Discourse on martyrs and contrition and almsgiving

“Discourse on martyrs and on contrition and almsgiving” (4 chapters) delivered by St. John Chrysostom in Antioch, year unknown. In his speech, the saint shows the superiority of church holidays over worldly spectacles. He likens the souls of the saints to a chariot residing with God, whose bodies He left us for our benefit, so that we, remembering their suffering for the sake of Christ, would fearlessly walk the path of asceticism. St. John says that by receiving communion unworthily, we crucify Christ. He calls to lament and cry over your sins, remembering the future Judgment. We must remember that church teaching is a lamp for the soul. When leaving the church, where the devil has no access, one must preserve this light and put the teaching into practice, without being carried away, especially by wealth and luxury. *The title of the work in Greek is Εἰς μάρτυρας καἰ περἰ κατανύξεως καἰ ἐλεημοσύνης. *The title of the essay in Latin is In martyres et de compunctoine cordis et eleemosyna. Said in the city when the bishop left for the village to celebrate the day of the martyrs * The superiority of church holidays over worldly spectacles. The souls of the saints are the chariot of God and the church. Equality between city and village in matters of religion. The abundance of martyrs in the village compensates for the lack of teachers; Martyrs teach silently and are more convincing than preachers. Their bodies were left by God on earth so that people, coming to them, would relieve their souls from everyday troubles. Those who partake unworthily crucify Christ. Strict self-condemnation and crying about sins save you from future judgment. Church teaching is a lamp for the soul; and upon leaving the church, where the devil has no access, one must preserve this light and carry out the teaching in life, without being carried away, especially by wealth and luxury. 1. Yesterday is the day of martyrs, and today is the day of martyrs; Oh, if only we could always celebrate the day of martyrs! If those who are obsessed with spectacles and stare at horse races are never satisfied with these obscene spectacles, then we should have a much more insatiable affection for the feasts of the saints. There is a devilish celebration, and here is a Christian holiday; there demons gallop, and here angels rejoice; there is the destruction of souls, but here is the salvation of all who gather. However, there is some fun there too? But not like here. What pleasure is it to watch horses running in vain and in vain? And here you see not teams of dumb people, but countless chariots of martyrs and God standing on these chariots and directing the path to heaven. And that the souls of the saints are the chariot of God, listen to the prophet, who says: “There are thousands of chariots of God, thousands of them rejoicing” 1 (Ps. 67:18). What He bestowed on the highest powers, He also bestowed upon our nature. He sits on cherubim, as the psalm says: “he sat on the cherubim and flew” (Ps. 17:11); and also: “seated on Cherubim, and... seeing the deep” (Dan.3:54). This He also gave to us; He sits on them, He dwells in us: “I will dwell... and walk” in you (2 Cor. 6:16; Lev. 26:12). They became the chariot, we became the church. Do you see the affinity of honor? Do you see how He pacified the things above and those below? Therefore, we are not at all behind the angels, if we want to. But, as I said at the beginning, yesterday is the day of martyrs, and today is the day of martyrs, not those who are with us, but those who are in the village, or - better - those with us too. The city and the village differ from each other in everyday affairs, but in relation to piety they are generalized and have unity. Do not look at the barbaric language of the local inhabitants, but at their wise soul. What is the use of agreement in speech when thoughts do not agree? And what harm does difference in speech cause when there is unity in faith? In this respect, the village is no worse than the city, because in the main benefit they are equal. Therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ not only stayed in cities, but left villages empty and idle, but “went... through all the cities and villages,...preaching the Gospel... and healing every disease and every infirmity” (Matthew 9:35; Luke 13:22). Imitating him, our common shepherd and teacher left us and went to those, or - better - did not leave us, going to them, because he went to our brothers. And just as, when the feast of the Maccabees was celebrated, the whole village flocked to the city, so now, when the feast of the martyrs there is celebrated, the whole city should move to them. For this reason, God planted martyrs not only in the cities, but also in the village itself, so that on the occasion of holidays we would have the necessary reason for mutual communication - and more (martyrs) in the village than in the city. To the insufficient God has given more abundant honor; This is the weakest member, which is why it received more healing, since those living in cities constantly use the teaching, and those living in the countryside do not participate in this abundance. So God, consoling the lack of teachers by the abundance of martyrs, arranged that more martyrs were buried among them. They do not constantly hear the voices of teachers; for this they hear the voice of the martyrs, which speaks to them from the grave and has great power. And to make sure that the martyrs silently have more power than we who speak, (remember that) many, often talking with many about virtue, did not have any success, while others silently accomplished the greatest deeds with their bright lives; the more the martyrs did this, uttering not a voice from the lips, but a