Letter 1091: The spiritual life is a journey with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
On the verse: "Do not do your almsgiving before men." I am astonished at your persistent foolishness. For I do not think you have descended to such folly as to believe that those who give alms but make a display of it are worse than those who give no alms at all. I shall tell you what I think about this matter: the person who is truly merciful in the proper sense is he who does good without parading the misfortunes of those he benefits. If someone acts for the sake of the good itself, his reward is greater than the one who does it for the sake of reward. If he acts for the sake of a divine reward, he will be ranked in second place. If he does it for human praise, he will receive that for which he acted. But the person who does what is right neither for the good itself, nor for divine reward, nor for human praise — such a one does not even seem to me to be a human being, but rather a malevolent demon. Consider, then, for what reason you listen to the divine oracles. The Lord did not say this to abolish almsgiving, but to cut away the disease of vainglory. For the person who gives for display has already received his reward — that is, the fleeting applause of onlookers. But the one who gives in secret stores up treasure with the God who sees in secret and who will repay openly. The commandment therefore refines the intention, not the deed; it corrects the motive, not the act of mercy itself.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Εἰς τό" Μὴ ποιδῖν τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀγθρώπωγ. » Θαυμάζω σον τὴν χεχρεωστημένην () ἀφροσύ- γὴν. Οὐ γὰρ οἶμαί σε εἰς τοσαύτην ἄνοιαν ἐληλαχέ- ναι, ὡς νομίσαι, τοὺς ἐλεοῦντας μὲν, ἐπιδειχνυμέ- νους δὲ, τῶν μὴ ἐλεούντων χείρους εἶναι. Ἐγὼ δὲ ὡς ἔχω γνώμης περὶ τούτων φράσω " ὅτι ἐλεήμων μέν ἐστι χυρίως ἐχεῖνος, ὁ εὐεργετῶν μὲν, μὴ ἐχ- πομπεύων δὲ τὰς τῶν εὖ πασχόντων συμφοράς. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ δι᾽ αὐτὸ τὸ χαλόν τις πράξειε, μείζονα ἔχει τὸν μισθὸν τοῦ διὰ μισθὸν αὐτὸ ποιοῦντος" εἰ ὃὲ διὰ μισθὸν θεῖον, ἐν δευτέρᾳ τάξει τετάξεται " εἰ δὲ δι᾽ ἔπαινον ποιεῖ, ἕξει τοῦτο δι᾽ ὃ χαὶ πεποίηχεν. -Ὁ δὲ μήτε δι᾽ αὐτὸ τὸ χαλὸν, μήτε διὰ τὸν θεῖον μι- Ὦ σθὸν, μήτε δι᾽ ἀνθρώπινον ἔπαινον ποιῶν τὸ δέον, οὐδὲ ἄνθρωπος εἶναί μοι δοχεῖ, ἀλλ᾽ ἀλιτήριος δαί- μων. Δι᾿ ἦν τοίνυν αἰτίαν σὺ τῶν θείων χρησμῶν ἀχούσας, παραχελευομένων μὴ ποιεῖν τὴν ἐλεημο- σύνην ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οὐ διὰ φιλοδοξίαν ΥΔΙΙ ΠΕΔΤΙΟΝΕΘ ΕΤ ΝΟΤΑ͂. () Ηςες, καὶ τὴν βιωτιχὴν .... πλρὰ τῷ Ἐχχλη- σιάστῇ, οιπἰἰοῦ δι . βανὶβ. αδιυσπίυ σού οθ γαιοᾶνο ἀρ. Ροθδίνυμ. Εριτ. ἐ () Ῥγο ἠθιχόν ἰάδωι οοὰ. ἰερὶὶ ὑλιχόν. ῬΟΒ5ΙΝ. ) γβ. . ργο χεχρεωστῃ μένην οο(. Υο!ῖ. θὺ0 Πιὰρει χεχρωσμένην. ΡΟϑΒΙΝ. ἘΡΙΘΤΟΙΑΒΟΌΜΝ . ΓΥ- -- ΕΡΙ5Τ. ΧΙ. ἀνεχόμενός τι ποιεῖν χρηστὸν, τοὺς διὰ φιλοτιμίαν Α ρογηϊοίοδυβ 4υϊάδπι οἱ ποχΐυ5 ἀξιῆοη. φυδτθ ποιοῦντας αἰτιᾷ; “Ὅσῳ γὰρ χρείττων ὁ διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων δόξαν σωφροσύνην ἀσχῶν, τοῦ μηδὲ διὰ ταύτην σωφρονοῦντος " τοσοῦτον ὁ διὰ φιλοδοξίαν εὖ ποιῶν, τοῦ μηδόλως εὖ ποιοῦντος ἀμείνων. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ὃ δὲ οὔτε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους οὐδὲ τὸν Θεὸν ἠδέσδη. 6ἱ ἰεπορογδη δ), , 4υἱ πῈ απ ά6π) Ῥτορίονῦ ἢδης ΘΠ ρΟΓΔἢ8 οἱ ολδίι8 δδὶ : ἰείιυν, ἰυ, φυΐ αὐνίηα ογδουϊα δυάἰνἰβεὶ, δἀϊιιοσμοδιία Π6 [Δείαιποα εἰδαιιθεγαδαι ἐοεδης δοιοέπέϊνος, ὁπ ρεα. πα αυΐόοιι εἰοτγίδ ουρὶ ἐἰ416 δἀιυςίυ8. ηὐἱ4- 4υ2π δθοηΐ ίδοογ βδυβιίηθ8δ5, αἱ ρ6Ρ δινυ - " πὶ ἰᾳυϊά [Δοϊυμὲ ΓΟΡΓΘΙ πα Οὐυδηιο Θηΐε Π16- Ποῦ . ἰ8 4υὶ ργορίδν ποιιΐηιμι αἰογίδπι) οΟ οϑειϊ- ἰϑη10 οἰἰδπὶ ἰδ 4υἱ ( εῖι οἰθοιμοβυπαπὶ φἰοτί οοηδοηισηΐδο διυαΐο, δίι6γὸ μίδηθ ποη [δοὶϊ, πιοίϊοῦ οϑὶ. Αἰιοῦ δηΐαι δοιηΐα8 δϑ ἴθ: ἈΠ16Γ γ6ΓῸ θαυ ΒΟηΐ , π6 θουπὶ ὁδὶ γονογίιυβ.
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