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De civitate Dei (CCSL)

Caput X: Quod sanctis in amissione rerum temporalium nihil pereat.

Quibus recte consideratis atque perspectis adtende utrum aliquid mali acciderit fidelibus et piis, quod eis non in bonum uerteretur, nisi forte putandum est apostolicam illam uacare sententiam, ubi ait: scimus quia diligentibus deum omnia cooperatur in bonum. amiserunt omnia quae habebant. numquid fidem? numquid pietatem? numquid interioris hominis bona, qui est ante deum diues? hae sunt opes Christianorum, quibus opulentus dicebat apostolus: est autem quaestus magnus pietas cum sufficientia. nihil enim intulimus in hunc mundum, sed nec auferre aliquid possumus. habentes autem uictum et tegumentum his contenti sumus. nam qui uolunt diuites fieri, incidunt in tentationem et laqueum et desideria multa stulta et noxia, quae mergunt homines in interitum et perditionem. radix enim est omnium malorum auaritia, quam quidam adpetentes a fide pererrauerunt et inseruerunt se doloribus multis. quibus ergo terrenae diuitiae in illa uastatione perierunt, si eas sic habebant, quemadmodum ab isto foris paupere, intus diuite audierant, id est, si mundo utebantur tamquam non utentes, potuerunt dicere, quod ille grauiter tentatus et minime superatus: nudus exiui de utero matris meae, nudus reuertar in terram. dominus dedit, dominus abstulit, sicut domino placuit, ita factum est; sit nomen domini benedictum; ut bonus seruus magnas facultates haberet ipsam sui domini uoluntatem, cui pedisequus mente ditesceret, nec contristaretur eis rebus uiuens relictus, quas cito fuerat moriens relicturus. illi autem infirmiores, qui terrenis his bonis, quamuis ea non praeponerent Christo, aliquantula tamen cupiditate cohaerebant, quantum haec amando peccauerint, perdendo senserunt. tantum quippe doluerunt, quantum se doloribus inseruerant, sicut apostolum dixisse supra commemoraui. oportebat enim ut eis adderetur etiam experimentorum disciplina, a quibus tam diu fuerat neglecta uerborum. nam cum dixit apostolus: qui uolunt diuites fieri, incidunt in tentationem et cetera, profecto in diuitiis cupiditatem reprehendit, non facultatem, quoniam praecepit alibi dicens: praecipe diuitibus huius mundi non superbe sapere neque sperare in incerto diuitiarum, sed in deo uiuo, qui praestat nobis omnia abundanter ad fruendum; bene faciant, diuites sint in operibus bonis, facile tribuant, communicent, thesaurizent sibi fundamentum bonum in futurum, ut adprehendant ueram uitam. haec qui de suis diuitiis faciebant, magnis sunt lucris leuia damna solati plusque laetati ex his, quae facile tribuendo tutius seruauerunt, quam contristati ex his, quae timide retinendo facilius amiserunt. hoc enim potuit in terra perire, quod piguit inde transferre. nam qui receperunt consilium domini sui dicentis: nolite uobis condere thesauros in terra, ubi tinea et rubigo exterminant et ubi fures effodiunt et furantur; sed thesaurizate uobis thesaurum in caelo, quo fur non accedit neque tinea corrumpit; ubi enim est thesaurus tuus, illic erit et cor tuum, tribulationis tempore probauerunt quam recte sapuerint non contemnendo ueracissimum praeceptorem et thesauri sui fidelissimum inuictissimumque custodem. nam si multi gauisi sunt ibi se habuisse diuitias suas, quo contigit ut hostis non accederet: quanto certius et securius gaudere potuerunt, qui monitu dei sui illuc migrauerunt, quo accedere omnino non posset. unde Paulinus noster, Nolensis episcopus, ex opulentissimo diuite uoluntate pauperrimus et copiosissime sanctus, quando et ipsam Nolam barbari uastauerunt, cum ab eis teneretur, sic in corde suo, ut ab eo postea cognouimus, precabatur: domine, non excrucier propter aurum et argentum; ubi enim sint omnia mea, tu scis. ibi enim habebat omnia sua, ubi eum condere et thesaurizare ille monstrauerat, qui haec mala mundo uentura praedixerat. ac per hoc qui domino suo monenti oboedierant, ubi et quomodo thesaurizare deberent, nec ipsas terrenas diuitias barbaris incursantibus amiserunt. quos autem non oboedisse paenituit, quid de talibus rebus faciendum esset, si non praecedente sapientia, certe consequente experientia didicerunt. at enim quidam boni etiam Christiani tormentis excruciati sunt, ut bona sua hostibus proderent. illi uero nec prodere nec perdere potuerunt bonum, quo ipsi boni erant. si autem torqueri quam mammona iniquitatis prodere maluerunt, boni non erant. admonendi autem fuerant, qui tanta patiebantur pro auro, quanta essent sustinenda pro Christo, ut eum potius diligere discerent, qui pro se passos aeterna felicitate ditaret, non aurum et argentum, pro quo pati miserrimum fuit, seu mentiendo occultaretur, seu uerum dicendo proderetur. namque inter tormenta nemo Christum confitendo amisit, nemo aurum nisi negando seruauit. quocirca utiliora erant fortasse tormenta, quae bonum incorruptibile amandum docebant, quam illa bona, quae sine ullo utili fructu dominos sui amore torquebant. sed quidam etiam non habentes quod proderent, dum non creduntur, torti sunt. et hi forte habere cupiebant nec sancta uoluntate pauperes erant; quibus demonstrandum fuit non facultates, sed ipsas cupiditates talibus dignas esse cruciatibus. si uero uitae melioris proposito reconditum aurum argentumque non habebant, nescio quidem utrum cuiquam talium acciderit, ut dum habere creditur torqueretur: uerumtamen etiamsi accidit, profecto, qui inter illa tormenta paupertatem sanctam confitebatur, Christum confitebatur. quapropter etsi non meruit ab hostibus credi, non potuit tamen sanctae paupertatis confessor sine caelesti mercede torqueri. multos, inquiunt, etiam Christianos fames diuturna uastauit. hoc quoque in usus suos boni fideles pie tolerando uerterunt. quos enim fames necauit, malis uitae huius, sicut corporis morbus, eripuit: quos autem non necauit, docuit parcius uiuere, docuit productius ieiunare.

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The City of God

Chapter 10.--That the Saints Lose Nothing in Losing Temporal Goods.

These are the considerations which one must keep in view, that he may answer the question whether any evil happens to the faithful and godly which cannot be turned to profit. Or shall we say that the question is needless, and that the apostle is vaporing when he says, "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God?" ¹

They lost all they had. Their faith? Their godliness? The possessions of the hidden man of the heart, which in the sight of God are of great price? ² Did they lose these? For these are the wealth of Christians, to whom the wealthy apostle said, "Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil; which, while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." ³

They, then, who lost their worldly all in the sack of Rome, if they owned their possessions as they had been taught by the apostle, who himself was poor without, but rich within,--that is to say, if they used the world as not using it,--could say in the words of Job, heavily tried, but not overcome: "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so has it come to pass: blessed be the name of the Lord." ⁴ Like a good servant, Job counted the will of his Lord his great possession, by obedience to which his soul was enriched; nor did it grieve him to lose, while yet living, those goods which he must shortly leave at his death. But as to those feebler spirits who, though they cannot be said to prefer earthly possessions to Christ, do yet cleave to them with a somewhat immoderate attachment, they have discovered by the pain of losing these things how much they were sinning in loving them. For their grief is of their own making; in the words of the apostle quoted above, "they have pierced themselves through with many sorrows." For it was well that they who had so long despised these verbal admonitions should receive the teaching of experience. For when the apostle says, "They that will be rich fall into temptation," and so on, what he blames in riches is not the possession of them, but the desire of them. For elsewhere he says, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." ⁵ They who were making such a use of their property have been consoled for light losses by great gains, and have had more pleasure in those possessions which they have securely laid past, by freely giving them away, than grief in those which they entirely lost by an anxious and selfish hoarding of them. For nothing could perish on earth save what they would be ashamed to carry away from earth. Our Lord's injunction runs, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." ⁶ And they who have listened to this injunction have proved in the time of tribulation how well they were advised in not despising this most trustworthy teacher, and most faithful and mighty guardian of their treasure. For if many were glad that their treasure was stored in places which the enemy chanced not to light upon, how much better founded was the joy of those who, by the counsel of their God, had fled with their treasure to a citadel which no enemy can possibly reach! Thus our Paulinus, bishop of Nola, ⁷ who voluntarily abandoned vast wealth and became quite poor, though abundantly rich in holiness, when the barbarians sacked Nola, and took him prisoner, used silently to pray, as he afterwards told me, "O Lord, let me not be troubled for gold and silver, for where all my treasure is Thou knowest." For all his treasure was where he had been taught to hide and store it by Him who had also foretold that these calamities would happen in the world. Consequently those persons who obeyed their Lord when He warned them where and how to lay up treasure, did not lose even their earthly possessions in the invasion of the barbarians; while those who are now repenting that they did not obey Him have learnt the right use of earthly goods, if not by the wisdom which would have prevented their loss, at least by the experience which follows it.

But some good and Christian men have been put to the torture, that they might be forced to deliver up their goods to the enemy. They could indeed neither deliver nor lose that good which made themselves good. If, however, they preferred torture to the surrender of the mammon of iniquity, then I say they were not good men. Rather they should have been reminded that, if they suffered so severely for the sake of money, they should endure all torment, if need be, for Christ's sake; that they might be taught to love Him rather who enriches with eternal felicity all who suffer for Him, and not silver and gold, for which it was pitiable to suffer, whether they preserved it by telling a lie or lost it by telling the truth. For under these tortures no one lost Christ by confessing Him, no one preserved wealth save by denying its existence. So that possibly the torture which taught them that they should set their affections on a possession they could not lose, was more useful than those possessions which, without any useful fruit at all, disquieted and tormented their anxious owners. But then we are reminded that some were tortured who had no wealth to surrender, but who were not believed when they said so. These too, however, had perhaps some craving for wealth, and were not willingly poor with a holy resignation; and to such it had to be made plain, that not the actual possession alone, but also the desire of wealth, deserved such excruciating pains. And even if they were destitute of any hidden stores of gold and silver, because they were living in hopes of a better life,--I know not indeed if any such person was tortured on the supposition that he had wealth; but if so, then certainly in confessing, when put to the question, a holy poverty, he confessed Christ. And though it was scarcely to be expected that the barbarians should believe him, yet no confessor of a holy poverty could be tortured without receiving a heavenly reward.

Again, they say that the long famine laid many a Christian low. But this, too, the faithful turned to good uses by a pious endurance of it. For those whom famine killed outright it rescued from the ills of this life, as a kindly disease would have done; and those who were only hunger-bitten were taught to live more sparingly, and inured to longer fasts.