much higher one than the spoken one - the voice of the very deeds with which they converse with all human nature, saying the following words: look at us, what disasters we have suffered. What did we suffer when we were condemned to death and found eternal life? We were deemed worthy to lay down our bodies for Christ; but if we had not now betrayed them for Christ, then, a little later, we would have had to involuntarily separate them from temporary life; if martyrdom had not come and taken them, then the common natural death would have come and destroyed them. Therefore, we constantly thank God that He honored us with death, which is inevitably necessary, to use for the salvation of our souls, and that which constitutes a necessary duty He accepted from us as a gift, and, moreover, with the greatest honor. However, is the torment severe and unbearable? But they last a short moment of time, and the bliss from them lasts for endless centuries; or - better - even for a short moment of time, these torments are not severe for those who look to the future and strive for the Manager of exploits. So blessed Stephen, with the eyes of faith, contemplated Christ, and therefore did not see the rain of stones, but instead of them he counted rewards and crowns (Acts 7:55). So you too, shift your gaze from the present to the future, and you will not receive even a short-term feeling of disaster. 2. This and more than that, the martyrs say, and they convince much more than we do. In fact, when I say that torment does not contain anything serious, my words do not seem reliable, since it is not at all difficult to talk about such things in words; and a martyr who speaks with actions does not encounter any contradiction in anyone. And as happens in baths, when the bath is filled with hot water, and no one dares to go down into it, while those sitting on the edges encourage each other to do this with words, they convince no one; and when one of them either lowers his hand or, having taken off his foot, boldly throws himself with his whole body, then silently, better than those who talk a lot, he convinces those sitting above to go down into the bath - so it is with the martyrs: here, instead of a bath with water, there is a fire. Thus, those standing around outside, even if they exhort with countless speeches, do not really convince; and when one of the martyrs not only lowers his leg or arm, but plunges his whole body, offering the strongest experience of any exhortation and advice, he drives out fear from those around him. You see how much stronger the voice of the silent martyrs is. That is why God left their bodies to us; therefore, having won a long time ago, they have not yet been resurrected, but, although they have already undergone feats for so long, they have not yet received resurrection, they have not received it for your sake and for your benefit, so that you, thinking about such an ascetic, would be excited for a similar feat. They themselves are not harmed by this slowdown; and for you the greatest benefit comes from this circumstance. They will subsequently receive what they do not receive now; and if God took them away from here now, he would deprive us of great edification and consolation, since truly the greatest edification and consolation comes to all people from the tombs of these saints. Witnesses of what has been said are you yourself. We often threatened, caressed, frightened, and exhorted you, but you did not show such zeal for prayer and were not excited; and having come to the church of the martyrs, without hearing advice from anyone, having seen only the tomb of the saints, you began to shed abundant sources of tears and became ardent in prayer. The martyr lies silent, in complete silence: what is it that touches the conscience and makes streams of tears flow as if from a source? The very idea of ​​a martyr and the memory of everything he accomplished. Just as the poor, when they see others rich, who have reached high ranks, surrounded by bodyguards who enjoy great honor from the king, from the well-being of others, recognizing their own poverty more clearly, shed tears - so too, when we remember the boldness of the martyrs, which they have before the King of all - God, about their lordship and glory, we also remember our own sins, then from their wealth, seeing our own poverty more clearly, we lament and mourn, realizing how far we are from them; this is what produces tears. For this reason, God left their bodies here for us, so that when a bunch of activities and a lot of everyday worries bring thick darkness to our soul from private or public affairs (and there are so many of them), then, leaving the house, leaving the city, saying goodbye to this noise, we would retire to the church of the martyrs, enjoy the spiritual spirit there, forget about the many things, be comforted by peace, stay with the saints, pray to their Steward labors for our salvation, shed many prayers, and, through all this, laying down the burden from their conscience, they returned home again with great spiritual joy. The tombs of the martyrs are nothing more than safe havens, springs of spiritual waters, treasures of wealth inexhaustible and never exhausted. Just as harbors, receiving ships flooded by many waves, put them in safety, so the tombs of martyrs, receiving our souls, flooded with everyday affairs, put them in great peace and security. And just as springs of cold water revive bodies exhausted by labor and heat, so these tombs cool souls scorched by inappropriate passions, and extinguish, at one glance, inappropriate lust, withering envy, fiery anger, and everything else that disturbs us. And they are much better than treasures, because monetary treasures expose those who find them to many dangers, and, being divided into many parts, are reduced by this division; but here there is nothing like that, but in contrast to sensory treasures, acquisition is safe, and division does not reduce it. Those, as I just said, being broken into parts, become smaller; and these, when they are divided among many, then show their wealth even more. This is the nature of spiritual objects: they increase from fragmentation, and multiply from division. The meadows, presenting roses and violets to the spectators, are not as pleasant as the tombs of the martyrs, giving the souls of the spectators some unfading and indestructible pleasure. 