui, et rebus suis et parentibus derelictis, individuis Christo nexibus adhaeserunt. Sequi autem Christum quomodo possunt qui patrimonii vinculo detinentur? Aut quomodo coelum petunt, et ad sublimia et alta conscendunt qui, terrenis cupiditatibus degravantur? Possidere se credunt qui potius possidentur, census sui servi.   Sanctus Cyprianus, De Lapsis

One must not conceal the truth, brethren, nor must our wounds' matter and cause be concealed. A blind love of one's own property has deceived many, nor could they be prepared for, or feel free, with its loss when their possessions bound them like a chain. Those were the chains to them that remained, those the bonds by which both virtue was retarded and faith burdened and the spirit enslaved and the soul hindered, so that they might by clinging to worldly things become spoil and food for the serpent which feeds upon the earth, according to God's sentence. And therefore the Lord the teacher of good things, forewarning for the future, says: 'If you will be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.' 1 If they had done this, they would not have perished by their riches; laying up treasure in heaven, they would not now have a domestic conqueror and enemy. In heaven would be heart and mind and feeling, if one's treasure were in heaven, nor could he be overcome by the world who had nothing in the world by which he could be overcome. He would follow the Lord unbound and free, as did the Apostles, and many in the times of the Apostles, and not a few abandoned both wealth and relatives and clung to Christ with undivided ties. Indeed how can they follow Christ who are held back by the chain of wealth? Or how can they seek heaven and ascend to sublime and lofty things, who are weighed down by earthly desires? They believe they possess when they are rather possessed, of their own property they are slaves. St Cyprian, On The Lapsed 1 Mt 19.21

A Nation Declines

Fame alia virulentiore tacitus pullulante. quiescente autem vastitate tantis abundantiarum copiis insula affluebat ut nulla habere tales retro aetas meminisset, cum quibus omnimodis et luxuria crescit. Crevit etenim germine praepollenti, ita ut competentur eodem tempore diceretur: 'Omnino talis auditur fornicatio qualis nec inter gentes.' Non solum vere hoc vitium, sed et omnia quae humanae naturae accidere solent, et praecipue, quod et nunc quoque in ea totius boni evertit statum, odium veritatis cum assertoribus amorque mendacii cum suis fabricatoribus, susceptio mali pro bono, veneratio nequitiae pro benignitate, cupido tenebrarum pro sole, exceptio satanae pro angelo lucis. Ungebantur reges non per Deum sed qui ceteris crudeliores exstarent, et paulo post ab unctioribus non pro veri examinatione trucidabantur aliis electis trucioribus. Si quis vero eorum mitior et veritati aliquatenus propior videretur, in hunc quasi Britanniae subversorem omnia odia telaque sine respectu contorquebantur, et omnia quae displicuerunt deo et quae placuaerunt aequali saltem lance pendebantur, si non gratiora fuissent displicentia; ita ut merito patriae illud propheticum, quod veterno illi populo denuntiatum est, potuit aptari, ‘Filii’ inquiens ‘sine lege, dereliquistis Deum, et ad iracundiam provocastis sanctum Israel. Quid adhuc percutiemini apponentes iniquitatem? Omne caput languidum et omne cor maerens: a planta pedis usque ad verticem non est in eo sanitas.’   De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, Sanctus Gildas Sapiens

Another more virulent hunger was silently growing. As the devastations quietened the island became rich with an abundance of affluence such that no age after remembered having such things, and along with it luxury grew. Indeed it grew with such strong root that it might well be said at that same time: 'Such fornication is not heard about even among the Gentiles.'1 But it was not spring for this vice alone, but also for all those vices which human nature is accustomed to fall into, especially the vice which presently overturns the condition of all good: the hatred of truth along with her advocates and the love of falsehood together with its fabricators, the taking up evil for good, the veneration of iniquity rather than kindness, the desire for darkness rather than the sun, the welcoming of Satan as an angel of light. Kings were anointed, not in the name of God, but such as they excelled others in cruelty, and after a little while, without an examination of truth, they were butchered by those who anointed them for different elected savages. If any one of them seemed to be more mild and nearer to truth, against him were turned, without respect, the hatred and weapons of all, as if he would be the overthrow of Britain; and all things which displeased God and all things which pleased Him had equal weight in the balance, if things displeasing were not preferred; thus to this land the saying of the prophet which denounced an ancient people was apt to be applied with merit: ' Sons without the law, you have forsaken God and moved the Holy One of Israel to anger. Why will you be beaten any more by adding to iniquity? Every head is weak and every heart groans; from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is no health in it.' 2 On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain, Saint Gildas the Wise 1 1 Cor 5.1 2 Is 1. 4-6