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Oh, blinding! Where did it take Judas? Such is the love of money! It makes people mad and reckless, shameless and dogs, or rather, more evil than the dogs themselves, and turns dogs into demons. When Judas joined the devil and the slanderer and betrayed Jesus and the benefactor, then by intention he became the devil. This is what insatiable greed for money makes people - crazy, insane, completely given over to greed, as Judas became (7). Judas was counted among that holy rank, was honored with such a great gift, performed miracles (because he, along with others, was sent to raise the dead and cleanse lepers), and, despite this, as soon as he was enslaved by a serious illness - the passion of the love of money, he betrayed his Master. And nothing brought any benefit: neither good deeds, nor gifts, nor being with Christ, nor serving, nor washing feet, nor fellowship at meals, nor keeping the reliquary; but all this even turned into a reason for his punishment. Let us be afraid lest through our love of money we too become imitators of Judas. You are not betraying Christ; but when you despise a beggar who is fading from hunger or perishing from the cold, you bring upon yourself the same condemnation. Also, when we unworthily partake of the mysteries, we perish along with the murderers of Christ. When we kidnap, when we oppress the poor, we bring upon ourselves the greatest punishment - and very justly. In fact, how long will the love for real things - superfluous and useless - possess us like this? And wealth belongs to superfluous things, from which there is no benefit. How long will we not look to heaven, not be sober, not know satiety in the enjoyment of these earthly and transitory blessings? Do we really not know from experience their insignificance? Let's imagine the rich people who came before us. Are all their blessings a dream? Isn't it a shadow and a color, isn't it a flowing stream? Isn't it a story and a fable? So-and-so was rich: where is his wealth now? Bent and decayed. But the sins committed because of him, and the punishment for sins, remain. But even if there were no punishment and no Kingdom was forthcoming, even then we should respect [the poor man’s] same-tribe and homogeneity with us and be ashamed that he is servile to us. Meanwhile, we feed dogs (many feed wild donkeys, bears, and other various kinds of animals), but we despise a person who is dying of hunger; Thus, for us, what is alien is more valuable than what is native, and our own is worse than that which is not ours and is not related to us. But isn’t it nice, you say, to build magnificent houses, have many slaves and, resting on a bed, look at the golden vault? Yes, this is unnecessary and useless. There are other buildings much more magnificent and better than these. You need to amuse your eyes with them - and no one will prevent that. Do you want to see the most beautiful vault? When evening comes, look at the sky dotted with stars. But this, you say, is not my vault? On the contrary, this one is even more yours than that one. He was created for you and belongs to you along with your brothers. And that one is not yours, but your heirs, after your death. Moreover, this [vault of heaven] can bring the greatest benefit, because with its beauty it leads to the Creator; and he will cause you the greatest harm, becoming your formidable accuser on the day of Judgment, because he was clothed in gold when Christ did not have the necessary clothes. Let us not fall into such great madness; Let us not chase after what is fleeting and run away from salvation, but let us hold on to the hope of future blessings - the old men, as surely knowing that they do not have long to live, - the young men, as they are fully convinced that (for them too) there is little time left, because the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. So, knowing this, let the wives beg their husbands, let the husbands convince their wives, let us teach young men and virgins, and let us all instruct each other to despise present blessings and seek future ones (8). What is the root of evil? Learn about this from the good gardener who knows this exactly, who tends the spiritual vineyard and cultivates the entire universe 4 . What does he call the cause of all evil? Passion for money. “For the root of all evil,” he says, “is the love of money” (1 Tim. 6:10). Hence the battles, hostilities and wars; hence the quarrels, abuse, suspicions and resentments; hence murder, theft and grave-digging; As a result of the love of money, not only cities and regions, but roads, inhabited and uninhabited places, mountains, forests, ravines, in a word - everything is full of blood and murder. This evil does not spare the sea, but even there it rages with all its fury, since sea robbers constantly attack here and invent new methods of robbery. As a result of the love of money, the laws of nature were distorted, kinship alliances were shaken, and the rights of existence itself were destroyed. The power of money has armed its hands not only against the living, but also against the dead; It is impossible to reconcile with money lovers even through death, but they, having broken the