'If you drink wine moderately, you will be sober' (ibid. 31:32); and likewise there, 'Wine was created from the beginning for gladness, not for drunkenness. Wine drunk moderately is the gladness of soul and heart; wine drunk to excess is the weakness of soul and body, it works irritation and wrath and many downfalls. Wine drunk to excess is bitterness of soul, the animosity of drunkenness, the stumbling-block of the imprudent, lessening strength and causing wounds' (ibid. 35-40). 6. Drunkards have no part in the kingdom of God. But when we urge these things, perhaps the drunkards grow angry against us and murmur.
And although there will not be lacking those who grow angry, yet, God being gracious, there will be many who, gladly hearing wholesome counsel, will by God's mercy be delivered from so grievous a sin. Nevertheless, let those very ones who grow angry at us who speak against their pillar and beloved—drunkenness—hear from us with a free voice: that whatever drunkard has not done penance for that drunkenness, but has remained in that drunkenness even until his death, shall assuredly perish forever; for the Holy Spirit does not lie in saying through the Apostle, 'Neither shall drunkards possess the kingdom of God' (1 Cor. 6:10).
And therefore whoever are drunkards do better to be angry not with us but rather with themselves, and with God's help to shake themselves out of the mire of the dregs, or out of the sewer of drunkenness, while there is still time for penance; let them hasten with all the speed they can, God helping, to rise up: and with all the strength of the soul, supplicating the Lord with the prophet, let them say, 'Deliver me out of the mire, that I stick not fast' (Ps. 68:15); and this, 'Let not the tempest of water drown me, nor the deep swallow me up, nor the pit shut its mouth upon me' (Ps. 68:16).
For drunkenness, like the pit of hell, whomsoever it has received, unless worthy penance comes to their aid and amendment follows after, so mightily claims them for its own that it does not at all permit those same ones to return from the dark pit of hell to the light of chastity or sobriety. 7. By what reasoning we ought to know how they may be weaned from it. But this above all we ought to understand and to know, that men are not made drunkards in a single day: but while little by little, at the urging and compelling of most cruel enemies rather than friends, day by day they add one or two more cups to their customary drink. But when they have brought this into a habit, so does the very fire of drunkenness lay hold of them that it compels them to be ever thirsty.
But whoever desires to be freed from this evil—just as by adding drink to himself at intervals of days he arrived at the darkness of drunkenness, so let him return to the light of sobriety by little and little withdrawing it: for if all at once he withdraws the whole of what he was taking in excess, when he begins to burn with too great thirst, with great bitterness he cries out and says that he would rather die than have the custom of drinking or of getting drunk taken from him; nor does he consider that it were more tolerable for him to die in the flesh than to kill the soul through drunkenness. And therefore, that he may neither suffer too great a burning, and may be freed from so grievous a sin;
as has already been said, let him at intervals of days withdraw something from the excess of his drink, until he returns to a reasonable custom of drinking. He who is willing thus, as we have said, to reduce it by degrees, will both be freed from drunkenness and will not suffer that intolerable burning. 8. Clerics are not immune from this vice. A heathen superstition. I, dearest brethren, in urging these things, absolve myself before God. Whoever shall have scorned to hear me, and shall either himself be prone to drinking, or shall wish to press upon or compel his fellow-guests; he shall be guilty in the judgment of God both for himself and for them.
And because—what is worse—some even of the clergy, who ought to forbid this, themselves compel some to drink more than is expedient, let them from now on begin both to correct themselves and to chastise others: so that when they come before the tribunal of Christ, they may incur punishment neither for their own nor for others' drunkenness; but rather, while they both amend themselves and cease not to chastise others, may deserve to attain the eternal reward. And this above all I ask, and by the dreadful day of judgment I adjure you, that whenever you set feasts before one another, that foul custom by which, with great measure and without measure, three men, whether willing or unwilling, were wont to drink, you spit out from your feasts as the poison of the devil:
for this unhappy custom has still remained from the observance of the pagans. And whoever consents that this be done at his own feast or at another's, let him not doubt that he has sacrificed himself to the devil. By this drinking not only is the soul slain, but the body also is weakened. But I trust concerning God's mercy that He will deign so to inspire you, that so lamentable and shameful an evil may so come into horror with you, that you never permit it to be done; but that what would have perished in that drunkenness may go to profit the refreshment of the poor: our Lord Jesus Christ granting it, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns God unto the ages of ages. Amen. SERMON 295. An admonition against the evil of drunkenness. 1.
