Prologue in Sermons: October 8

The Giving Hand Never Fails

October 8

(From the Discourse on the Merciful Scholastic)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

"Do not harden your heart," says Scripture, "nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs...  You shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand" (Deut. 15:7-10). "He who gives to the poor will not lack" (Proverbs 28:27). "I am old," says David, "and have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread" (Ps. 37:25). These are immutable truths, for they are confirmed by countless examples of miraculous replenishment for the merciful, distributed by them. I offer you the following one of them.

In the city of Ascalon, there was a pious man who spent all his time in philanthropic works. He distributed alms to monks and the poor, fed visiting monks and other strangers, and his house was a refuge for all the homeless. One day, when, as was his custom, he sent alms to poor monasteries, he found himself in need of money, and, not knowing where to get it, he sat grieving. Suddenly, a venerable elder appeared in his house and asked, "What are you grieving about?" "About my sins," the merciful man replied, as usual. "No, not about my sins," the elder continued, "but about not knowing where to find money." "But God cares for you. Here are three hundred gold coins and the same number of silver coins. Send them as you are accustomed to." Having taken the money, the merciful man went to put it away, but as soon as he left, the elder disappeared. Returning and not seeing the elder, the owner of the house angrily began to reprimand the family and the doorman for letting the elder go until his return; but everyone swore that no one was in their house and they had not seen any elder. The merciful man then realized that the gold was sent to him from above, and from then on he became even more merciful and distributed all his possessions to the poor. When he was living in poverty, two monks once came to him and gave him an ark of gold. The beggar tried to persuade them to partake of the food, but they, making the excuse that they had to visit the Egyptian hermits, left him, promising to return in the evening. The evening passed – they were gone. The merciful man inquired about them from the Egyptian fathers, but they said that they had no one with them. Here again he was convinced that the gold was given to him by God. There was a third incident in his life, also miraculous. There was a shortage of oil in his church, and the sacristan wanted to inform him of this, but, although he didn't have time to tell him, upon returning to the church, he saw the vessel overflowing with oil. Thus, the more the merciful one gave, the more mercies he received from God, and through them, of course, he had the opportunity to be convinced of God's special favor.

Therefore, brethren, it is clear from this that, as Basil the Great says : "Mercies return to those who give. You gave to the hungry, you sought your own benefit; for what you gave, you will receive in abundance" (On the Rich). And Saint Ambrose of Milan says the same: "A man (on the death of Theodosius the Great) is merciful when he helps others, and benefits himself, and heals his own wounds with another's medicine." Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.