3. So, let us touch these tombs with faith, let us ignite our souls, let us cry. We have committed many sins - and great sins; Therefore, we have a need for great healing, for a strong confession. The holy martyrs shed their blood - let your eyes shed tears; and tears can extinguish the fire of sins. Their ribs were torn apart, they saw executioners around them - do the same with your conscience: place the judging mind on the throne of incorruptible judgment, bring all your sins to the center, attach formidable thoughts to your misdeeds, tame the obscene desires from which the sins originated, let them be torn apart by great power. If we take care to judge ourselves in this way, we will avoid that terrible judgment. And that he who now judges himself and demands from himself a strict account of his sins will not be condemned in the future, listen to Paul about this, who says: “For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged” by the Lord (1 Cor. 11:31). Reproaching those who partook of the mysteries unworthily, he said: “whoever eats and drinks unworthily will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:27,29). And with this he says the following: just as those who crucified Jesus, he says, so those who unworthily partake of the mysteries will suffer punishment. Let no one condemn this word for exaggeration. The body of the Lord is a royal robe; and the one who tore the royal scarlet and soiled it with unclean hands is equally insulted - therefore they are punished in the same way; this also happens in relation to the Body of Christ. The Jews tore him to pieces with nails on the cross, and you, living in sins, tore him to pieces with an unclean tongue and thought. That is why Paul threatened you with the same punishment, and further says: “That is why many of you are weak and sick, and many are dying” (1 Cor. 11:30). Then, showing that those who here demand from themselves an account of their sins, condemn their misdeeds, and then no longer fall into the same sins, will be able to save themselves from the future, terrible and inexorable sentence, he adds: “for if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. But being judged, we are punished by the Lord, so that we are not condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:31-32). So, let us torment our souls, severely punishing intemperate thoughts; Let us wash away our impurities with tears; great is the fruit of these weeping, great is the edification and consolation. Just as great is the punishment for laughter and licentiousness, so on the contrary, constant weeping produces consolation: “blessed are those who mourn, it is said, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4); “Woe... to those who laugh now! for you will mourn” (Luke 6:25). Therefore, Paul, although he was not aware of any sin, spent all his time in tears and sobs. Who's talking about this? This blessed one himself: “for three years,” he says, “he taught each of you day and night without ceasing with tears” (Acts 20:31). He is three years, and we are at least one month; he - nights and days, he - for the sins of others, and we - at least for our own misdeeds, he - without realizing anything about himself, and we - at least for the sake of our burdened conscience. Why is he crying? Why does he not only teach and exhort, but also add tears? Like a loving father whose only son fell into illness and does not take medicine from doctors, but rejects them, sitting down with him, caresses him, kisses, hugs him, and with this excessive solicitude wants to attract him and convince him to accept the help of healing - so Paul, loving the believers of the whole universe, as his only son, and seeing that many have fallen into a bad state and into incurable mental illnesses and yet do not willingly accept reproof and correction reproach, but move away from him, he held them back with tears, so that they, seeing him crying and sobbing, and moved by this sight, accepted healing and, having gotten rid of the disease, returned to their former health; That's why he always cried when teaching. If Paul applied such care to the sins of others, then what kind of zeal should we apply to correcting our own? Great – in the sense of benefit – is the power of sorrow for God; Speaking about her, Isaiah, or - better - God through Isaiah announced this: “for sin there was little that grieved him” (Is. 57:17). I did not impose, he says, a punishment commensurate with the crime. In good deeds, God exceeds the limit with rewards, and for sins, out of His love for mankind, repeatedly denouncing them, He imposes a small punishment on the offenders. Hinting at this here too, He said: “Because of sin, they grieved him for a few reasons; 4. Do you see how quick and great the benefit of repentance is? Having punished him a little for his sins, and seeing that he became regretful and sad, I left him, says God, and this is a small punishment. So God is ready for reconciliation with us and is only looking for a small reason for this! Let us give Him occasions to show love for us, let us try to keep ourselves clean from sins; if we ever stumble, we will quickly rise up, mourning our