Fasting is good, just as reading the Scriptures is good. However, [reading the Scriptures] is good only when it is followed by action; for if you read but do not put it into practice, your reading will be held against you in judgement and will add to your punishment, for [Scripture] says: ‘It is not those who hear the Law who are righteous in God’s sight, but those who do the Law will be justified.’1; and Christ says again: ‘If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.’2
Blessed is he who speaks into the ears of those who listen, and especially when [they] derive [spiritual] benefit. Indeed, both listening to and fulfilling God’s commandments bring [spiritual] benefit, as the Lord says: ‘And I, when I came, would have taken what is mine with interest.’3 So, brother, what have you gained from your fasting? [You must have gained something], since the farmer sows precisely to reap, and the merchant travels [abroad] precisely to make money. Likewise, the sailor crosses many seas to fill his ship with cargo. Do not say to me: ‘I have fasted for so many days! I have not eaten this or that! I have not drunk wine!’ ‘I endured going without a wash!’ Show me [rather] whether you have become gentle, even though you were angry, and whether you have become loving towards others, even though you were cruel. So, if you are intoxicated with anger, why do you still mortify your body [through fasting]? If you are [full] of envy deep in your heart and of greed, what good is it to drink only water? I am not concerned now with what is on the table, but rather whether there has been a change in your evil thoughts. If the master – for that is what I call the soul – indulges in debauchery, why do you flog the servant, that is, the stomach? If it is the soul that strays, why do you torment the body?
I tell you this not to accuse you, but for the sake of those who are indifferent. Indeed, just as, whenever I see you soaring, so I still long to see you soar even higher, for such is the nature of the sovereignty of love. Likewise, just as those who love silver, whenever they gather gold, desire to have more, so too do we, to the same extent—and indeed even more—desire your spiritual progress. Therefore, brother, if you wish to be accepted by God, fast as the people of Nineveh did. They did not receive the Law, as Paul says: ‘For when the Gentiles, who do not have the Law, do by nature what the Law requires, they, though they do not have the Law, are a law unto themselves.’4 Do not, therefore, fast in vain, for fasting does not ascend to heaven on its own unless it has charity as its sister. Indeed, [charity] is its counterpart, but not merely a sister and counterpart, but also its support. Nevertheless, how do we know this? We know this because the angel said to Cornelius: ‘Your prayers and acts of charity have ascended as a memorial before God.’5
Do not fast in vain, for fasting does not ascend to heaven on its own unless it has almsgiving as its sister. …Almsgiving is a wing of prayer. Therefore, if you do not give wings to prayer, it will not fly. …But every time your soul takes flight, it soars towards heaven.
Indeed, charity is a wing of prayer. Therefore, if you do not give wings to prayer, it will never fly. Yet, every time your soul takes flight, it soars towards heaven. How long will the love of money and the longing for wealth last? All these things, my brother, will come to an end with this life. But surely you will say to me: ‘Tell these things to yourself as well!’ And I say them to myself, brother, and to you, for this is advice for everyone. When I hear these things and set my life right, I receive [spiritual] joy from you. Even if the one who speaks [these words] is a slave, I accept the advice; and even if he is a free man, I listen eagerly, for it is not the high position 6 of people that makes me accept what is said, but the usefulness of the advice. Indeed, if even that great Moses, who spoke with God, did not turn away from the counsel of his father-in-law – even though the latter was of a different nation – but, on the contrary, accepted [his counsel], and God confirmed [this], how much more should we [accept the good advice of our neighbour, that which is in accordance with God’s commandments]? I am not commanding you to be deprived of all [material possessions], but rather to spend your surplus on the poor, so that your abundance may become the foundation of your salvation.
Do you not see how many poor people remain on the streets, even though they are sick and destitute? One is younger, another older, and yet another is supported by the other. Great is their tragedy! Give, therefore, to your fellow servant, so that you may be in debt to Christ, He who is gladly in debt to you and repays you the full amount with interest. Certainly, for those outside the faith 7, interest 8 is a cause for reproach [that may be brought against them], but before God it is praise. Do you not [wish] to give [charity] to the poor? Pay heed to the One who asks of you through that [poor person], and fear the honour of the one who receives. The poor person receives, and God lends. Consider where your Lord descended through that [self-emptying], to persuade you to cease being cruel and inhuman: ‘For,’ says [Christ], You saw Me hungry, and you did not give Me food; you saw Me thirsty and did not give Me a drink; I was a stranger, and you did not welcome Me; I was naked, and you did not clothe Me’9 and so on. Therefore, when Christ is hungry, do you not give Him [food]? Both you and the poor receive His Body from the [Holy] Table, and, in the same way, you partake of His Cup. [Christ allows you] to partake of His great and awe-inspiring [Mysteries], and yet you do not share with Him the small things?