Drunkards are like shipwrecked vessels. They mock the sober as though not men. Often, dearest brethren, with fatherly affection I have admonished your Charity to shun or flee the evil of drunkenness as the pit of hell. And although among very many our chastisement has profited, yet there are many who neither fear God nor reverence those who are honourable or sober; and are altogether unable to say or to hear anything that pertains to reason. But what sort of thing is this, that those unhappy drunkards themselves, when they gorge themselves with excessive wine, laugh at and revile those who reasonably wish to drink only that which suffices, saying to them:
'Be ashamed, and let it be a disgrace to you, that you cannot drink as much as we.' For they say that such men are not men. And behold the wretchedness of drunkards! They say that they are men, who lie in the sewer of drunkenness; and they say that those are not men, who stand honourably and soberly. Do they lie prostrate, and are they men; do these stand upright, and are not men? The conqueror of drunkenness is reviled, and the one conquered by drunkenness is praised. The sober man is mocked, who can govern both himself and others; and the drunkard is not mocked—nay, is not even bewailed—who can recognize neither himself nor others. 2. They say therefore that they were constrained by way of excuse. But even by death it should have been resisted. What martyrdom is, and how it is now undergone.
Yet drunkards are wont to want to excuse themselves in this way, saying: 'A powerful person compelled me to drink more, and at the king's banquet I could not do otherwise.' To excuse our excuses in sins we hold out these pretexts; and what we are unwilling to fulfil, we say we were unable to do. To be unwilling is our own fault; and inability is pleaded. Even if it should come to this, that it were said to you, 'Either you shall drink or you shall die,' it were better that your flesh be slain sober, than that the soul die through drunkenness. But that excuse is falsely alleged.
For those very kings and whoever else are powerful, since (God being gracious) they are both Christian and prudent, and sober, and fearing God with all their heart, if they see that you have determined not to comply with them by getting drunk, out of the fear of God—perhaps for an hour they seem to be angry, but afterwards [they honour you the more]. We have urged him; and yet we could never separate him from sobriety! For God too, who sees that you are unwilling to be drunk for love of Him, will Himself give you the favour even of those who seemed to exhort and compel you to drink more. Let no one say, dearest brethren, that in these times there are no martyrs; daily martyrs are made. For 'martyr' is interpreted 'witness.'
Whoever therefore has borne witness for the truth, and has judged all cases with justice, whatever he has endured for the testimony of truth or of justice, God will reckon it all to him for martyrdom. And thus he too who resists drunkenness, if with God's help he is willing to persevere, and for that very cause has borne some tribulations, God will reckon them all to him for the glory of martyrdom. 3. Drunkards are convicted of injustice toward God. Yet I should like to know, dearest brethren, if any master has many servants, whether he would wish even one of them to become [a drunkard], when or if he wished it. And with what face, with what conscience, does one who does not wish to have a drunken servant himself wish to become a drunkard?
Behold, of God's gifts you have a servant, and God has you as His servant: as you wish your servant to serve you, so ought you also to serve your Lord. Tell me, I pray you, if it seems just to you that you should have a sober servant, and God should have you drunken. And thus you judge yourself worthy that a sober servant should serve you; and you think God unworthy whom you, being sober, ought to serve. These things therefore, dearest brethren, attend to and consider diligently, that it is not just that we should do to God what we would not have done to ourselves. Perhaps you will say: 'How do I do to God what I would not have done to myself?' Hear how. It does not please you to have a drunken servant; and you are unwilling, being sober, to serve God. 4. They scarcely think drunkenness a sin. It shall be punished with eternal punishment.