transgressions with complete sincerity, so that we may receive joy in God. If a sinner has reconciled God with himself by the fact that “they became sad and went decrepit,” then what will not the one do who adds tears to this and calls on Him with great effort? I know that your soul is now on fire; but so that when we leave here, we do not cool this heat, but keep it within ourselves, let’s do this. The field of your soul is fruitful, accepts seeds and immediately produces ears of corn, needs neither delay nor time; but I fear your enemy. Outside the Church stands the devil; he does not dare to enter this sacred enclosure, because where the flock of Christ is, the wolf does not appear, but, fearing the Shepherd, stands outside. When we leave here, we will not immediately give ourselves up to obscene meetings, or idle speeches and useless activities, but while we still keep in mind what has been said, let us hasten home, and let each one, having sat down with his wife and children, carefully consider what has been said. And if you do not want to go home, then, having gathered together in a friendly manner those who listened with you, sit down alone, and, each offering from himself what he could save, compose a second complete teaching, so that you will not gather here in vain. Commandments and God are a lamp: “a lamp is the commandment of the law, and light, and life, and reproof, and punishment” (Prov. 6:23); and whoever lights a lamp does not stop at the marketplace, but hurries home, so that the fire does not go out from the blow of the wind, so that the flame does not become exhausted due to long delay; We will definitely do the same. The Holy Spirit kindled His teaching for us, therefore, having left here and being filled with what we heard, whether with a friend, with a relative, with a family member, or with anyone else we meet, we will pass by, so that when we talk with him about unnecessary and useless things, the fire of teaching does not go out in the meantime, but so that it burns in the soul, as in a house, and, burning in sublime thoughts, as if on some kind of lamp, illuminates everything is internal. Truly, it would be strange to see a soul left without teaching, while we never tolerate seeing a house in the evening without a lamp and light. That is why many sins occur among us, because we do not quickly light the lamp in our soul; That’s why we fall every day, that’s why so much lies in our souls without benefit, and how it happens that, having listened to divine sayings, even before we pass through the vestibule of the church, we immediately abandon them, and, having extinguished the light, we walk in great darkness. But if it was before, let it not be after that; Let's try to have a constantly burning lamp in the soul, and before the house, let's decorate the soul. That one remains here, but we will take this one and depart from here; therefore, she should be honored with greater care. And now there are such pitiful people who decorate their local houses with golden ceilings, and multi-colored stones, and picturesque paintings, and shiny pillars, and everything else; and the soul is carelessly left in a state worse than any deserted hotel, full of dirt, smoke, great stench, in unspeakable desolation. And the reason for all this is that the lamp of teaching does not constantly burn within us; therefore the necessary are neglected, and the worthless receive great attention. I said this not only to the rich, but also to the poor. And these often, while decorating their house to the best of their ability, leave their souls neglected. Therefore, I give a common instruction to both, admonishing and advising - not to worry too much about the affairs of this life, but to spend all your efforts on caring for spiritual and necessary objects. Let the poor man look at the widow who gave two mites 2 (Luke 21:2), and do not consider poverty an obstacle to deeds of mercy and philanthropy. Let the rich man think about Job, and just as he used all his property not for himself, but for the poor, so he did. That is why Job valiantly endured the confiscation of his property, because even before the temptation of the devil he learned to alienate it. So you, too, despise the wealth you have, so that if it ever passes away, you will not indulge in sorrow. Spend it on what you need when you have it, so that when you lose it, you will have a double benefit - the reward prepared for you for excellent spending, and the wisdom that comes from contempt, which is useful during the deprivation of wealth. This is why it is called property (χρηματα), so that we use it (χρησωμεθα) for what is needed, and not bury it; for this reason it is called acquisition (κτηματα) so that we own (κτησωμεθα) it, and not be its possession. Are you the master of great wealth? Do not be a slave to what God has made you master, and you are not a slave when you spend it on what is due and do not bury it. There is nothing more fickle than wealth, nothing more changeable than well-being. So, since their possession is fragile and often they fly away from us faster than any bird and run away more ungratefully than any runaway slave, then while we are masters over them, let us use them as we should, so that we, having acquired lasting blessings with fragile wealth, may inherit the treasure prepared in heaven, of which may we all be worthy by the grace and love of mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father, with Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. Attic coin of about 4 kopecks. It was said after conversations about the Maccabees and its content aroused displeasure in some, the answer to which was the subsequent conversation about the danger of speaking to the people with obsequiousness. You might be interested in: