Mr. Timm Wenger: Hey, everyone. This is Timm.

Mr. Thaniel Wenger: And this is Thaniel.

Mr. Timm Wenger: As we wrap up this year, we’ve selected some of our favorite quotes from Church Fathers and Mothers about philanthropy, almsgiving, sacrificial living, and generosity to share with you, along with some help from Christina. Some of these quotes are rather intense and it’s a lot to take in, so feel free to pause and contemplate as needed. Here we go!

Mr. Thaniel Wenger: “Throw out of your head the idea that you can, through a comfortable life, become all you must be in Christ.” —St. Theophan the Recluse

Ms. Christina Wenger: Would you see his altar also? This altar is composed of the very members of Christ, and the body of the Lord becomes an altar. This altar is more venerable even than the one which we now use, for it is but a stone by nature, but become holy because it receives Christ’s body. But that altar is holy because it is itself Christ’s body, which you may see lying everywhere in the alleys and in the marketplaces. And you may sacrifice upon it any time. When you then see a poor believer, believe that you are beholding an altar. When you see this one as a beggar, do not only refrain from insulting him, but actually give him honor, and if you see someone else insulting him, stop him; prevent it. —St. John Chrysostom

Mr. Timm Wenger: It isn’t because the affluent are unable to provide food easily that men go hungry; it is because the affluent are cruel and inhuman. Every day the church here feeds 3,000 people. Besides this, the church daily helps provide food and clothes for prisoners, the hospitalized, pilgrims, cripples, churchmen, and others. If only ten people were willing to do this, there wouldn’t be a single poor man left in town. —St. John Chrysostom

Mr. Thaniel Wenger: We must regard charity as the first and greatest of the commandments, since it is the sum of the law and the prophets. At its most vital part, I find, is love of the poor, along with compassion and sympathy for our fellow man. —St. Gregory of Nyssa

Ms. Christina Wenger: Thus we ought ever to exercise hospitality by our own personal exertions, that we may be sanctified, and our hands be blessed. And if you give to the poor, disdain not yourself to give it, for it is not to the poor that it is given, but to Christ. And who is so wretched as to disdain to stretch out his own hand to Christ? This is hospitality. This is truly to do it for God’s sake. —St. John Chrysostom

Mr. Timm Wenger: If you cannot find Christ in the beggar at the church door, you will not find him in the chalice. —St. John Chrysostom

Mr. Thaniel Wenger: Seek the simplest in all things: in food, clothing, without being ashamed of poverty. For a great part of the world lives in poverty. Do not say, “I am the son of a rich man. It is shameful for me to be in poverty.” Christ is not in worldly riches. Rather, he walked in poverty and had nowhere to lay his head. —St. Gennadius of Constantinople

Ms. Christina Wenger: The ascetic rules here are simple and perhaps do not leave any room for mystical inspiration, often being limited to everyday work and responsibility. But there is a great strength and great truth in them, based on the words of the Gospel about the Last Judgment, when Christ says to those who stand on his right hand that they visited him in prison and in the hospital, fed him when he was hungry, clothed him when he was naked. He will say this to those who did it either on an individual or on a social level. Thus, in the dull, laborious, often humdrum ascetic rules concerning our attitude toward the material needs of our neighbor, there already lies the pledge of a possible relation to God: their spirit-bearing nature. —St. Maria of Paris

Mr. Timm Wenger: Perhaps some of those who hear me avoid poverty as a thing of ill-omen. I do not doubt it, for this disease is great among most men, and such is the tyranny of wealth, that they cannot even as far as words endure the renunciation of it, but avoid it as of ill-omen. Far be this from the Christian soul, for nothing is richer than he who chooses poverty of his own accord and with a ready mind. —St. John Chrysostom

Mr. Thaniel Wenger: There is a mentality that writing your monthly check to a charitable society can put your conscience to rest, especially when at the end of the year you can claim your contributions as deductions. There is something lost when you have no personal, and thus spiritual, connection with the people that you help. Here, you never even know the people you help, because your gift is given in the abstract. Maybe they do not need your money, but they do need your smile, your comfort. —Archimandrite Roman Braga

Ms. Christina Wenger: The poor are the healers of your wounds. Their hands are medicinal to you. The physician extending his hand to apply a remedy does not exercise the healing art more than the poor man who stretches out his hand to receive your alms and thus becomes a cure for your ills. You give your money, and with it your sins pass away. —St. John Chrysostom

Mr. Timm Wenger: No act of devotion on the part of the faithful gives God more pleasure than that which is lavished on his poor. —St. Leo the Great

Mr. Thaniel Wenger: Give not thy alms to those who preside in the church to distribute; bestow it thyself, that thou mayest have the reward not of giving merely, but of kind service. Give with thine own hands. —St. John Chrysostom

Ms. Christina Wenger: It is good for one to give alms, even if it is done before others with the view to please, for by this one shall come to do it for God. —Venerable Sarah of Seeds

Mr. Timm Wenger: Give something, however small, to the one in need, for it is not small to one who has nothing. Neither is it small to God if we have given what we could. —St. Gregory the Theologian

Mr. Thaniel Wenger: If you want Christ to bless you in what you have, when you meet some poor individual who is hungry and asks you for food, give him. Also, when you know that some poor man or a widow or an orphan are hungry, do not wait for them to ask you for food, but give them. Give with pleasure, and be not afraid that you will become indigent. Have faith that Christ invisibly blesses your few possessions and that you shall never starve nor will you be in want to the end of your life. —St. Arsenios of Paros

Ms. Christina Wenger: If you find that there is no love in you, but you want to have it, then do deeds of love, even though you do them without love in the beginning. The Lord will see your desire and striving and will put love in your heart. —St. Ambrose of Optina

Mr. Timm Wenger: There is one innate and trusty wealth: to use one’s substance on God and on the poor. —St. Gregory the Theologian

Mr. Thaniel Wenger: Let us visit Christ whenever we may. Let us care for him, feed him, clothe him, welcome him, honor him. —St. Gregory of Nazianzus

Ms. Christina Wenger: Do not grieve or complain that you were born in a time when you could no longer see God in the flesh. He did not in fact take this privilege from you. As he says, “Whatever you have done to the least of my brothers, you did it to me.” —St. Augustine

Mr. Timm Wenger: Now don’t tell me that you actually work hard, if you call earning money, making business deals, and caring for your possessions “work.” I say, no, that is not work, but alms, prayers, the protection of the injured and the like: these are genuine work. You charge the poor with idleness; I charge you with corrupt behavior. —St. John Chrysostom

Mr. Thaniel Wenger: May God preserve me from being rich, if my brethren are indigent; from enjoying robust health, if I do not try to cure their diseases; from eating good food, clothing myself well, and resting in my home, if I do not share with them a piece of my bread and give them, in the measure of my abilities, part of my clothes, and if I do not welcome him into my home. —St. Gregory the Theologian

Ms. Christina Wenger: Bounty is true riches. It is a great blessing, given by God, to be in a position to do good to others. It is a divine thing, a crown of peace, to be able to soothe sorrow and to dry tears. The beneficent man is a living representation of God upon earth. It is he who gives to God the worship most pleasing in his sight, for it is better to do works of charity than to ornament churches or to enrich them with rich faces. —St. Cyprian

Mr. Timm Wenger: If the Church possesses gold, it is not to preserve it, but to use it for the needs of its members. What is the use of saving that which, in itself, is good for nothing? Will not the Lord ask some day, “Why did you leave so many poor to die with hunger? You have gold; why did you not provide them with food? Why did you leave so many captives without ransom, that would have saved them from slavery or death? Would it not have been more charitable to preserve the living vases rather than those which were made of inanimate metal?” Is there no answer to these reproaches, or will you say, “I feared lest the temple of God be destitute of ornaments?” My sacraments can be celebrated without gold, for it is not with gold they were bought. Their ornament is the redemption of captives. There are no vases so precious as the salvation of souls from death. That is the gold which stands the test: useful gold, the gold of Christ. —St. Ambrose

Mr. Thaniel Wenger: People give all sorts of reasons to excuse their lack of charity, their hard-heartedness. Some say: hard times. But if the times are hard for those who have a sufficiency, how much harder are they for the poor? This pretext alone should lead one to give all the more generously. —St. Theophan the Recluse

Ms. Christina Wenger: A person should have a more attentive towards his brother’s flesh than towards his own. Christian love teaches us to give our brother not only material but also spiritual gifts. We must give him our last shirt and our last crust of bread. Here personal charity is as necessary and justified as the broadest social work. In this sense, there is no doubt that the Christian is called to social work. He is called to organize a better life for the workers, to provide for the old, to build hospitals, care for children, fight against exploitation, injustice, want, lawlessness. In principle, the value is completely the same whether he acts on an individual or a social level. What matters is that his social work be based on love for his neighbor and not have any latent material or career purpose, for the rest is always justified, from personal aid to working on a national scale, from concrete attention to an individual person to an understanding of abstract systems for correct organization of social life. The love of man demands one thing from us in this area: ascetic ministry to his material needs, attentive and responsible work, a sober and unsentimental awareness of our strength and of its true usefulness. —St. Maria of Paris

Mr. Timm Wenger: Let us throw away from ourselves the abundance of this life, enriching ourselves only with that which is good in it. Namely, let us through almsgiving become owners of our own souls. Let us give what is ours to the poor, that we may be rich in heaven. —St. Gregory the Theologian

Mr. Thaniel Wenger: The man of charity spreads his money about him. The man who claims to possess both charity and money is a self-deceived fool. —St. John Climacus

Ms. Christina Wenger: “But wealth is necessary for rearing children,” someone will say. This is a specious excuse for greed. Although you speak as though children were your concern, you betray the inclinations of your own heart. Do not impute guilt to the guiltless; they have their own Master who cares for their needs. They received their being from God, and God will provide what they need to live. Was the command found in the Gospel, “If you wish to be perfect, sell your possessions and give the money to the poor” not written for the married? After seeking the blessing of children from the Lord and being found worthy to become parents, did you at once add the following: “Give me children that I might disobey your commandments. Give me children that I might not obtain the kingdom of heaven”? —St. Basil the Great

Mr. Timm Wenger: If you believe that God truly cares for the poor, then take a courageous stand on this matter. For the one who cares for the poor will certainly lead those who struggle on behalf of the poor. —Ss. Barsanuphius and John

Mr. Thaniel Wenger: He who shows kindness toward the poor has God as his guardian. And he who becomes poor for the sake of God will acquire abundant treasures. God is pleased when he sees people showing concern for others for his sake. When someone asks you for something, don’t think, “Just in case I might need it, I shall save it for myself, and God, through other people, will give that person what he requires.” These types of thoughts are peculiar to people that are iniquitous and do not know God. A just and generous person would not compromise the honor of helping and relinquish it to another person, and he would never pass up an opportunity to help. Every beggar and every needy person receives the necessary essentials, because God doesn’t neglect anyone. But you, having sent away the destitute with nothing, spurned the honor offered to you by God and thereby distanced yourself from his grace. —Isaac the Syrian

Ms. Christina Wenger: The more you abound in wealth, the more you lack in love. —St. Basil the Great

Mr. Timm Wenger: Don’t exchange your love toward your neighbor for some type of object, because then, having love toward your neighbor, you acquire within yourself him who is most precious in the whole world. Forsake the petty so as to acquire the great. Spurn the excessive and everything meaningless so as to acquire the valuable. —St. Isaac the Syrian

Mr. Thaniel Wenger: If you keep the accounts of a church, you are actually keeping the accounts of God, for you are God’s steward. Therefore you are obliged to keep the accounts in such a way as to feed the poor and the orphans, should there be any surplus. After all, God is their Father and Nurturer, and you are administering their goods. If there is no surplus, you should do whatever you can to produce one. Otherwise, you are not keeping the accounts of a church, but only intending to care of yourself. If that is what you are doing, then you are no longer keeping the accounts for God, but for the devil. Do everything, then, according to God, and you shall find your reward in him. —St. Barsanuphius

Ms. Christina Wenger: If you help a poor person in the name of the Lord, you are making a gift, and at the same time granting a loan. You’re making a gift because you have no expectation of being reimbursed by that poor person; you are granting a loan because the Lord will settle the account. It is not much that the Lord receives by means of the poor, but he will pay a great deal on their behalf. As it says in Proverbs, “Those who are kind to the poor lend to the Lord.” —St. Basil the Great

Mr. Thaniel Wenger: Thanks for listening! What was your favorite quote related to these themes? Let us know by using the contact form at our website, thesecondliturgy.com, or on Facebook or Instagram. Also at our website you can read our blog and sign up for our weekly inspirational newsletter. Until next time, have a blessed start to the new year!