tombs, stretch out their villainous hands to dead bodies and do not free the one freed from life from their evil intentions. Whatever evil you encounter, in the house or in the marketplace, in courts or in government places, in royal palaces or anywhere else, you can notice that all evil arose from the love of money. It was precisely this evil that filled everything with blood and murder, it kindled the flames of Gehenna, it made the cities no better, but even much worse than the desert. You can still protect yourself from those who carry out robberies on the roads, since they do not always attack; and those who do the same among the cities are so much worse than the first, how much more difficult it is to protect themselves from them, since with all their audacity they dare to do such things as the first do secretly. The money lovers, having drawn into an alliance with themselves those laws that were established with the aim of abolishing their wickedness, filled the cities with many murders and crimes. Tell me, is it not murder, or even worse than murder, to starve a beggar, throw him into prison, and, along with hunger, subject him to torment and countless tortures? Although you do not do all this yourself, you serve as the cause of this work and accomplish it more than those who serve you. The killer thrusts the sword once and, having caused short-term pain, does not continue the torment; and you, making the very light darkness for him with your slander, insults and malice and making him wish for death a thousand times, think how many deaths you are causing him instead of one (11). The lover of money does not want to hear or talk about anything other than profit and the growth of profit, about shameless profits, about hated trading establishments, about matters befitting slaves, and not a free man; like a dog, he barks at everyone, hates everyone, turns away from everyone, is at enmity with everyone without any reason, rebels against the poor, envies the rich, and does not make friends with anyone. If he has a wife, children and friends, and if he cannot benefit from all this, then they are his enemies more evil than real enemies. What could be worse than such madness? What is more unfortunate than when a person creates cliffs, pitfalls, rapids, abysses and countless abysses for himself everywhere, when he has only one body and serves only one belly? If you are involved in public affairs, you avoid this, fearing great costs, and you impose on yourself thousands of tasks that are much more difficult than public affairs, perform services to mammon that are not only more unprofitable, but also more dangerous, and bring this evil tormentor not only money, bodily labor, mental torment and sorrow, but also your very body, so that you, a pitiful and poor person, will gain something from this barbaric slavery. But don’t you see how many people go to the cemetery every day, don’t you see that they go to the grave naked and deprived of everything and not only do not have the opportunity to take anything from their property, but also what they are covered with must yield to the worms? Look at them every day and, perhaps, this will tame your passion, unless, due to the costs of the burial, you become even more insane: after all, passion is cruel, illness is terrible. That is why we talk about this at every meeting of yours and constantly make your hearing known, so that at least through repetition some success may result. But do not object: this varied passion prepares you many torments not only on the next day, but also before it. Whether I begin to talk about those who are constantly in chains, or who are possessed by a long-term illness, or who are struggling with hunger, or about anyone else, I cannot say about anyone that they endure as much as money lovers. What could be more terrible - to be seen as hated by everyone and to hate everyone, to treat no one well, to never be full, to always be thirsty, to constantly struggle with hunger, which is much heavier than usual, to have daily sorrows, to never be in a healthy mind, to be constantly in agitation and anxiety? All this and even more than this are endured by money lovers: in case of profit, even if they have received and own everything, they do not feel any pleasure, because they want more, and in case of loss, even if they have lost one pain, they imagine that a greater misfortune has never happened to anyone, as if they had lost their very life. What word can describe this evil? And if this is the fate of the lover of money here, then think about what awaits him after death: deprivation of the Kingdom, the torments of Gehenna, eternal bonds, outer darkness, a poisonous worm, gnashing of teeth, sorrow, oppression, rivers of fire, a never-quenching furnace (11). Paul calls [the love of money] the root [of all evil] (see 1 Tim. 6:10). It brings those devoted to it into a state that is no better than the state in which the producing metals are found [in the mines]. Just as these, being constantly imprisoned in darkness and bound, work without benefit, so those, hiding in the dens of the love of money, without any outside coercion, spontaneously subject themselves to torment and impose on themselves insoluble