Chapter IV.
The same argument, namely, that blessedness is not
lessened or added to by external matters, is illustrated by the example
of men of old.
10. There is, then,
a blessedness even in pains and griefs. All which virtue with its
sweetness checks and restrains, abounding as it does in natural
resources for either soothing conscience or increasing grace. For
Moses was blessed in no small degree when, surrounded by the Egyptians
and shut in by the sea, he found by his merits a way for himself and
the people to go through the waters.392
When
was he ever braver than at the moment when, surrounded by the greatest
dangers, he gave not up the hope of safety, but besought a
triumph?
11. What of Aaron? When did he ever
think himself more blessed than when he stood between the living and
the dead, and by his presence stayed death from passing from the bodies
of the dead to the lines of the living?393
What shall I say of the youth
Daniel, who was so wise that, when in the midst of the lions enraged
with hunger, he was by no means overcome with terror at the fierceness
of the beasts. So free from fear was he, that he could eat, and
was not afraid he might by his example excite the animals to feed on
him.394
12. There is, then, in pain a virtue that
can display the sweetness of a good conscience, and therefore it serves
as a proof that pain does not lessen the pleasure of virtue. As,
then, there is no loss of blessedness to virtue through pain, so also
the pleasures of the body and the enjoyment that benefits give add
nothing to it. On this the Apostle says well: “What
things to me were gain, those I counted loss for Christ,” and he
added: “Wherefore I count all things but loss, and do count
them but dung, that I may win Christ.”395
13.
Moses, too, thought the treasures of Egypt to be his loss, and thus
showed forth in his life the reproach of the Cross of the Lord.
He was not rich when he had abundance of money, nor was he afterwards
poor when he was in want of food, unless, perchance, there is any one
who thinks he was less happy when daily food was wanting to him and his
people in the wilderness. But yet manna, that is, angels’
food, which surely none will dare deny to be a mark of the greatest
good and of blessedness, was given him from heaven; also the daily
shower of meat was sufficient to feed the whole multitude.396
14. Bread for food also failed Elijah, that
holy man, had he sought for it; but it seemed not to fail him because
he sought it not. Thus by the daily service of the ravens bread
was brought to him in the morning, meat in the evening.397
Was he any the less blessed
because he was poor to himself? Certainly not. Nay, he was
the more blessed, for he was rich toward God. It is better to be
rich for others than for oneself. He was so, for in the time of
famine he asked a widow for food, intending to repay it, so that the
barrel of meal failed not for three years and six months, and the oil
jar sufficed and served the needy widow for her daily use all that time
also.398
Rightly did Peter wish to be
there where he saw them. Rightly did they appear in the mount
with Christ in glory,399
for He Himself
became poor when He was rich.
15. Riches, then, give no assistance to
living a blessed life, a fact that the Lord clearly shows in the
Gospel, saying: “Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the
kingdom of God. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst now, for
they shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall
laugh.”400
Thus it is
stated as plainly as possible that poverty, hunger, and pain, which are
considered to be evils, not only are not hindrances to a blessed life,
but are actually so many helps toward it.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
