What a woman can do, a man cannot do?
Therefore, my brothers, do this so that you may agree with the adversary. What I say is not bitter, or if it is bitter, it heals. If this potion is bitter, let it be taken. Because the bowels are in danger, if it is bitter, let it be drunk. It is better to have a little bitterness in the throat than eternal torment in the bowels. Therefore, change yourselves. Whoever was not practicing this good of chastity, now do so. Do not say: "It cannot be done." It is shameful, my brothers, it is disgraceful for a man to say that what a woman does cannot be done. It is a crime for a man to say, "I cannot." Can a man not do what a woman can? For does she not bear flesh? She was first deceived by the serpent. Your chaste wives show you it can be done, which you do not want to do and say cannot be done. But perhaps you say it is easier for her because she is under much guard: the command of the law, the diligence of her husband, even the terror of public laws. It is also a great defense of her modesty and chastity. Many safeguards make a woman chaster; manliness itself should make the man so. For this reason, there is greater custody for the woman, because greater is her weakness. She blushes before her husband; do you not blush before Christ? You are freer because you are stronger. Because you easily conquer, you are entrusted to yourself. There is both the husband's diligence over her, and the terror of laws, and societal customs, and greater modesty. And God is over you, only God. For you find easily equals among men, before whom you are not ashamed because many do this. And such is the perversity of the human race that sometimes it must be feared lest the chaste be ashamed among the impure. Therefore, I do not cease to touch this fifth string because of this perverse custom and the stain of the whole, as I said, human race. If anyone among you commits murder, which God forbid, you want to drive him out of the homeland and immediately if possible, exclude him. If anyone steals, you hate him and do not want to see him. If anyone gives false witness, you abhor him, nor will he seem to you a man. If anyone covets another's goods, he is considered a robber and unjust. If anyone has lain with his maidservants, he is loved, kindly received, his wounds turned into jokes. But if anyone exists who says he is chaste, does not commit adultery, and it is known that he does not, he blushes to approach those unlike himself, lest they insult him, mock him, say he is not a man. To this extent has human perversity fallen, that a man is seen as bound by lust, and is not seen as the conqueror of lust. Those who triumph exalt and are not men; they lie defeated and are men! If you watched in the amphitheater, did you watch in such a way that he who lay beneath the beast seemed stronger to you than he who killed the beast?
In the inner struggle you are both a harper and a hunter.
But because you disregard the interior battle and delight in exterior battles, therefore you do not wish to belong to the new song, where it is said: "He teaches my hands to fight and my fingers to battle." For there is a battle that a man wages against himself, fighting against evil desires, restraining greed, crushing pride, suffocating ambition, slaughtering lust. These battles you wage in secret and are not defeated in the open. For this reason, your hands are taught to fight, and your fingers to battle. This is not in your spectacles. In those spectacles, the hunter is not the same as the harpist; the hunter does one thing, the harpist another. In God's spectacle, it is one and the same. Strum the same ten strings, and you will slay beasts. You do both at the same time. You strike the first string by which one God is worshipped; the beast of superstition falls. You strike the second string by which you do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; the beast of the error of wicked heresies, which thought otherwise, falls. You strike the third string where you do whatever you do for the hope of future rest; the cruelest of all beasts, the love of this world, is slain. For because of the love of this world, men labor in all endeavors. But you labor in all your good works, not for the love of this world, but for the eternal rest that God promises. See how you do both at the same time. You strike the strings and slay the beasts. That is, you are both a harpist and a hunter. Do such spectacles not delight you, where we do not gain the eyes of the editor, but the eyes of the Redeemer? "Honor your father and your mother"; you strike the fourth string so you honor your parents, the beast of impiety is slain. "You shall not commit adultery"; you strike the fifth string, the beast of lust falls. "You shall not kill"; you strike the sixth string, the beast of cruelty falls. "You shall not steal"; you strike the seventh string, the beast of rapacity falls. "You shall not bear false witness"; you strike the eighth string, the beast of falsehood falls. "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife"; you strike the ninth string, the beast of adulterous thoughts falls. For it is one thing not to do something outside of marriage, another not to desire another's wife. Therefore, there are two commandments: "You shall not commit adultery," and "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife." "You shall not covet your neighbor's goods"; you strike the tenth string, the beast of covetousness falls. Thus, with all these beasts falling, you safely and innocently dwell in God's love and human society. Striking the ten strings, how many beasts do you slay! For there are many heads beneath these heads. On each string, you do not kill single beasts, but flocks of beasts. Thus, you will sing the new song with love, not with fear.
What you do not want to be done to you, do not do to others.
