Conversation when Saturninus and Aurelian were sent into exile, and Gaina left the city, and about the love of money

“The conversation when Saturninus and Aurelian were sent into exile, and Gaina left the city, and about the love of money” (5 chapters) was delivered by St. John Chrysostom in Constantinople on the occasion of the exile of the praetorian prefect Aurelian and general Saturninus in April 400. At the beginning of his speech, the saint says that the shepherd needs to “take care not only of those who stand, but also of those who have fallen, ... not only of those living in safety, but also of those in danger.” He raises the topic of wealth and poverty, the passion of love of money and the dangers that threaten because of it, urging not to desire more, so as not to lose everything: “... in times of silence, wait for the storm; during health, expect illness; in times of wealth, think about poverty and misery. ...If you are so inclined, then you will begin to manage your wealth with sound prudence, and you will endure the poverty that happens with unshakable courage.” *The title of the work in Greek is `λδβλθυοτεΟτε Σατορνῖνος κα Αὐρηλιανὸς ἐξωρίσθησαν. *The title of the work in Latin is Cum Saturninus et Aurelianus. The leader of the Goths, Gaina, one of those who sought the overthrow of Eutropius, abused the weakness of the lazy and fearful sovereign. He threatened Arkady to devastate everything with his troops if Aurelian, Saturninus and Prince John were not handed over to him. These were the first people at court and the main personalities in the empire. Gaina was afraid of all three of them, and he did not hide his goal that he intended to put them to death. They were sacrificed to save the state and went to Gaina. St. went with them. John Chrysostom, and his eloquence so softened the heart of the cruel enemy that he, after mocking them, gave them life and was content only with their expulsion. 1. I was silent for a long time and after a long time I returned to your love again; However, this is not from any carelessness or bodily relaxation, but from the fact that I calmed turmoil, tamed the waves, consoled the storm, saved the shipwrecked, tried to lead the drowning to a quiet harbour. I am the common father of all; I need to care not only for those who stand, but also for those who have fallen, not only for those sailing with a fair wind, but also for those tossed by the waves, not only for those living in safety, but also for those in danger. That is why in the past days I left you for a while, and went everywhere, exhorting, begging, begging to save those gentlemen from disaster. When those sad events ceased, I again returned to you, who were safe and making their voyage in complete calm. To those I went to stop the storm, but to you I returned so that you would not have a storm; I went to those to save them from disasters, but I came to you so that you would not be exposed to disasters. I need to care not only about those sleeping, but also about those who have fallen, and again, not only about those who have fallen, but also about those who are standing: about those who have risen; about these, so that they do not fall; about those so that they are freed from the disasters that weigh on them, about these, so that they are not exposed to threatening sorrows. There is nothing solid, nothing permanent in human affairs, but they are like an angry sea and daily experience amazing and cruel wrecks. Everything is full of turmoil and unrest; there are rocks and rapids everywhere; there are pitfalls and cliffs everywhere; everywhere there are fears and dangers, suspicions, horrors and worries. Nobody trusts anyone, everyone fears their neighbor. Perhaps the time will soon come when, when describing the prophet, he said: “Do not trust a friend, do not rely on a friend,” each one beware of his neighbor: “Keep the door of your mouth from the one who lies in your bosom” (Mic. 7:5). Why? Because the evil time has come: “for every brother causes a stumbling block for another, and every friend spreads slander” (Jer. 9:4). There is no true friend, no reliable brother. The blessing of love has disappeared, everything has been taken over by internecine war, internecine and, moreover, not open, but secret. Countless faces are everywhere; there are many sheep's skins, and under them countless wolves are hiding everywhere, and it would be much safer to live among enemies than between imaginary friends. Those who yesterday fawned and flattered, kissed hands, now suddenly turned out to be enemies, and having shed their disguises, they became the worst of all accusers; those who were recently expressed gratitude are now accused and blamed. 2. What is the reason for all this? The love of money, the frantic passion of the love of money, this incurable disease, an unquenchable flame, a power that has conquered the entire universe. Therefore, we said before, we do not stop saying the same thing now, although many then accused us and said: will you stop arming yourself with your tongue against the rich? Will you stop constantly fighting against them? But am I at enmity with them? Am I arming myself against them? Is it not rather that I say and do everything for them, while they sharpened their swords against themselves? Didn’t actual experience prove that I, denouncing and constantly reproaching, cared about their benefit, and they, condemning us for our words, were rather their own enemies? You have seen how the words we spoke were justified in practice. Haven't I always