Will you not give Him your own [τὰ σὰ]10? Even if you received them from your parents [or] from your ancestors, they belong to God. [So], why do you bury them in the ground? Give [alms] to the poor, and the Lord will keep them safe for you. Do you not see what the farmers do? [I observe] that, often, having no seed because of poverty, [the farmer] pledges his coat as security, receives the seed he desires, and entrusts it to the earth. However, quite often, the weather changes, and [the farmer] leaves without reaping anything; yet, in any case, he believes with hope that, [if he sows the seed] in the ground, [he will reap a harvest]. Therefore, what the earth can do, can the Lord not do as well?! Follow the example of that widow in the Old Testament, who had a handful of flour in a bowl and a little oil in a jug, so that with these she welcomed the prophet [Elijah]11 as a guest. Or [follow the example of] the widow in the Gospel who surpassed them all when she cast in two small coins, since she had given all her wealth.
But what do you say [to things like these]? ‘I am poor and have no money!’ Do you not have two small coins? And even if you do not, God seeks to see whether you have good intentions. That is why he said: ‘If anyone gives a cup of cold water, they will not lose their reward.’12 See what he says? A cup of cold water, not hot, lest you be deprived of your reward [even] for the cost of the firewood.
And, just as a king does not take into account the [financial] means of [different] people, but his own gain, whenever—even if you are poor—he demands gold from you, since he intends to crucify you [and] bind you with a rope, to that extent you give him what he wants. But with God it is not so; rather, He asks in proportion to each person’s [financial] means.
Therefore, why are there poor people? Could God not have sent a shower of gold upon them? [Certainly], but [this social class also exists] so that the poverty of others may serve as a fitting cause for you to make amends for your sins. ‘Man is a great thing, and a merciful man is a source of honour.’13 See how great mercy is? God compares the merciful person to Himself: ‘Be merciful, just as your Heavenly Father is merciful.’14
When death comes, your money remains here. So why not send it ahead [of that] to the place where, on that day, when there will be no orator nor any lawyer present, the poor may stand by your side? In fact, the poor will show their clothes and their belts, and they will snatch you from the fire. Not even the sun, when it shines upon the ice 15, melts it 16 to such an extent as [does] charity, which dispels the multitude of sins when it comes into contact with them.
Consequently, to understand the greatness of charity, [ask yourself] what is more difficult than chastity? Nothing. There are many virtues, some great, others greater, others lesser, yet nothing is more difficult than chastity, [for it] struggles against one’s own nature. This war admits of no leniency. It is a struggle that never makes peace, except through the mercy of Christ. The virgin, though she is cast into the furnace [of temptations], stands firm and is not burnt 17. A virgin, though she sits upon coals, is not entirely scorched. Although she stands in the furnace, she is not set alight [by passions], for she has tears like the three youths and competes with the unseen powers; she imitates Michael and vies with Gabriel. In Paradise there was virginity, but it was corrupted by the serpent. Therefore, in the years that followed 18 [virginity] did not shine. But when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, He Who was born of the Virgin, came [into the world], then [chastity] came to light once more. Do you wish to know the power of virginity? Moses parted the sea, changed the air, brought manna from heaven to earth, yet people condemned him because of his wife, the Ethiopian woman 19, simply because he had a wife. Likewise, not only Abraham, Isaac and Jacob [had wives], but also Joseph, who, even though he was self-restrained, nevertheless had a wife. Do you wish to learn how great chastity is? When Christ came [into the world], He did not impose it by force. At the same time, whilst He exhorted people to practise the other virtues, He did not compel them to practise this one, so that whoever attains it of their own free will may be crowned.
Those who practise self-restraint are aided, first and foremost, by poverty. ‘Indeed, there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven’20—not by cutting off their bodily members, but by cutting off [only] their unbridled lust. ‘Let anyone who can understand, understand.’20 And the Apostle [Paul], setting forth all the virtues and knowing their multitude, said: ‘Concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord’21.