Nor is it committed with impunity in the present. Clerics even of the higher order are liable to this vice. For therefore, beloved, men make themselves drunk with such ease, because they think drunkenness to be either a small sin or none at all. But for this ignorance the priests above all shall render an account in the day of judgment, in that they have persistently refused to preach to the peoples committed to them what and how great evils are born of drunkenness. Whoever therefore believes drunkenness to be a small sin, if he does not amend himself, and does not do penance for that drunkenness;
together with adulterers and murderers, eternal punishment without remedy shall torment him, according to what you yourselves well know the blessed Apostle to have preached: 'Neither,' he says, 'fornicators, nor those who serve idols, nor the effeminate, nor the abusers of themselves with mankind, nor the covetous, nor adulterers, nor drunkards shall possess the kingdom of God' (1 Cor. 6:9-10). See how he joined drunkards with fornicators, and those who serve idols, and abusers of themselves with mankind, and adulterers. And this: 'Be not drunk with wine, wherein is riot' (Eph. 5:18). And therefore let each one mark out and determine within himself that drunkenness is a grievous sin: and then either never, or hardly, shall drunkenness be able to overcome him.
For since men are to be tormented for drunkenness not only in the age to come, but even in the present are frequently wearied by many infirmities through that very drunkenness—let those who do not think of the salvation of their soul at least fear disease of the body; let those who do not dread the punishments of hell at least be afraid of the bloodshot and dimness of the eyes, the dizziness of the head, and the trembling of the limbs. And this indeed we say not only to laymen, but also to clerics: because—what is worse—there are many clerics even of the higher order who, whereas they ought continually to preach to others the good of sobriety, not only do not do this, but are not even ashamed nor afraid to make both themselves and others drunk.
But let all such acknowledge and grieve, that if they are unwilling to amend themselves, it will be necessary for them to sustain eternal punishments both for themselves and for others. 5. Drinking-bouts after banquets under various names. Provocatives of thirst. There are only two places after this life. But what sort of thing is this, that when the banquet is already over and thirst satisfied—when they can and ought to drink no more—then, as though fresh men, as though those who had but that hour arrived, they begin to drink under various names, not only of living men, but also of Angels and of the rest of the ancient saints, esteeming that they render them the greatest honour if in the names of those very ones they bury themselves in excessive drunkenness:
not knowing that none is found to inflict so grievous an injury upon the holy Angels or holy men as those who, by drinking in their names, are shown to slay their own souls through drunkenness. For there are some who, from this cause alone, order salted foods to be prepared for themselves, that through that very saltiness they may be able to overwhelm themselves with excessive drunkenness. For if pagans who know not God do this, it is not to be wondered at, nor to be too greatly grieved over; because they both have no hope in God and keep the ancient custom of their forefathers.
But Christians (whom God has led back from darkness to light, has called from death to life, to whom all the Scriptures cry out to flee drunkenness and to love sobriety)—why do they imitate the most shameful drunkenness of those from whose faithlessness they have deserved to be freed through the grace of God? And therefore I ask, and by the dreadful day of judgment I adjure you, that as much as you can, with the Lord helping, you flee the evil of drunkenness, and that it now begin to be a shame to you, that hitherto you have wished to show yourselves like to the Gentiles and pagans in the foulness of drunkenness. And therefore, since (God being gracious) you are unlike them in faith, you ought by no means to be like them in drunkenness:
for even if Christians should not commit the other sins, drunkenness alone, if it be frequent, and amendment and penance do not come to aid, casts them into the depths of hell, according to that which has already been said, 'Neither shall drunkards possess the kingdom of God.' But someone says: 'I do not want the kingdom of God; I desire only to obtain eternal rest.' Let no one deceive himself, brethren: for there are two places, and there is no third. He who has not deserved to reign with Christ, will without any doubt perish with the devil. 6. Drunkards are to be chastised. Finally, he who, by pledging his friend too much drink, is made an enemy to his soul, is proved both to weaken his body and to slay his soul.
It were better that, out of that which in one day he forced him to take more than was expedient, he should over two or three days call that same friend back to his feast; and whereas by drinking to excess in one day he weakens him, he should on other days refresh him with sufficient drink; so that neither would he lose the drink, nor deceive his friend: or certainly, what is better, whatever the gullet would have squandered in excessive drink should be given to the poor as alms; that both the flesh might be refreshed by reasonable drinking, and through mercy toward the poor the redemption of the soul might be prepared. And this chastisement indeed we have spoken not on account of those who are honourable and sober: for, God being gracious, we know many who prepare frugal and sober feasts.
And therefore you who, for the love of God, drink only that which is fitting, be busy that what is lost on earth by drunkards may by you, through alms, be laid up in heaven. Let it not suffice you that you are honourable and sober; but as much as you can, so chastise and correct drunkards, that it may never be permitted them, in your presence, to drink more than is fitting: that while you both love sobriety, and by your admonition call others back from the perdition of drunkenness, you may prepare for yourselves double rewards in eternal blessedness, not only for your own salvation, but also for the salvation of others. 7. The custom and prodigality of certain country folk.
And this too, how lamentable and shameful it is, dearest brethren, that certain country folk are said, when they have got wine, or have made themselves other drinks, to invite their neighbours or those near them to drink, as though to a wedding feast, so as to keep them for four or five days and bury them in excessive drunkenness; and they do not return to their homes from that lamentable carousing for so long, until they have squandered all the drink which he who had invited them possessed; and whence he could have reasonably refreshed himself, with all his household, for two or three months, he consumes in four or five days by grievous and shameful drinking.
I, dearest brethren, in humbly and with great charity admonishing these things out of fatherly solicitude, absolve my conscience before God. But whoever shall gladly have heard me, and faithfully shall have been willing to fulfil what has been preached to him, shall have the eternal reward: but whoever shall have scorned it, let him fear lest it be necessary for him to sustain eternal punishment without any end. But we trust concerning the mercy of God, that all drunkards will so return, through the grace of God, from the evil of drunkenness to the good of sobriety, that they may both give us joy, and themselves deserve happily to attain the eternal reward. Amen. SERMON 296.
An admonition which shows that from the beginning of the world all the Scriptures have blessed the humble, and have cursed those who persevere in pride. 1. The Scriptures everywhere bless the poor, and curse sinners. In the holy Scriptures, dearest brethren, the poor are unceasingly blessed, and sinners appear to be cursed. First therefore, as you yourselves frequently learn both by reading and by singing psalms, in what manner the divine Scriptures bless the poor, I suggest to your Charity in a few sentences; and afterwards I make known what is read concerning sinners. For of the poor it is said, 'This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him' (Ps. 33:7);
and again, 'Blessing I will bless her widow, I will satisfy her poor with bread' (Ps. 131:15); and again, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven' (Matt. 5:3); and again, 'To you is the poor left; you will be a helper to the orphan' (Ps. 10:14, according to the Hebrew); and again, 'For the Lord has heard the poor' (Ps. 68:34). But of sinners it is said, 'Let sinners be turned into hell, all the nations' (Ps. 9:18); and again, 'For sinners shall perish' (Ps. 36:20); and again, 'You shall break the arm of the sinner and of the malignant' (Ps. 10:15, according to the Hebrew); and this, 'A cup of pure wine, full of mixture, is in the hand of the Lord; all the sinners of the earth shall drink of it' (Ps. 74:9);
and again, 'All the horns of the sinners will I break' (ibid. 11). For in all the Scriptures sentences of this kind are abundantly found, by which the poor are praised together, and on the contrary hard sentences are directed against sinners. 2. In what spirit a curse is uttered in the Scriptures. But since these things are so, perhaps someone considers within himself and says: 'How is it that in the divine Scriptures it is commanded us, Bless, and do not curse (Rom. 12:14); and that, Neither shall the reviling possess the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:10); and, Bless those who persecute you (Rom. 12:14)? How is it that those same divine Scriptures, which forbid us this, so often utter curses?'
These curses, dearest brethren, are uttered not in the spirit of one wishing, but of one foretelling. For they do not desire that this should come upon sinners: but because they will without doubt come, those very curses are proved to be prophecies. And therefore whoever recognize themselves to be sinners, and desire through the sacred Scriptures rather to be blessed than cursed, let them quickly flee to the remedies of penance; lest perhaps, if sudden death overtake them persevering in their sins, all the curses which from the beginning of the world are read in the holy Scriptures may so come upon them, that they permit them not to be freed from perpetual punishment. 3. By sinners are designated the proud, by the poor the humble.
