16. Likewise, in the book On Duties : "Riches furnish no assistance toward the blessed life; which the Lord clearly demonstrated in the Gospel, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, etc. And so it has been most clearly proven that poverty, hunger, and pain, which are thought to be evils, are not only no hindrance to the blessed life, but are even an assistance to it. Thus, therefore, the external goods of the body are not only no assistance to the blessed life, but are even a detriment." But it is perfect to relinquish those things which are no assistance but a detriment: therefore, etc.
17. Likewise, Jerome, to the monk Heliodorus: "I do not want you to remember your former needs; the desert loves the naked. I do not want the difficulty of your former pilgrimage to terrify you. You who believe in Christ, believe also His words: Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. You need not take up a wallet, nor a staff; he is abundantly rich who is poor with Christ": therefore all things can be relinquished, with hope placed in Christ alone.
18. Likewise, Jerome, on that passage of Matthew six: Is not the soul more than food ? "Let no one doubt the promises of the Truth; let man be what he ought to be, and soon all things shall be added to him, for whose sake all things were made." Therefore he who relinquishes all things for the sake of Christ, trusting in the promise of Christ, acts according to perfect faith in Him; but he does this most perfectly who reserves absolutely nothing for himself, neither in common nor in particular: therefore, etc.
19. Likewise, Augustine, treating that passage of Matthew six: Behold the birds of the air: "The saints are rightly compared to birds, because they seek heaven, and because they are already so removed from the world that they no longer do anything on earth, no longer labor, but already dwell in heaven through contemplation alone." If therefore this life is the highest, then to have spurned all things and to place the whole hope of one's life in God belongs to perfect virtue.
20. Likewise, Augustine, On the Good of Marriage : "Those who ministered necessities to Christ and His disciples from their own substance did well; but better were those who gave up all their substance, so that, more unencumbered, they might follow the same Lord"; but the more one gives up, the more unencumbered one is: therefore the more praiseworthy.
21. Likewise, in the book On Ecclesiastical Dogmas : "It is good to distribute one's resources to the poor with discretion; better, with the intention of following the Lord, to give them away at once and, freed from anxiety, to be in want with Christ." Therefore he who is more in want and is freed from the anxieties of the world follows Christ more perfectly: therefore, etc.
22. Likewise, Gregory, in the eighth homily on the second part of Ezekiel: "When someone vows something of his own to God and does not vow something else, it is a sacrifice; but when one has vowed everything that he has, everything that he lives, everything that he knows to almighty God, it is a holocaust. For those who reserve nothing for themselves, but immolate their sense, life, tongue, and substance which they have received to almighty God—what do they offer but a holocaust?" Whence shortly before he said that he offers a holocaust who "has resolved to bestow upon the needy all that he possesses, to reserve nothing for himself, to commit his life to the sole governance of heaven"; but this is done most especially by one who so distributes that he reserves nothing for himself, neither in common nor in particular: therefore, etc.
23. Likewise, John Chrysostom, in the book That No One Is Harmed Except by Himself: "How did want of bodily things harm the Apostles? Did they not live in hunger and thirst and nakedness, and on account of these things were held to be more illustrious and magnificent, and through this acquired great confidence before God?" Therefore that poverty is more praiseworthy in which there is greater want of things.
24. Likewise, Bernard, to Henry, Archbishop of Sens: "Happy is he who retains nothing for himself from all things: he has no den, like the foxes; no nest, like the birds; no money-bag, like Judas; no houses, just as Mary had no place in the inn—imitating indeed Him who had not where to lay His head"; but he who relinquishes all things entirely, retaining nothing whatsoever for himself, neither in common nor in particular, does this most especially: therefore, etc.
25. Likewise, Prosper praises Paulinus and Hilary for this, that they had distributed all their possessions to the poor, although by reason of their episcopal office they afterward administered ecclesiastical goods, as is found in Causa 12, question 1: Expedit, where he says thus: "Finally, Saint Paulinus distributed to the poor the vast estates that were his own." And below: "What of Saint Hilary? Did not he too either leave all his possessions to the poor, or sell everything and distribute it to the poor?" These are praised and are praiseworthy, because they despised all their possessions for Christ's sake and distributed them to the poor; but those do this most especially who retain nothing for themselves, neither in common nor in particular: therefore such persons approach most closely to the summit of evangelical perfection.
Likewise, the same is shown by reason.
26. There is a twofold city, namely of God and of the devil, Jerusalem and Babylon, which have opposition both in themselves and in their foundations; but the foundation of the city of Babylon, as Augustine says, is cupidity: therefore the more one withdraws from cupidity, the more one withdraws from the city of the devil. But poverty, in which one renounces utterly all things both in common and in particular, both in effect and in affection, is itself that which distances one most from avarice: therefore, etc.
27. Furthermore, riches are an incentive to cupidity, because it is difficult to have them and not love them; but the more one distances oneself from the incentive to sin, the more perfectly one acts; and this is what one does who renounces all things both in common and in particular: therefore etc.
28. Furthermore, the counsel is threefold: of poverty, obedience, and chastity: but the more generally and universally one obeys, the more perfectly one acts, and similarly with the counsel of chastity: therefore by equal reasoning it will also be true of the counsel of poverty.
If you say that it is not similar, because riches are necessary for life; this amounts to nothing, since countless people who have absolutely no property whatsoever are able to live.
29. Furthermore, that poverty is more perfect which is accompanied by more perfect obedience; but those who have property in common cannot be excluded from it through obedience except by reason of sin; whereas those who have absolutely nothing are bound to obey everywhere on earth: if therefore evangelical perfection consists especially in the perfection of obedience, to renounce all things universally, reserving absolutely nothing, pertains to the summit of evangelical perfection.
30. Furthermore, contempt for the present world is praiseworthy; this is true per se: therefore greater contempt is more praiseworthy, and the greatest contempt is most praiseworthy; but he contemns the present world most greatly who renounces all things both in common and in particular: therefore such a one acts most perfectly.
31. Furthermore, lofty poverty is praiseworthy: this is true per se: therefore loftier poverty is more praiseworthy, and the loftiest most praiseworthy; but such is that which reserves to itself no property either in common or in particular: therefore etc.
32. Furthermore, a way is the straighter as its middle is more conformed to its extremes: but the highest poverty exists both at the beginning of life and at its end: therefore if in the middle all things are taken away, one proceeds by the straightest way. But the straighter the way, the more perfect it is: therefore the poorest way and life is the most perfect.
But to the contrary: 1. Ecclesiasticus twenty-seven: On account of want, many have sinned; but nothing that is a way of leading into fault pertains to evangelical perfection: therefore etc.
Furthermore, Ecclesiastes seven: Wisdom is more useful with riches: Gloss: "than alone"; but riches do not make a man perfect: therefore much less do poverty and want.
Furthermore, Proverbs thirty: Give me neither riches nor beggary; and afterward: Lest compelled by want I steal and perjure the name of my God; but nothing pertains to evangelical perfection which the Wise Man wisely refuses: therefore etc.
2. Furthermore, Luke six: Everyone will be perfect if he is as his master; but Christ had a purse, as is evident from John twelve, where it is said that
Judas carried the money bags: therefore, to be unwilling to have property in common does not seem to be perfection, but rather superstition, in which the disciple seems to wish to set himself above the master. If you say that he had the money bags for others; to the contrary: Augustine says, and it is found in Causa twelve, question one: "The Lord had money bags, preserving the offerings of the faithful, and he distributed to the needs of his own and to other indigent persons."
3. Likewise, on that passage of First Timothy six: Having food etc.; the Gloss says: "Even though we brought nothing into this world, nevertheless these temporal things are not to be entirely cast away": therefore he who casts away everything acts wrongly.