Do not say to yourself, when perhaps you want to indulge in something luxuriantly: "I do not have a wife, I do what I want; for I am not sinning against my wife." Now you know your worth, now you know where you approach, what you eat, what you drink, indeed whom you eat, whom you drink. Abstain from fornications. Lest perhaps you might say to me: "I go to a brothel, I proceed to a harlot, I go to a prostitute, nor do I break that commandment which is said: You shall not commit adultery, for I do not yet have a wife nor do I do anything after her; nor do I violate that commandment where it is said: You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. Which commandment do I incur going to a public house?" Do we not find the string to pluck? Do we not find the string by which word we bind this fugitive? Let it not flee, it has where it is bound. But let it love, and it will not be a bond, but an ornament. In those very ten strings, we find it. For the ten commandments are referred to those two, as we have heard, to love God and neighbor, and those two to that one. But that one is: What you do not want to be done to you, do not do to another. Therein are contained the ten, therein are contained the two.
Do not corrupt the temple of God which is you.
But you say: "If I steal, I do what I do not want to suffer; if I kill, I do what I do not want to suffer from another; if I do not show honor to my parents, when I want it to be shown to me by my children, I do what I do not want to suffer; if I am an adulterer and plot something of that kind, I do what I do not want to suffer—for if anyone were asked, he would say: I do not want my wife to do such a thing—if I covet my neighbor's wife, I do not want anyone to covet mine, I do what I do not want to suffer; if I covet my neighbor's goods, I do not want mine to be taken away, I do what I do not want to suffer. But when I go to a prostitute, to whom do I do what I do not want to suffer?" What is more serious, to God Himself. May Your Holiness understand. For indeed: What you do not want to be done to you, do not do to another, pertains to two commandments. How does it pertain to two commandments? If you do not do to a man what you do not want to suffer from a man, it pertains to the commandment of neighbor, to the love of neighbor, to the seven chords. But if you want to do to God what you do not want to suffer from a man, what is this? You do not do to another what you do not want to suffer? Has man become dearer to you than God? "So how do I do it," he says, "to God Himself?" You corrupt yourself. "And how do I do injury to God because I corrupt myself?" How does someone who perhaps wants to stone your painted board, on which is your image placed idly in your house for your vain honor, neither sensing, nor speaking, nor seeing, do you any injury? If anyone were to stone it, would it not be an insult to you? But when you corrupt the image of God, which is yourself, through fornications and the dissipations of lust, do you consider that you have not approached any man's wife, do you consider that you have done nothing against your wife, who you do not have. And do you not consider through illicit lusts in fornication whose image you have violated? Lastly, God who knows what is useful for you, who truly governs His servants for their benefit, not His own—for He does not need servants as help, but you need the Lord for help—He, therefore, the Lord who knows what is useful for you, has granted a wife, nothing more. He has commanded this, He has ordered this, lest through illicit pleasures His temple, which you have become, should collapse. Do I say this? Listen to the Apostle: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? He says this to Christians, He says this to the faithful: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him. Do you see how He threatens? You do not want your house to be corrupted, why do you corrupt the house of God? Certainly, you do not do to anyone what you do not want to suffer? There is therefore no way to escape. He is held who thought he could not be held. For all the sins of men either pertain to the corruption of shameful acts, or to crimes of harming. Because you cannot harm God in crimes, you offend Him in shameful acts, you offend Him in corruptions, you do Him injury. For you do injury to His grace, His gift.
Serve God in the way you want your servant to serve you.
If you had a servant, you would want your servant to serve you. Serve your better Lord, your God. You did not make your servant, both you and your servant were made by Him. You want the one with whom you were made to serve you, and you do not want to serve Him by whom you were made? Therefore, when you want your servant, a human being, to serve you, and you do not want to serve your Lord, you do to God what you do not want to endure. Therefore, that one commandment contains two, those two contain ten, those ten contain all. So sing a new song on a psaltery of ten strings. But to sing a new song, be new people. Love righteousness: it has its beauty. That is why you do not want to see it, because you love something else. For if you did not love something else, you would certainly see it. Why do you see it when you demand it? Why do you praise faith when you demand it from your servant? How beautiful a thing faith is! But it is beautiful when it is demanded from a servant; it is seen when it is sought from another. When it is demanded from you, it is not seen. You see gold, you do not see faith. As gold shines to the eyes of the body, so faith shines to the eyes of the heart. You open the eyes of the heart to it when you want your servant to show it to you. And if he shows it to you, you praise the servant and proclaim him and say: "I have a distinguished servant, a great servant, a faithful servant." What you praise in a servant you do not show to the Lord, and thus more wickedly because you want to have a better servant than God has in you. God commands your servant to be good to you. Just as He commands your wife that even if you commit adultery, she should not commit adultery, so He commands your servant that even if you do not serve your God, he should serve you. But see that this whole matter is for your admonition, not for your ruin. For because that servant serves you worthily though you are unworthy, that is, because he serves you well though you are unworthy and serves you faithfully and loves you purely, he owes that to God, not to you. Therefore, it is right that you also consider that you are under a Lord, to whom he also pays attention to serve you. Therefore, fulfill what is said: What you do not wish to be done to you, do not do to another. But when you say "another," consider both your neighbor and God. Sing on a psaltery of ten strings, sing a new song, harmonize with the word of God, for He is with you on the way. Harmonize quickly with your adversary, lest you come to the judge with discord. If you do what you hear, you have harmonized with Him. But if you do not do it, you are still quarreling with Him, and you have not yet settled until you comply.
Beware of smaller sins because they are many.
To be in harmony, abstain from detestable corruptions, from detestable inquiries, from astrologers, from soothsayers, from sorcerers, from augurs, from sacrilegious sacrifices; abstain, as far as you can, from frivolous spectacles. If any worldly delights creep into your soul, exercise yourselves in mercy, exercise yourselves in almsgiving, in fasting, in prayers. For by these daily sins are cleansed, which cannot fail to creep into the soul, due to human frailty. Do not despise them because they are small; but fear them because they are many. Observe, my brothers. They are trivial, they are not great. There is no beast like a lion, so as to break the neck with one bite. But frequently, even many small beasts kill. If someone is thrown into a place full of fleas, will he not die there? They are indeed not greater, but human nature is weak, which can be destroyed even by the smallest beasts. So also with small sins: you observe that they are small; beware because they are numerous. How small are grains of sand! If more sand is put into a ship, it sinks it so that it perishes. How small are raindrops! Do they not fill rivers and bring down houses? Therefore, do not despise these things. But you will say: "And who can be without these?" Do not say this—for indeed no one can—God, mercifully seeing our frailty, has set against it remedies. What are the remedies? Almsgiving, fasting, prayers: these are the three. To speak truly in prayer, perfect almsgiving must be fulfilled. What are perfect alms? That from what abounds to you, you give to him who does not have, and that you forgive him who does you harm.
Small sins are cleansed by daily alms.
But do not think, Brothers, that daily adulteries are to be committed, and should be cleansed with daily alms. Daily alms are not sufficient for greater crimes, so that they cleanse them. It is one thing to change life, another to endure life. The former must be changed, so if you were an adulterer, do not be an adulterer; if you were a fornicator, do not fornicate; if you were a murderer, do not be a murderer; if you went to the mathematician and other sacrilegious pestilences, cease now. Do you think these things, unless they cease to be done, can be cleansed by daily alms? I speak of those daily sins which are easily committed by tongue, such as harsh words, or when someone lapses into immoderate laughter, or into such daily trifles. Even in those granted, there are sins. With a wife, if the mode of intercourse exceeds the due for procreating children, it is already a sin. For a wife is taken for this purpose, as even the records indicate where it is written: For the sake of procreating children. When you wish to use a wife more than the necessity for procreating children compels, it is already a sin. Even such sins are cleansed by daily alms. In the very food, which indeed is granted, if by chance you exceed the measure and take more than necessary, you sin. These are the daily things I speak of, but nevertheless they are sins and not light because they are numerous. Because, indeed, daily and numerous, the collapse from their multitude is to be feared, even if not from their magnitude. Such sins, Brothers, we say can be cleansed by daily alms. But give alms and do not cease. Pay attention to your daily life overflowing with these very sins, I speak of these minute ones.
Your alms should be like those of Zacchaeus, not the Pharisee's.
And when you give alms, do not do it proudly, nor pray as the Pharisee did there. But what did he say there? "I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I possess." And the blood of the Lord had not yet been shed! We have received such a great price for us, and yet we do not give as much as the Pharisee. And you have the Lord openly saying in another place: "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." Therefore, they give tithes; if you give a hundredth part, you boast that you have done something great. For you consider what another does not do, not what God commands you to do. You measure yourself by comparison with someone worse, not by the command of someone better. It is not because the other does nothing that you do something great. But because there is rejoicing over some of your smallest works—for such is your barrenness that there is joy over small things—you flatter yourselves with the small grains of alms, and forget the heaps of sins. You perhaps brought out something small that another either did not have or did not bring out when he had it. Do not consider who does not do after you, but what God commands you to do. Finally, why do these secular desires not suffice for you whom you have surpassed, but you want to be rich, equal to those richer than you? You do not consider how many poorer you surpass; you want to surpass the richer ones. But there is a measure in almsgiving. Here it is said, "How long shall I do it?", and there it is not said, "How many rich ones have I surpassed?" The countless miseries of beggars are not considered, the subsequent multitudes of the poor are not looked at, but the few preceding rich ones are placed before your eyes. Why in good work is that Zacchaeus not considered, who gave half of his goods to the poor? But we are compelled to wish that at least that Pharisee is considered, who gave tithes of all he possessed.
A great excuse for greed.
Do not spare perishable treasures, vain treasures. Do not under the guise of piety increase money. "I save for my children": great excuse. He saves for his children. Let us see. Your father saves for you, you save for your children, your children for theirs, and so on for all, and no one will do the commands of God. Why do you not rather spend everything for Him who made you out of nothing? He who made you, He feeds you out of what He made, He feeds your children. For you do not commit your children better to your inheritance than to your Creator. And indeed men lie. Greed is evil. They wish to cover themselves up with the name of piety and whitewash, so that they may seem to save for their children what they save for greed. For as you know that it often happens thus, it is said of someone: "Why does he not give alms? Because he saves for his children." It happens that he loses one. If he was saving for his children, he should send a part after him. Why does he hold onto it in the world, and leaves him who went before in spirit? Return to him what is his, return what you were saving for him. "He is dead," he says. But he has gone before to God, his part is owed to the poor. It is owed to him to whom he has gone. It is owed to Christ: for to Him he has gone. And He himself said: "What you did to one of the least of these, you did to me, and what you did not do to one of the least of these, you did not do to me." But what do you say? "I save for his brothers." If he lived, would he not share with his brothers? O dead faith! For your son is dead. Whatever you say, you owe to the dead what you were saving for the living. "My son is dead, but nevertheless I save his part for his brothers." So you believe that he is dead? If Christ did not die for him, he is dead. But if there is faith in you, your son lives. He lives absolutely. He has not departed, but has gone before. With what face will you come to your son who went before, to whom going before you do not send his part to heaven? Or is it not able to be sent to heaven? It is absolutely able. Hear the Lord himself saying: "Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven." If therefore that treasure is better kept in heaven, should it not then be sent to your son, when if sent it would not perish? It will be kept here where it can perish, not sent there where Christ is the guardian? Surely what you hold here, and do not wish to send after your son, to whom do you entrust it? To your agents and stewards. You entrust to your agents his part who has gone before, and do not entrust it to Christ to whom he has gone? Or is your steward more fit for you, Christ less fit?
It is very little to be called a Christian.
You see, brothers, that it is a lie when men say: "I save for my children." It is a lie, my brothers, it is a lie. Men are greedy. Or at least they certainly would be compelled to confess what they do not want to, since they are ashamed to remain silent about what they are. They should pour out, vomit in confession what they carry. The chest is oppressed by the gluttony of iniquity. Let confession vomit it out, but do not return to the vomit like a dog. Be Christians. It is very little to be called Christian. How much do you give to actors? How much do you give to hunters? How much to disgraceful people? You give to those who kill you. For through those very exhibitions of pleasures, your souls are killed. And you are mad about who gives more. If you were mad about who saves more, you would not be bearable. Whoever goes mad saving more, that is avarice. Whoever goes mad giving more, that is extravagance. God wants neither a miserly nor an extravagant person. He wants you to place what you have, not to throw it away. You strive to win in doing worse, not giving effort to who might be better. And would that you did not strive to be worse. And you say: "We are Christians." You throw away your possessions to gain the favor of the people, you hold onto your possessions contrary to commands. Behold, Christ does not command, Christ begs, Christ is in need. I was hungry, says Christ, and you did not give me to eat. He wanted to be in need because of you, so that you might have a place to sow the earthly things He gave, and reap eternal life. Do not be lazy and wrongly complacent. Amend your morals, redeem your sins. And when you have done these things, give thanks to God, from whom you received the means to live well. And give thanks to Him in such a way that you do not insult those who do not yet live well, but encourage them with your own morals. By doing this, you will have as perfect justice as can be in this life. Living in good works, in prayers, in fasts, in alms for your minor sins, and abstaining from those great sins, you reconcile with your adversary, and you say securely in prayer: Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. For you have what must be forgiven to you daily, who have what you forgive daily. Walking thus securely on the way, you will not fear the robberies of the devil, because Christ made Himself the way and the great thoroughfare, leading to the homeland. There, all security, all rest will be, where even the works of mercy will cease, because there will be no need for the poor. Therefore, it will be that Sabbath of Sabbaths, so that what we desire here, we will find there. Amen.