The Enchiridion 72

sant'Agostino d'Ippona (354–430 d.C.) · De fide spe et charitate · PL 40, 230–290

72 There are Many Kinds of Alms, the Giving of Which Assists to Procure Pardon for Our Sins PL 40, 266

And on this principle of interpretation, our Lord’s saying, “Give alms of such things as ye have, and, behold, all things are clean unto you,” applies to every useful act that a man does in mercy. Not only, then, the man who gives food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothing to the naked, hospitality to the stranger, shelter to the fugitive, who visits the sick and the imprisoned, ransoms the captive, assists the weak, leads the blind, comforts the sorrowful, heals the sick, puts the wanderer on the right path, gives advice to the perplexed, and supplies the wants of the needy,—not this man only, but the man who pardons the sinner also gives alms; and the man who corrects with blows, or restrains by any kind of discipline one over whom he has power, and who at the same time forgives from the heart the sin by which he was injured, or prays that it may be forgiven, is also a giver of alms, not only in that he forgives, or prays for forgiveness for the sin, but also in that he rebukes and corrects the sinner: for in this, too, he shows mercy. Now much good is bestowed upon unwilling recipients, when their advantage and not their pleasure is consulted; and they themselves frequently prove to be their own enemies, while their true friends are those whom they take for their enemies, and to whom in their blindness they return evil for good. (A Christian, indeed, is not permitted to return evil even for evil.) And thus there are many kinds of alms, by giving of which we assist to procure the pardon of our sins.

Eleemosynarum genera multa. Ac per hoc ad omnia quae utili misericordia fiunt, valet quod Dominus ait, Date eleemosynam, et ecce omnia munda sunt vobis . Non solum ergo qui dat esurienti cibum, sitienti potum, nudo vestimentum, peregrinanti hospitium, fugienti latibulum, aegroto vel incluso visitationem, captivo redemptionem, debili subvectionem, caeco deductionem, tristi consolationem, non sano medelam, erranti viam, deliberanti consilium, et quod cuique necessarium est indigenti; verum etiam qui dat veniam peccanti, eleemosynam dat; et qui emendat verbere in quem potestas datur, vel coercet aliqua disciplina, et tamen peccatum ejus, quo ab illo laesus aut offensus est, dimittit ex corde, vel orat ut ei dimittatur, non solum in eo quod dimittit atque orat, verum etiam in eo quod corripit, et aliqua emendatoria poena plectit, eleemosynam dat; quia misericordiam praestat. Multa enim bona praestantur invitis, quando eorum consulitur utilitati, non voluntati: quia ipsi sibi inveniuntur esse inimici, amici vero eorum potius illi quos inimicos putant; et reddunt errando mala pro bonis, cum reddere mala christianus non debeat nec pro malis. Multa itaque genera sunt eleemosynarum, quae cum facimus, adjuvamur ut dimittantur nostra peccata.

Philip Schaff (ed.), Buffalo/New York: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886-1889. Public domain: English translation first published 1885-1900 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series). Latin: Migne, Patrologia Latina (1844-1855), public domain; transcription from Corpus Corporum (University of Zurich).

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