Have you seen how great virginity is? And yet, [virginity] does not save [people] without charity, but acts of charity without virginity do save them. The five foolish virgins, because they had no oil [in their lamps], but only virginity, did not enter the wedding hall. Indeed, [these foolish virgins] said to the wise ones: ‘Give us some of your oil’22 And rightly were they called foolish, since they had successfully accomplished what required greater effort, but failed to achieve what could have been done without effort. They overcame the mightiest adversary, but were defeated by the weakest. And when the Bridegroom came, the wise ones entered the wedding chamber. Then those [five foolish virgins] also came, knocking at the door, and [the Lord] said to them, ‘I do not know you’23. Why? Because you saw that I was hungry, and you did not give me anything to eat24.
May it not be that we, too, should hear such words! But to those who have practised mercy, He says: ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father: inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’25. Why does He say this to them? Because they have preserved their virginity? By no means. But because: ‘I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me; I was naked, and you clothed me; I was sick and in prison, and you visited me.”26
To see just how great mercy is, I would like to remind you of this [biblical] account. There were ten virgins: five wise, and five foolish. And a voice was heard at midnight: ‘Arise, the Bridegroom is coming!’27 Midnight is the Resurrection, when the angels awaken us all. Arising, the virgins trimmed their lamps. The lamp is virginity, which is a pure, splendid [and] luminous thing. The foolish virgins said to the wise ones: ‘Give us some of your oil.’ [But] the wise ones said to them: ‘We are afraid that there might not be enough for either us or you.’ 28 In any case, they did not give it to them, not because they were envious – for, after all, what need is there for gold there, since there is neither rich nor poor there – but [they said to them]: ‘Go [to those who sell] and buy for yourselves.’29 And who are those who sell? [Surely] the poor!
Consider this: which is better, to receive or to give? Give to Christ what is earthly, and you will receive what is heavenly. So, when the [foolish] virgins went out to buy [oil], the Bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready entered the wedding hall, and the doors were shut. When the foolish ones returned, they knocked at the door, and [the Bridegroom] said to them, ‘I do not know you.’23 See that, since they had no charity, they lost the reward of their virginity, and were left outside the wedding hall!
Therefore, brothers, realising the benefit of charity, let us practise charity, so that we may enter the wedding hall and enjoy the eternal blessings, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, together with Whom [we give glory] to the Father, with the Most Holy, the Good, and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
*I have translated this homily from the original Greek: St John Chrysostom, Λόγος περί νηστείας καὶ ἐλεημοσύνης [On Fasting and Almsgiving], coll. in Patrologiae cursus completus (Greek series), Paris, 1857–1866, 1059–1062.
- 1
Romans 2:13.
- 2
John XV, 22.
- 3
Matthew 25:27.
- 4
Romans 2:14.
- 5
Acts of the Apostles 10:4.
- 6
Literally: ‘that which is most distinctive’, ‘that which stands out’, ‘superiority’ [τὸ διάφορον].
- 7
It’s about the pagans. (translator’s note)
- 8
To better understand the meaning of this sentence, although in this context we have translated the term τόκος -ου, ὁ as ‘interest’, we might also consider the meaning of ‘oppression of others’. (Translator’s note)
- 9
Matthew 25:42–43.
- 10
Here, Saint John Chrysostom alludes to the text of the Eucharistic epiclesis: “Τὰ σὰ ἐκ τῶν σῶν σοὶ προσφέρομεν, κατὰ πάντα καὶ διὰ πάντα.” [Yours from among Your own, we offer to You in every respect and for every purpose] Cf. The Divine Liturgy of our Holy Father John Chrysostom, ‘Annunciation’ Cell, ‘Saint Demetrius’ Skete – Lacu, Holy Mount Athos, 2012, p. 90. (translator’s note)
- 11
See 1 Kings 17:7–16.
- 12
Matthew 10:42.
- 13
Proverbs 20:6.
- 14
Luke 6:36.
- 15
Literally: ‘when it comes upon the ice’ [εἰς πάγος ἐλθὼν].
- 16
Literally: ‘dissolves’, ‘scatters’, ‘breaks into pieces’ [λύει].
- 17
See Proverbs 6:27.
- 18
Literally: ‘during the intervening period’ [ἐν τοῖς μέσοις χρόνοις].
- 19
See Numbers 12:1.
- 20a20b
Matthew 19:12.
- 21
1 Corinthians 7:25.
- 22
Matthew 25:8.
- 23a23b
Matthew 25:12.
- 24
See Matthew 25:42.
- 25
Matthew 25:34.
- 26
Matthew 25:35–36.
- 27
See Matthew 25:6.
- 28
See Matthew 25:7–8.
- 29
Matthew 25:9.