said that wealth is a runaway slave, passing from one to another? And, oh, if only it would pass, but not kill; if it ran across, it wouldn’t destroy! And now it leaves without its intercession, and betrays the dream, and plunges into the abyss, like an evil traitor, and is especially at enmity with those who love it. [Wealth] is an ungrateful slave, an insatiable murderer, an indomitable beast, a rock precipitous on all sides, an underwater rock continually tossed by waves, a sea tossed by countless winds, a ferocious tyrant, an inexorable enemy who never ceases his enmity towards those who own it. 3. Poverty is not like that: [everything in it] is the opposite of what was said now. She is a safe refuge, a quiet haven, everlasting calm, joy unclouded by dangers, pure pleasure, an unperturbed and serene life, inviolable well-being, the source of wisdom, the bridle of arrogance, freedom from punishment, the root of humility. Why, tell me, are you running away from this poverty and chasing after that which is hostile, murderous, and more evil than any beast? After all, this is precisely the love of money, such is precisely the frantic passion for money. Why do you always keep your constant enemy with you? Why do you irritate the beast that needs to be tamed? How can he, you say, become tame? If you listen to my words even now, when the fall is near us, when misfortune is in all its freshness, when everything is in confusion and despondency. How will this beast stop being a beast? I can change it if you want; the power of the word will produce it. How will he change his brutality? To find out, you need to see how he becomes ferocious. How does he become ferocious? Just as lions, tigers and bears, when locked up and imprisoned in darkness, become furious and become very angry, so wealth, when locked up and buried, is fiercer than a lion and instills fear everywhere. And if you bring him out of the darkness and sow him in the bosom of the poor, then this beast becomes a sheep, a traitor - defenders, a reef - a pier, a shipwreck - silence. The same can be seen on ships: when the load is excessively heavy, the ship sinks, and when it is proportionate, it goes with the wind. The same thing happens in our homes: when you accumulate more wealth than you need, then a weak wind pressure and a random combination of unexpected circumstances sink the ship along with the people; If you collect as much as the need requires, then even if a strong storm increases, you will comfortably pass through the waves. So, do not desire more, lest you lose everything; and do not collect more than what you need, so as not to lose what you need; do not cross the established limits, and at the same time do not be left without any property, but cut off what is unnecessary so that you can be rich in what is necessary. Don't you see that farmers also prune grapes so that all the power of the plant is revealed not in the leaves and branches, but in the root? Do the same: cut off the leaves and direct all your care towards bearing fruit. If you neglect this during times of prosperity, then expect misfortune; during silence, wait for the storm; during health, expect illness; in times of wealth, think about poverty and misery. “In times of satiety, remember the times of famine, and in times of wealth, remember poverty and need” (Sir. 18:25). If you are so inclined, then you will begin to manage your wealth with sound prudence, and you will endure the poverty that happens with unshakable courage. Evil that unexpectedly happens outrages and worries us; and the expected, having happened, causes little confusion. In this way, you will receive two benefits: firstly, you will not get drunk or go crazy with prosperity, and secondly, you will not be embarrassed and anxious when a change is made to the opposite, especially if you always expect the opposite; here expectation will replace experience. For example: are you rich? Expect poverty every day. For what and why? Because this expectation can be especially useful for you. Whoever expects poverty does not become arrogant even when rich, does not indulge in effeminacy and absent-mindedness, does not covet what belongs to others, because the fear of expectation, like some kind of mentor, admonishes, holds back thoughts and does not allow the development of bad shoots from the love of money, fear of the opposite, as if with some kind of sickle, stopping them and cutting them off. 4. So, this is the greatest benefit you will receive. And another thing, no less than this, is that you will not be burdened by poverty when it actually comes. Let expectation precede sorrow, so that you do not have to experience it in reality. The test comes because there was no expectation: if the latter corrected a person, then there would be no need for the first. The prophet Jonah witnessed this among the Ninevites. They, according to the prophet’s prediction, expected to be subjected to an unbearable calamity, and with this expectation of the evils that were about to come, they averted the wrath of God. And the Jews, not believing the prophet who predicted the capture of Jerusalem, suffered this disaster: so “a wise man fears and shuns evil, but a fool is irritable and arrogant” (Prov. 14:16). He who, living in prosperity, is always ready to be poor, will not soon become poor; and what you did not want to understand by expectation, you will learn well from experience. So, living in wealth, expect poverty; enjoying prosperity, wait for hunger; taking advantage of fame, expect