bonds. Those sentenced [to work in the mines], at least when evening comes, are freed from work; and they dig day and night over their despicable metals. Moreover, the first to determine the measure of their hard work; and the latter do not know the limits, but the more they dig, the more they feel discontent. But these, you say, work involuntarily, and those voluntarily? The more severe is their illness that they cannot even free themselves from it without feeling disgust at their miserable state. Like a pig in the mud, so they delight in wallowing in the filth of the love of money and suffering more severely than those condemned. And that they are really in a worse state, listen to what state they are in, then you will understand what state they are in. They say that the gold-bearing land has clefts and depressions in its dark caves; the criminal condemned to work in them, taking a lamp and a spade, goes inside, carrying with him a vessel of oil to pour from it into the lamp, because there, as I said, there is impenetrable darkness even during the day; then, when the time comes for the unfortunate man to take food, and he himself does not know the time, the guard of the prisoners hits the cave hard from above, and with these blows and sound he lets the one working inside know about the end of the day. Don't you shudder when you hear this? Let's see if money lovers don't suffer harder. Indeed, their guardian is more cruel, i.e. love of money, all the more cruel because it binds their soul along with their body; and their darkness is more terrible than that darkness, because it is not sensual, but hides inside, and wherever they go, they carry it with them everywhere, since their spiritual eye has been darkened. That is why Christ, expressing their extreme misfortune, says: “For if the light that is in you is darkness, then what is the darkness?” (Matthew 6:23). Those have at least the light of a lamp; and these (money lovers) are deprived of such light and therefore fall into thousands of abysses every day. Moreover, the condemned at nightfall calm down, achieving peace common to all unfortunates, i.e. nights; and for money lovers this harbor is also barred by greed; they are burdened with heavy worries at night and exhaust themselves with all diligence, without any outside coercion. This is happening to them here; and what is there - what word can express? There are unbearable furnaces, fiery rivers, gnashing teeth, unbreakable bonds, a poisonous worm, impenetrable darkness, endless torment. Let us fear, beloved, let us fear the source of such torment, the insatiable passion, the destruction of our salvation. It is impossible to love both silver and soul together. Let us know that money is earth and ashes, that it will leave us when we leave here, or, better yet, it often leaves us even before our departure, causing us harm both in the future and in the present life. Even before Gehenna and the torments there, they stir up thousands of fights here and here, causing disagreements and discord. Nothing really causes such abuse as the love of money; nothing causes poverty more than it, whether it be in a rich man or a poor man, because this serious illness originates in the souls of the poor and increases their poverty. If the poor man turns out to be a lover of money, then he will suffer not from money, but from hunger; he will not calmly enjoy his small property, but will begin to exhaust his stomach with hunger, exhaust his whole body with nakedness and cold, appear everywhere untidier and dirtier than the prisoners, constantly cry and sob, as if he were the most unfortunate of all, although there are thousands poorer than him; if he goes to the marketplace, he will return from there with many wounds; whether he goes to the bathhouse or to a spectacle, he will receive even more wounds not only from the audience, but also from those on stage, seeing many dissolute women shining with gold; if he sails across the sea, again, seeing merchants there, ships loaded with a variety of goods, and countless benefits, he will hate his life; whether he goes the dry way, there, seeing fields, dachas, hotels, baths and imagining the income received from them, he will consider his life not to be life; if he shuts himself up at home, and there, healing the wounds received at the market, he will be even more tormented in his soul, so that for him there remains only one consolation from the sufferings oppressing him - death and the cessation of life. Not only the poor, but also the rich who fall into this disease can undergo the same thing, and even more so in comparison with the poor, the stronger the passion in him and the greater the blindness; he will consider himself the poorest of all, and indeed he is the poorest of all. We must judge wealth and poverty not by the measure of property, but by the disposition of the soul; The poorest of all is the one who always desires more and can never stop his evil desire. So, let us flee the love of money, this culprit of poverty, the destroyer of the soul, the friend of Gehenna, the enemy of the Kingdom of Heaven, the source of all evil in general (12). Here Chrysostom speaks about the Apostle Paul. – Approx. ed. You might be interested in: