Charity And Salvation

Videte, ergo, dilectissimi, quam sobrios operae pretium habemus esse, et vigiles, sicut beatus admonet apostolorum princeps, contra adversarium nostrum diabolum, qui tanta diligentia circuit, tanta vigilantia scrutatur omnem conversationem nostram, vitae modum, necessitates, infirmites corporum et morum, subitos ac varios eventuum casus, ipsasque naturae nostrae complexiones: sic ubi de nobis in nos aditum invenire poterit, et materiam, occasionemque tentandi. Quare minus soliciti sumus, fratres, occasiones salutis quaerere in alterutrum, ut ubi magis necessarium viderimus, magis invicem subveniamus, et alterutrum onera fraterna portemus? Hoc enim admonens beatus Apostolos ait: Alter alterius onera portate, et sic adimplebitis legem Christi. Et alibi: Supportantes, inquit, invicem in charitate. Ipsa nimirum lex Christi est: Quod in fratre meo aut ex necessitate, aut ex infirmitate corporis, sive morum incorrigibile cerno, quare non porto patienter, consolor libenter, sicut scriptum est: Pueri eorum in humeris portabuntur, et super genua consolabuntur. An quia illa mihi deest, quae omnia suffert, quae patiens est ut portet; benigna ut amet? Haec utique lex Christi est, qui vere languores nostros tulit passione, et dolores portavit compassione, amans quos portavit, portans quos amavit. Qui autem fratrem in necessitate aggreditur, qui infirmitati ejus cujuscunque generis insidiatur, legi diaboli se procul dubio subdit, et eam implet. Compatientes itaque invicem simus, et fraternitatis amatores, infirmitatum portatores, vitiorum insectatores, maxime qui pauci propter arduioris propositi disciplinam, in hanc abditam solitudinem et semotam ab orbe communi insulam, evasimus. Omnis enim disciplina, quae charitatem Dei, et ob ipsum proximi charitatem sectatur sincerius, quibuscunque observantiis vel habitu vivat, a Deo plus acceptatur. Ipsa enim est charitas, propter quam fieri vel non fieri, mutari vel non mutari omnia debent. Ipsa enim et principium quare, et finis ad quem dirigi omnia decet. Nihil enim fit culpabiliter, quod pro ea et secundum eam fit veraciter. Quod nobis ipse praestare dignetur qui, sine quo placere non possumus, et sine hac omnino non possumus qui vivit et regnat Deus per immortalia saecula. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo XXXI Source: Migne PL 194.1792c-1793c

See, therefore, most dearest, how we must be sober for the reward of works, and watchful, as the blessed prince of the Apostles exhorts, 1 against our enemy the devil, who with such diligence circles around us, and with such vigilance watches all our conduct, our way of life, our needs, the infirmities of our body and morals, the sudden and varied fall of events, and the complexions of our nature, that he might find a way to enter into us, and the matter and occasion of temptation. Why, brothers, are we less than anxious to seek occasions of salvation in others, so that when we see them in need, we might give aid to one another, and bear one another's burdens? The Apostle exhorts this, saying: 'Bear one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ.' 2 And elsewhere: 'Support one another in charity.' 3 Without doubt this is the law of Christ. That which I discern in my brother, either from necessity, or weakness of body, or incorrigible fault, why do I not bear with it patiently and give generous consolation? As it is written: 'Their children shall be carried on the shoulders, and on the knees they shall be comforted.' 4 Is it because I lack that which suffers all things, which endures what should be borne, and is kind enough to love? 5For this indeed is the law of Christ, He who in the passion bore our weaknesses and out of pity carried our sorrows, loving those He carried, carrying those He loved. But he who troubles a brother in need, who plots against him in any type of weakness, he certainly places himself under the law of the devil and he fulfils it. Thus let us be compassionate to one another, and lovers of fraternity, bearers of infirmity, foes of vices, especially we who are poor because of the way of a harder life, having gone out into this hidden and lonely island far from the common world. For every way of life, which sincerely pursues the love of God, and because of Him the love of neighbour, whatever its observance or customs, is more acceptable to God. For charity is the reason why something should be done or not done, changed or not changed. This is the beginning and end to which everything should be directed. Nothing is at fault which is done for this and in accordance with it. May He deign to grant us this, for without it we cannot please Him, and without this we cannot do anything at all. 6 Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 31 1 1 Pet 5.8 2 Galat 6.2 3 Ephes 4.2 4 Isaiah 66.12 5 1 Cor 13.4-7 6 Jn 15.5

Impossible Mixings

Περὶ ἀμίκτων, καὶ τῶν ἀκοινωνήτως ἐχόντων πρὸς ἄλληλα. Τί τὸ ἄχυρον πρὸς τὸν σῖτον; Τί κοινωνήσει λύκος ἀμνῷ; οὕτως ἁμαρτωλὸς πρὸς εὐσεβῆ. Τί κοινωνήσει χύτρα πρὸς λέβητα; αὕτη προσκρούσει, αὕτη συντριβήσεται. Οὐ δύνασθε τραπέζης Κυρίου μετέχειν, καὶ τραπέζης δαιμονίων. Τίς μετοχὴ δικαιοσύνης καὶ ἀνομίας; ἢ τίς κοινωνία φωτὶ πρὸς σκότος; τίς δὲ συμφώνησις Χριστῷ πρὸς Βελίαρ; ἢ τίς μερὶς πιστῷ μετὰ ἀπίστου; τίς δὲ συγκατάθεσις ναῷ Θεοῦ μετὰ εἰδώλων;  Ἄμικτος ἡ τοῦ ἐλεήμονος καὶ τοῦ ἀπηνοῦς ἐναντίωσις. Οὐχ ὑπομένει τὸ σκότος τὴν τοῦ φωτὸς παρουσίαν·οὐ νόσος ὑγείας ἐπιλαβούσης ἵσταται· οὐκ ἐνεργεῖ τὰ πάθη τῆς ἀπαθείας παρούσης· φροῦδος ὁ θάνατος, ἀφανὴς ἡ φθορὰ, ὅταν ἐν ἡμῖν βασιλεύῃ ἡ ζωὴ, καὶ ἡ ἀφθαρσία τὸ κράτος ἔχῃ. Γενηθήτω ἐν ἐμοὶ τὸ θέλημά σου, ἵνα σβεσθῇ τοῦ διαβόλου τὸ θέλημα. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ζοφώδεσι τῶν σπηλαίων, φωτὸς εἰσκομισθέντος, ὁ ζόφος ἐξαφανίζεται, οὕτως τοῦ σοῦ θελήματος ἐν ἐμοὶ γενομένου, πᾶσα πονηρὰ καὶ ἄτοπος τῆς προαιρέσεως κίνησις εἰς τὸ μὴ ὂν περιίσταται.   Ἡδονὴ οὐ παραδέχεται πόνον, οὐδὲ λύπη χαρὰν, οὐδὲ κατήφεια εὐφροσύνην, οὐδὲ αὖ πάλιν πόνος δυναστεύων ἡδονὴν προσίεται, οὐδὲ κρατοῦσα λύπη ἔχει χαρὰν παρεζευγμένην, οὐδὲ κατηφείᾳ ἐγκέκραται εὐφροσύνη. Ἀνεπιπλόκως γὰρ ἔχει πρὸς ἄλληλα τὰ ἐναντία πάθη, καὶ οὐκ ἂν εἰς ταυτὸν ἔλθοι ποτέ· οὐδὲ ὁμηρεύσει ποτὲ πρὸς φιλικὴν κοινωνίαν, διὰ τὴν ἐκ φύσεως ἄσπονδον ἔχθραν καὶ ἀλλοτρίωσιν.   Ἀμήχανον συνυπάρχειν τὴν πρὸς τὸν κόσμον ἀγάπην τῇ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἀγάπῃ, ὡς ἀμήχανον συνυπάρχειν ἀλλήλοις φῶς καὶ σκότος Άγιος Ιωάννης ο Δαμασκηνός, Τὰ Ιἐρα Παραλληλα, Στοικειον Α'  Τιτλ ΝΑʹ.  Source: Migne PG 95 1257d-1260c

Concerning things which cannot be mixed, nor have anything in common. What has chaff to do with wheat? 1 What does the wolf have in common with the lamb? So it is with the righteous man and the sinner. What does a kettle have in common with a pot? If one strikes, the other will be smashed. 2 You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. What do righteousness and iniquity share? Or what do light and darkness have in common? What pact has Christ with the devil? Or what portion have the faithful with unfaithful? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? 3 Mercy and cruelty are opposites, that cannot be mixed. 4 The presence of light cannot tolerate evil. With the coming of sickness health no longer remains. Distress is not able to exist in tranquility. Death is not present and corruption is unseen, when life reigns is us and incorruption rules. 5 May your will be done in me, that the will of Satan is extinguished. For as in a dark cave, when a light is lit, darkness cannot remain, so if your will is done in me, every disordered and wicked impulse of my will shall be cast out into nothingness. 6   Pleasure admits no toil, nor joy grief, nor sorrow delight, nor again does toil have any connection with pleasure, nor grief with joy, nor delight with sorrow. For the effects of opposites have this reason, that they are not able to be be brought together in the least, nor may they ever be brought into amicable association on account of the implacable hostility that they have for one another in their nature. 7 It is not possible that love of the world coexist with the love of God, just as it is not possible that light and darkness tolerate one another. 8   Saint John of Damascus, Sacred Parallels, Part 1, Chap 51 1 Jerem 23.28 2 Sirach 13. 3,21 3 1 Cor 10.21, 2 Cor 6.14-16 4 Greg Nyssa On the Fifth Beatitude 5 Greg Nyssa On the Lord's Prayer 3 6 Greg Nyssa On The Lord's Prayer 5 7 Nilus 8 Philo

Uncovering A Leper

Καὶ ὁ λεπρὸς, ἐν ᾧ ἐστιν ἀφὴ, τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ ἔσται παραλελυμένα, καὶ ἡ κεφαλὴ αὐτοῦ ἀκάλυπτος. Διατί τοῦ λεπροῦ ἀκάλυπτον εἶναι κελεύει τὴν κεφαλὴν, καὶ τὰ ἱμάτια παραλελυμένα; Ἵνα γνωριστὸς ᾖ, καὶ μὴ μεταλαγχάνωσι τῆς ἀκαθαρσίας οἱ προσπελάζοντες. Οὕτως ὁ Ἀπόστολος περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων ἔφη· Στέλλεσθε ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ παντὸς ἀδελφοῦ ἀτάκτως περιπατοῦντος, καὶ μὴ κατὰ τὴν παράδοσιν, ἣν παρελάβετε παρ' ἡμῶν· καὶ Ἐάν τις ἀδελφὸς ὀνομαζόμενος, ἢ πόρνος, ἢ πλεονέκτης, ἢ εἰδωλολάτρης, ἢ μέθυσος, ἢ λοίδορος, ἢ ἅρπαξ· τῷ τοιούτῳ μὴ συνεσθίειν Ὠριγένης, Εκλογαι Εἰς  ἐν τον Λευϊτικον Source: Migne PG 17.20a-b

And the leper, he who is touched by the disease, his vestments you shall remove and his head uncover. 1 Why is it commanded that the head of the leper be uncovered and his vestments be removed? That it be known whether they who draw near to him will participate in uncleanliness. So the Apostle says, 'Withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks in disorder and not according to the tradition which you have received from us.' 2 And again, 'If someone who is named a brother is a fornicator or avaricious or an idolator or a drunkard, or a reviler, or a thief, do not eat with him.' 3  Origen, Fragment on Leviticus 1 Lev 13.45 2 2 Thess 3.6 3 1 Cor 5.11

The Works Of Patience

Nos autem, fratres dilectissimi, qui philosophi non verbis sed factis sumus, nec vestitu sapientiam, sed veritate praeferimus, qui virtutum conscientiam magis quam jactantiam novimus, qui non loquimur magna sed vivimus, quasi servi et cultores Dei, patientiam quam magisteriis coelestibus discimus obsequiis spiritalibus praebeamus. Est enim nobis cum Deo virtus ista communis. Inde patientia incipit, inde claritas ejus et dignitas caput sumit. Origo et magnitudo patientiae Deo auctore procedit. Diligenda res homini quae Deo chara est: bonum quod amat majestas divina commendat. Si dominus nobis et pater Deus est, sectemur patientiam domini pariter et patris: quia et servos oportet esse obsequentes, et filios non decet esse degeneres. Qualis vero in Deo et quanta patientia, quod, in contumeliam suae majestatis et honoris instituta ab hominibus profana templa et terrena figmenta et sacra sacrilega patientissime sustinens, super bonos et malos aequaliter facit diem nasci et lumen solis oboriri, et cum imbribus terras rigat, nemo a beneficiis ejus excluditur quominus justis similiter et injustis indiscretas pluvias largiatur. Videmus inseparabili aequalitate patientiae nocentibus et innnoxiis, religiosis et impiis, gratia agentibus et ingratis, Dei nutu tempora obsequi, elementa famulari, spirare ventos, fontes fluere, grandescere copias messium, fructus maturescere vinearum, exuberare pomis arbusta, nemora frondescere, prata florere. Et cum crebris immo continuis exacerbetur offensis Deus, indignationem suam temperat, et praestitutum semel retributionis diem patienter exspectat. Cunque habeat in potestate vindictam, mavult diu tenere patientiam, sustinens scilicet clementer et differens, ita, si fieri potest, multum malitia protracta aliquando mutetur, et homo in errorum et scelerum contagione volutatus vel sero ad Deum convertatur, ipso monente et dicente: Nolo mortem morientis, quantum ut revertatur et vivat. Sanctus Cyprianus, De Bono Patientiae

But for us, dearest brethren, who are philosophers, not in words, but in deeds, and do not display our wisdom in our garments, but in truth, who are more acquainted with the consciousness than the boast of the virtues, who do not speak great things, but live them, let us, as servants and worshippers of God, exhibit in our spiritual obedience the patience which we learn from the heavenly teachings. We have this virtue in common with God. From Him patience begins, from Him its glory and its dignity arise. The origin and greatness of patience proceeds from God as its author. Men should love that which is dear to God; for the good the Divine Majesty loves, He commends. If God is our Lord and Father, let us cleave to the patience of our Lord as well as our Father; because it befits servants to be obedient, and it is not fitting for sons to be degenerates. But how great is the patience in God that, most patiently enduring the contempt of His majesty in the profane temples and images of earth, and the sacrilegious rites instituted by men, He makes the day begin and the light of the sun rise equally over the good and the wicked, and when He waters the earth with showers, no one is excluded from His benefits, but similarly upon the righteous and the unrighteous He bestows His undiscriminating rains. We see that at God's command, with equality of patience, the seasons minister to the guilty and the guiltless, to the religious and the impious, to those who give thanks and the thankless; we see that the elements serve them, that the winds blow, the springs flow, the abundance of the harvests grows, the fruits of the vineyards ripen, the orchards abound with apples, the woods put forth their leaves, the meadows their flowers; and while God is provoked with frequent, or rather with continual offenses, He tempers His indignation and in patience waits for the day of retribution, once and for all determined; for though He has revenge in His power, He prefers to keep patience for a long while, bearing mercifully, that is to say, and deferring, so that, if it might be possible, long protracted wickedness may at some time be changed, and man, embroiled in the contagion of errors and crimes, may, even though late, be converted to God, as He Himself warns, saying, 'I do not wish the death of him that dies, but rather that he might return and live.' 1 Saint Cyprian, from On The Good of Patience 1 cf Ez 18.32

Eucharistic Disputers

Εὐχαριστίας καὶ προσευχῆς ἀπέχονται, διὰ τὸ μὴ ὁμολογεῖν τὴν εὐχαριστίαν σάρκα εἶναι τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν παθοῦσαν, ἣν τῇ χρηστότητι ὁ θεοῦ συζητοῦντες ἀποθνήσουσιν· συνέφερεν δὲ αὐτοῖς ἀγαπᾶν, ἵνα καὶ ἀναστῶσιν. Πρέπον ἐστὶν ἀπέχθαι τῶν τοιούτων καὶ μήτε κατ’ ἰδίαν περὶ αὐτῶν λαλεῖν μήτε κοινῇ, προσέχειν δὲ τοῖς προφήταις, ἐξαιρέτως δὲ τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ, ἐν ᾧ τὸ πάθος ἡμῖν δεδήλωται καὶ ἡ ἀνάστασις τετελείωται. Τοὺς δὲ μερισμοὺς φεύγετε ὡς ἀρχὴν κακῶν. Ἅγιος Ἰγνάτιος Ἀντιοχείας, Ἐπιστολή Προς Σμύρναιοις

From the Eucharist and from prayer they abstain, because they do not confess the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ which suffered for our sins, in which  goodness of God disputing they die. Better it would be for them to love that they might rise. And better it is that one abstain from such people and not speak about them in private or in public, but give heed to the Prophets, and above all, to the Gospel, in which the passion has been revealed to us, and the resurrection achieved. Flee all divisions as the beginning of evil. Saint Ignatius of Antioch, from the Letter to the Smyrneans

Bearing with Others

Ὁ ἀββᾶς Παῦλος ὁ κοσμίτης καὶ Τιμόθεος ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ ἐκαθέζοντο ἐν τῇ Σκὴτει· καὶ πολλαχῶς ἐγίνετο μεταξὺ αὐτῶν ἀντολογία. Λέγει ὁ ἀββᾶς Παῦλος· Ἔως πότε μένομεν οὕτως; Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ ἀββᾶς Τιμόθεος· Ποίησον ἀγάπην· ὅταν ἔρχωμαι ἐπάνω σου, Βαστάζω με· καὶ ὅταν ἔρχῃ καὶ σὺ  ἐπάνω μου, Βαστάζω σε κἀγώ. Καὶ ποιὴσαντες οὕτως ἀνεπάησαν τὰς ἐπιλοίπους αὐτῶν ἡμέρας. ᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

Father Paul Kosmites and his brother Timotheus dwelt in Sketis and often dissension arose between them. Father Paul said, 'How long are we to remain like this?' Father Timotheus said, 'Be charitable; when I trouble you, bear with me and when you are are burden to me I shall suffer you.' And doing so they had peace the rest of their days. Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

Sin and Toleration

Peccata quamvis magna et horrenda, cum in consuetudinem verterint, aut parva aut nulla esse creduntur, usque adeo ut non solum non occultanda verum etiam praedicanda ac diffamanda videantur, quando, sicut scriptum est: Laudatur peccator in desideriis animae suae, et qui iniqua gerit bene dicitur. Talis in divinis libris iniquitas clamor vocatur, sicut habes apud Isaiam prophetam de vinea mala: Expectavi, inquit, ut faceret iudicium, fecit autem iniquitatem, et non iustitiam sed clamorem. Unde est et illud in Genesi: Clamor Sodomorum et Gomorrhaeorum multiplicatus est, quia non solum iam non apud eos puniebantur illa flagitia, verum etiam publice veluti lege frequentabantur. Sic nostris temporibus ita multa mala, etsi non talia, in apertam consuetudinem iam venerunt, ut pro his non solum excommunicare aliquem laicum non audeamus, sed nec clericum degradare. Unde cum exponerem ante aliquot annos Epistolam ad Galatas, in eo ipso loco ubi ait Apostolus: Timeo vos ne forte sine causa laboraverim in vobis, exclamare compulsus sum: Vae peccatis hominum, quae sola inusitata exhorrescimus; usitata vero, pro quibus abluendis Filii Dei sanguis effusus est, quamvis tam magna sint ut omnino claudi contra se faciant regnum Dei, saepe videndo omnia tolerare, saepe tolerando nonnulla etiam facere cogimur, atque utinam, o Domine, non omnia quae non potuerimus prohibere faciamus. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, Enchiridion de Fide, Spe et Charitate, Cap LXXX

Sins, although grave and horrible, when men become accustomed to them, are looked upon as trivial, or they are judged not to be sins at all, and this goes so far that such sins are not merely concealed but are vaunted and spread aboard, and so, as it is written, 'The sinner is praised in the desires of his own heart and he speaks well of him who openly carries his iniquity.'1 Such iniquity is called in Scripture called a cry, as in the Prophet Isaiah, who speaking of the evil vineyard says, 'I looked for judgment to be done, but there was iniquity; for righteousness, but there was a cry.' 2Whence also it says in Genesis: 'The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has grown,'3 because in these places outrages were not only not punished, but were openly committed, as if by law. And so in our own times there are many forms of sin, though not just the same, are now so openly and habitually done, that for doing them we not only dare not excommunicate a layman but we dare not even degrade a clergyman. So it was that a few years ago when I was expounding the Epistle to the Galatians, at that very place where the apostle says, 'I fear for you, lest perhaps I have bestowed labor upon you in vain,'4 I was driven to exclaim, 'Alas for the sins of men, for it is only when we do not do them that we shudder at them. When we are accustomed to them, though the blood of the Son of God was poured out to wash them away, though they are so grave that the kingdom of God is shut against them, by familiarity all things are tolerated, and by habitual toleration we are compelled to do them. But may it be, O Lord, that we may not come to practise all that we have not the able to prohibit.' Saint Augustine of Hippo, Handbook on Faith, Hope and Charity 1 Ps 10.3   2 Is 5.7 3 Gen 18.20  4 Gal 4.11