disgrace; While enjoying health, expect illness. Always think about the fact that human affairs in their properties are no better than river flows, fleeting smoke developing in the air, and insignificant than a running shadow. If you hold on to such thoughts, then neither good things can make you arrogant, nor sorrow can humiliate you; If you are not too busy with real benefits, you will not be upset by their deprivation. If you accustom your soul to expecting the opposite, then for the most part the opposite will not happen to you, and if it does happen, it will not touch you much. 5. And so that you know that I am not saying this based on guesswork, I want to tell you one ancient event. There was a certain man, wondrous, great and glorious throughout the entire universe, blessed Job, an ascetic of piety, a universal crown bearer, who accomplished all the feats and triumphed in countless victories over the devil. He was rich and poor, glorious and humiliated, many children and childless; I was in the royal palaces, I was also in the dungeon; dressed in shiny clothes, and then was tormented by worms; used the services of countless slaves, and then suffered countless insults when servants rebelled, friends reviled, and his wife plotted. At first, everything flowed to him, as if from sources: abundance of wealth, greatness of power, height of glory, peace and security, honors and pleasures, bodily health, well-being of children, and he had nothing regrettable, his wealth was safe, his prosperity was constant; and quite rightly, because God protected him on all sides. But later all this disappeared, and thousands of storms invaded his house, all of them followed one after another continuously, and all with the greatest force: his property was suddenly taken away from him; slaves and children died a violent and premature death, having been struck at a meal during a feast, not by a knife or sword, but by a strong wind that destroyed their home. After this, the wife raised her machinations and directed them against the righteous man; also slaves and friends, some of whom spat in his face, as he himself says: “They cannot refrain from spitting in my face” (Job 30:10), others attacked him. He was expelled from his home, and his place of residence became a dung heap, where swarms of worms flocked to him from everywhere, where this adamant was drenched in blood and pus, and, taking a shard, scraped off the pus, becoming an executioner for himself. Suffering followed suffering, the torment was unbearable; the night was heavier than the day, and the day more terrible than the night, as he himself says: “When I lie down, I say: “When will I get up?”, but the evening lasts, and I toss and turn until the very dawn” (Job 7:4). There were cliffs and rocks in everything for him; there are not a single one who consoles, but there are many who insult. And yet, amid such a storm and waves, truly unbearable, he resisted everything courageously and unshakably. And the reason for this was exactly what I was talking about, that is, that he expected poverty when he was still rich; when he was healthy, he expected illness; When I was the father of many children, I expected to suddenly become childless. He always felt this fear, he always nurtured this anxiety, knowing the nature of human affairs and reflecting on their transience. That is why he said: “and it befell me; and what I feared came to me” (Job 3:25). He always turned to him with his thoughts, expecting, anticipating, anticipating; therefore, when disaster came, it did not bother him: “I have no peace,” he says, “no joy: misfortune has befallen” (Job 3:26). He did not say: I am not at peace, I am silent, but: “There is no peace for me,” in the past: although my deeds disposed me to arrogance, the expectation of sorrows did not allow me to calm down; although extreme prosperity encouraged luxury, the anxiety inspired by the expected drove away carelessness; although the present forced pleasure, concern for the expected suppressed it. Therefore, having seen in reality what he had often thought about, he endured it courageously; Having seen the feats he had long thought out and experienced in anticipation, he was not embarrassed. And even though he possessed blessings, he was not too attached to them, listen to what he says: “Did I put my support in gold and say to the treasure: you are my hope? Did I rejoice that my wealth was great, and that my hand had gained much?” ( Job 31:24–25 ). What are you saying, man? Didn't you rejoice when wealth flowed to you? No, he answers. Why? Because I saw its impermanence and transience, I saw the fragility of acquisition. “Looking at the sun, how it shines, and the moon, how it moves majestically” (Job 31:26). The meaning of these words is as follows: if the luminaries that are in the sky and constantly shine are subject to some changes, if the sun seems to become impoverished and the moon is damaged, then is it not extreme madness to consider earthly things constant and immovable? That is why he was not too happy about the present blessings, and did not grieve much about the lost ones, since he knew their properties well. Hearing this, beloved, we will not be burdened by poverty and arrogant by wealth, but, despite the vicissitudes of things, keeping our spirit unchanged, we will reap the fruits of wisdom, so that we can enjoy pleasure here too, and receive future benefits, which may we all be worthy of through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ. You might be interested in: