Almsgiving and the Spiritual Life: Selected Quotes
QUOTES FROM THE FATHERS
“He who gives alms in imitation of God does not discriminate between the wicked and the virtuous, the just and the unjust, when providing for men’s bodily needs.”
—St. Maximos the Confessor
“Sins are purged by alms and acts of faith.”
—St. Clement of Alexandria
“Almsgiving is good and salutary when to it is united the amendment of the heart from pride, malice, envy, slothfulness, indolence, gluttony, fornication, falsehood, deceitfulness, and other sins. But if the man is not careful to amend his heart, trusting only to his alms, then he will obtain but little benefit from them, for he builds with one hand and destroys with the other.”
—St. John of Kronstadt
“In the matter of piety, poverty serves us better than wealth, and work better than idleness, especially since wealth becomes an obstacle even for those who do not devote themselves to it. Yet, when we must put aside our wrath, quench our envy, soften our anger, offer our prayers, and show a disposition which is reasonable, mild, kindly, and loving, how could poverty stand in our way? For we accomplish these things not by spending money but by making the correct choice. Almsgiving above all else requires money, but even this shines with a brighter luster when the alms are given from our poverty. The widow who paid in the two mites was poorer than any human, but she outdid them all.”
—St. John Chrysostom, Baptismal Instructions
“There is no more profitable practice as a companion to holy and spiritual fasting than that of almsgiving. This embraces under the single name of mercy many excellent works of devotion, so that the good intentions of the faithful may be of equal value, even where their means are not. The love that we owe both God and man is always free from any obstacle that would prevent us from having a good intention. The angels sang: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. The person who shows love and compassion to those in any kind of affliction is blessed, not only with the virtue of good will, but also with the gift of peace.
The works of mercy are innumerable. Their very variety brings this advantage to those who are true Christians, that in the matter of almsgiving not only the rich and affluent but also those of average means and the poor are able to play their part. Those who are unequal in their capacity to give can be equal in the love within their hearts.”
—St. Leo the Great
“The bread you do not use is the bread of the hungry. The garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of the person who is naked. The shoes you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot. The money you keep locked away is the money of the poor. The acts of charity you do not perform are the injustices you commit.”
—St. Basil the Great
“Be earnest in righteous works, by which sins may be purged. Frequently apply yourself to almsgiving, by which souls are freed from death.”
—St. Cyprian
CONTEMPORARY QUOTES
“There is a mentality [in the U.S.] 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 you help. Here you never even know the people you help, because your gift is given in the abstract. If you write your check for charity you can sleep well, even if in the hospital a person dies or your neighbor is in need. Maybe they do not need your money, but they do need your smile, your comfort. . . .”
— Archimandrite Roman Braga, a monastic from Romania, now living in the U.S.
“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.”
— C.S. Lewis (1898–1963), English author and scholar
“Jesus makes it clear that the standard measurement for assessing gifts is not how much we give to the work of God or how much we put in the offering plate, but how much we have left for ourselves. Those who give out of their abundance still have abundance left. And that’s a problem.”
— Anonymous
“It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”
— Mother Teresa (1910–97), a Roman Catholic missionary to India
These quotes were included in the Vol. 9 No. 1 issue of The Handmaiden.