Comparison of the power, wealth and advantages of royalty with the true and Christian wisdom of monastic life

In a word or reasoning with such a title, meaning its content, the thoughts expressed in one of the previous words of the morals of the society contemporary to St. Chrysostom are set out in more detail. 1. Seeing that many people love and respect apparent goods more than those that are essentially useful and truly good, I consider it necessary to speak briefly about both and now contrast one with the other - goods despised by many and goods highly desired, so that, having learned the difference between one and the other, we value some as worthy of affection and saving, and learn to despise others as worthless. So people love wealth, power, primacy and glory, and many please the rulers of the nations, carried on shiny chariots and accompanied by the cry of heralds and a large crowd of squires, but despise the life of those who are wise and have chosen the monastic life; Those, when they appear, attract the eyes of the people, but these, when they appear, do not attract the eyes of anyone or very few; and no one would want to be like the latter, and everyone would want to be like them, while acquiring power and gaining dominion over the people is difficult and impossible for many, and those who strive for this power need to have a lot of money, and choosing the monastic life and spending life in the service of God is equally easy and convenient for everyone. Moreover, the possession of power ceases with this life, or better to say, even during life it leaves those addicted to it, and even exposed some to great danger or shame; and monastic life even now enriches the righteous with many blessings and, at the end of their lives, brings them bright and joyful before the judgment seat of God and the Father, when most of those in charge will appear to receive great punishment for the deeds of their lives. Therefore, having contrasted one with the other the benefits of wisdom and the seemingly useful benefits of dominion and glory in this life, let us delve into the difference between these and other goods; because when compared they will be clearer, or better, if you like, the highest of goods, i.e. Having compared kingship with wisdom, let us look at the fruits of both property, carefully examining who the king rules over and who the wise man rules over. So the king rules over cities and regions and many nations, guided by his instructions and military leaders and city governors and troops and peoples and councils; and he who has given himself up to God and chosen the monastic life rules over anger and envy and the love of money and voluptuousness and other vices, constantly keeping in mind and caring how not to allow the soul to fall under the power of vile passions and not to betray the mind into the slavery of this grave tyranny, but to always keep the mind above all else, placing the fear of God over the passions. Such dominion and dominion belongs to the king and such to the monk, so that it would be more just to call the latter a king than the one resplendent with scarlet and a crown and sitting on a golden throne. 2. Thus, truly, the king is the one who conquers anger and envy and voluptuousness, subordinates everything to the laws of God, keeps his mind free and does not allow passion for pleasure to dominate his soul. I would like to see such a man in charge of nations, and land and sea, and cities and regions, and armies; because whoever subordinated the passions of the soul to reason would easily govern people in accordance with divine laws, so that he would be instead of a father for those under his control, treating cities with all meekness. And whoever apparently rules over people, but is servile to anger and ambition and pleasures, he, firstly, can be ridiculous for his subordinates, because although he wears a crown decorated with precious stones and gold, he himself is not crowned with humility, and although his whole body shines with purple, his soul remains unadorned. Then he will not know how to dispose of power, because if he is unable to govern himself, how can he subject others to the laws? If you want to see the war of both, then you will find one fighting with demons, and overcoming, and conquering, and being crowned by Christ; because he goes to war with divine help, protected by heavenly weapons, from which, of necessity, he gets victory; and the king - fighting the barbarians. And the more terrible demons are than people, the more brilliant is the one who conquers the first than the one who conquers the last. If you want to know the reason for both wars, then you will find great inequality in this too. This one fights with demons for piety and service to God, or wanting to free cities and villages from error, and this one fights with the barbarians for taken away areas, or borders, or property; or greed and unjust lust for power draws him to battle, and many kings, wanting more, lost even the present. Thus, power and wars show how different the king is from each other and the one who dedicated his life to serving God; and even more precisely, you can recognize them by paying attention to the life and daily activities of both. It will turn out that one truly deals with the prophets, adorns the soul with the wisdom of Paul and constantly moves from Moses to Isaiah, from this to John, and from him (again) to another (of them), while the king constantly deals with military leaders and city governors and armor-bearers; and with the kind of people one constantly interacts with, one becomes like one in character. Therefore, a monk conforms his morals to the morals of the apostles and prophets, and the king to the morals of military leaders and armor-bearers and shield-bearers, people who indulge in wine and enjoy pleasures and spend most of the day in feasting, not knowing anything important or good due to intoxication. So, therefore, one should please the monastic life more than the life of dominion and kingship and sceptres. 3. If we want to imagine the night time, we will see a monk distinguished by his service to God and prayers, chanting much earlier than the birds, cohabiting with angels, conversing with God, enjoying heavenly blessings, and commanding over many peoples, regions and armies, and possessing a vast land and a vast sea - stretched out on his bed and fast asleep; because the monk eats such dishes that do not require deep sleep from him, and the latter is lulled to sleep by luxury and drink, which keeps him on his bed until the very day. For a monk, both clothing and table are moderate and partners in dishes are those who strive in the same virtue, but a king must be decorated with stones and gold, offer a brilliant table and have partners, if he is unreasonable, worthy of his own depravity, and if he has intelligence and humility, then perhaps they are honest and just, but much inferior to the first in virtue. So, even if the king was wise, he cannot even come close to the virtues of a monastic. When he travels, he is a burden to his subjects, living in the city, enjoying peace, participating in wars, demanding taxes, gathering troops, escorting captives, winning, and being defeated; because, being defeated, he lays down his own misfortunes on his subjects, and when he wins, he becomes unbearable, adorning himself with trophies, and vainly, and presenting to the soldiers the freedom to rob, plunder, offend travelers, keep cities under siege, destroy the houses of the poor, and demand from those who receive them every day what no law allows, under the pretext of some ancient, lawless and unjust custom. Moreover, the king does not harm the rich at all with such hardships, but causes harm to the poor, as if truly embarrassed by the rich. But the monk is not like that, but as soon as he appears, he brings some grace to the rich and the poor, equally to both, putting on the same clothes for a whole year and drinking water more willingly than others - wonderful wine, for himself not asking from the rich any mercy - neither small nor great, but for the poor (asking) many and constant (mercies), with benefit for both of them, both for those who give and those who have to receive. Thus, he is a general physician, equally rich and poor, freeing the former from sins with good admonition, and delivering the latter from poverty. The king, even commanding to ease taxes, benefits the rich more than the poor, and by doing the opposite, (all the more) he harms those who have little; because the weight of taxes can hurt the rich a little, but it destroys the houses of the poor like a torrent, filling the villages with cries, and the tax collectors do not spare old age, nor the widowhood of wives, nor the orphanhood of children, but they commit outrages all the time, as if they were the common enemies of the country, demanding from the farmers what the land did not produce. 4. Now let us consider what the monk and what the king provides to his subjects: this one is gold, and that one is the grace of the Spirit, this one delivers from poverty if he is good, and the other one frees souls possessed by demons through prayers. And if anyone happens to be subjected to such misfortunes, then he passes by the king, as if a soulless object, and hurries to the monks’ dwelling, as if avoiding a wolf and resorting to a trapper who has a sword in his hand; for what is a sword for a trapper, is prayer for a monk. Truly, the sword is not as terrible for wolves as the prayers of the righteous are for demons. Therefore, not only do we resort to the holy monks in times of need, but the kings themselves resort to them in dangerous circumstances, just as the poor during famine resort to the dwellings of the rich. Ahab, the king of Judah, during a time of famine and lack of bread, did not he place the hope of salvation in the prayers of Elijah (1 Kings XVII)? Hezekiah, who had the same power and power, being in illness and awaiting death, seeing death approaching, did not resort to the prophet, as the strongest of death and the giver of life (2 Kings XX)? Also, when war broke out and Palestine was in danger of being ruined to its very foundations, the kings of Judah, disbanding the army, foot soldiers, archers, horsemen, military leaders and generals, resorted to the prayers of Elisha, because they thought that the servant of God would replace for them many thousands of soldiers (2 Kings, III). In the same way, King Hezekiah, when the Persian war came, and the city shook to its very foundations with the greatest danger, and those on the wall trembled, feared and trembled, as if expecting thunder or an all-shaking earthquake, opposed the prayers of Isaiah to many thousands of Persians, and was not deceived in hope (2 Kings XIX); for as soon as the prophet raised his hands to heaven, God, with heavenly arrows, stopped the Persian war, inspiring the kings to honor His servants as the common saviors of the earth, so that they would learn, accepting admonitions from the righteous for every good and philanthropic deed, to respect these advice and follow good suggestions. And it is not only from this that one can see the difference between one and the other, but if it happens that one and the other fall, one loses virtue and the other the kingdom, then the first can easily come to his senses and soon, having cleansed his sins with prayer and tears, sorrow and care for the poor, he can again conveniently reach his former height; and the fallen king will need many allies, many warriors and horsemen, and horses and money, (being in) danger; the latter entirely places the hope of salvation in others, and the former receives salvation quickly following desire, zeal and a change of character; for the “kingdom” of heaven, the Scripture says, “is within you” (Luke XVII, 21). Even death is terrible for a king, but sad for a wise man; because for one who despises wealth, pleasure and luxury, for which many want to live, it is of necessity easy to endure migration from here. If it happened to both to be killed, then one would be exposed to dangers for piety, acquiring immortal and heavenly life through death, and the king would encounter a tyrant and power-seeker in the murderer, presenting a pitiful and terrible sight after the murder; and to see a monk killed for piety is a pleasant and saving sight. Moreover, one will have many competitors of his virtues, imitators and disciples, praying to be like him, and the other will spend a lot of words in prayer, begging God so that not a single seeker of the kingdom will appear. No one even dares to kill the first, considering it wickedness against God if he kills such a one, but against the last, many murderers, seekers of tyranny, rise up. Therefore, this one is fenced by soldiers, and that one fences cities with prayers, fearing no one; the king always lives with fear and in anticipation of murder, because he has dangerous covetousness with him, and the monk has safe salvation. So, it seems, I have said enough about the affairs of this life. If we want to consider the future field, we will see one in splendor and glory, admired in the clouds at the meeting of the Lord in the air, as the leader and teacher of saving life and all virtue; and the king, if he turns out to have used his power righteously and philanthropically (but this is very rare), will be awarded less salvation and glorification, because they are not equal - a good king and a monk living in high service to God are not equal; and if he turns out to be vicious and bad, filling the earth with a lot of evil, then who can depict the disasters with which he will be surrounded, burned by fire, scourged, tormented, suffering such sufferings that are inexpressible in words and unbearable in deeds? Having imagined and remembered all this, one should not admire the rich; for even their ruler, as it turns out, cannot approach the virtue of a monk. So, when you see a rich man adorned with clothes, adorned with gold, riding in chariots, performing in brilliant appearances, do not please this man; because wealth is temporary, and what seems beautiful decays with this life; and seeing a monk walking alone, humble and meek, calm and quiet, compete with this man, become an imitator of his wisdom, pray to become like the righteous; for “ask,” says Scripture, “and it will be given to you” (Matthew VII: 7). This is truly wonderful, and saving, and trustworthy, according to the love of mankind and the providence of Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.