And yet, brethren, when the poor are blessed in the divine Scriptures, and sinners are cursed, whoever diligently attends to the meaning of the divine Scripture understands this to be said not of all sinners, nor of all ragged poor. For among the sinners whom the divine Scriptures seem to curse, not all sinners are understood, but only the proud; who not only do evil deeds, but are not even ashamed to defend those very evils with a most shameless brow. For these are they of whom it is written, 'Let the proud be confounded, for they have unjustly done iniquity against me' (Ps. 118:78); and this, 'You,' he says, 'will humble the eyes of the proud' (Ps. 17:28);
and this, 'The proud dealt very wickedly on every side' (Ps. 118:51); and this, 'God resists the proud' (James 4:6). Innumerable are testimonies of this kind, by which the arrogance of the proud is marked. And therefore as often as you hear in the Scriptures sinners cursed, understand it, as I have already said, of the proud, that is, of those who defend their sins. And as often as you hear the poor praised, do not take this of all the poor, but only of good Christians, who are meek and humble of heart; of whom it is written, 'Upon whom shall My Spirit rest, if not upon the humble and quiet, and him that trembles at My words?' (Isa. 66:2). 4. Poverty profits many of the poor nothing. To certain rich men riches do no harm.
Poverty is empty, if it be proud. If the poor are wrathful, covetous, proud, luxurious—to whom it profits nothing that they are lacking in means, since they are rich in vices and evil manners. And there are many rich men who are humble and meek; of whom it is said, 'Blessed is the man who has not gone after gold, nor hoped in treasures of money' (Ecclus. 31:8); and this, 'He has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor; his justice remains for ever and ever' (Ps. 111:9). For what does it profit the poor man not to have riches, if he has the will of possessing them; since the Apostle has condemned not the one having riches but the one coveting them, saying, 'They that will become rich fall into temptations and into the snare of the devil' (1 Tim. 6:9)?
Or what does it profit him not to have means, if he burns with covetousness? What, I say, does it profit the poor man that he is poor, if he has chosen to be proud rather than humble? Or what harm does abundant means do to the rich man, if in him there be perfect humility; if of his riches he has chosen not to serve luxury, but to bestow alms, and to keep humility and meekness with all his heart, with his whole mind? Finally, as I have already said, all the Scriptures praise the humble poor, and blame the proud rich; to the poor they promise an eternal reward, to the proud rich they threaten perpetual punishment, according to that, 'Render a reward to the proud' (Ps. 93:2); and, 'God will destroy the memory of the proud' (Ps. 33:17);
And, 'Pride is hateful before God' (Ecclus. 10:7). Through pride the angels fell from heaven to earth, and became devils in hell; and those who are proud are like him. But if perhaps there is anyone who, without humility, glories in his religious life or in any good works whatsoever, let him attentively take heed and tremble, for pride cast down that very archangel from heaven. And if it hurled down one so great and of such rank, do you, who are earth and ashes, hope that you can ascend to heaven together with your pride? And therefore let each one examine his own conscience; and if he recognizes the evil of pride ruling within him, let him flee to the remedies of humility:
for if he chooses to persist in pride until the end of his life, he must needs endure the torments of hell together with the devil, whose imitator he is, according to that saying, 'They who trust in pride, thither shall they fall' (Prov. 11:28, according to the sense). But those who have lesser means and are poor, if they wish that the blessing of all the Scriptures should look upon them, let them hold to true humility, and let them hear the Lord saying to them, 'Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart' (Matt. 11:29); and let them fear that which is written, 'Before the Lord unclean is everyone who exalts his heart.' According to these things which I have set forth above, plainly recognize that it does not profit the poor to be poor, if they are unwilling to be humble;
and it does no harm to the rich that they are rich, if they strive to hold to humility and mercy, or justice. 5. The two cities, of the humble and the proud. And because there are two parts of mankind, and as it were two peoples, namely of the humble and of the proud, from the beginning of the world they are being built up into two cities; and one of them is called Jerusalem, which is interpreted 'Vision of peace,' the other Babylon, which is interpreted 'Confusion.' Christ builds the one, the devil the other. All who are to persevere in pride belong to Babylon; but to Jerusalem those who are to remain in humility.
All the saints and all the just bless; those who are humble have blessed and continually bless, according to that saying, 'Do good, O Lord, to the good and to the upright of heart' (Ps. 124:4); and they have cursed the proud, and continually curse them. Wherefore, as I have already said, let each one return to his own conscience; and if he recognizes that the root of pride rules within him, while it is yet permitted him, and while the time of doing good stands within his power, let him with all possible speed, by God's help, root out pride and plant humility, knowing most surely that whatever good works he may perform will be of no profit to him so long as he remains in the swelling of pride.
Nor let him be content, as it were through a feigned and pretended humility, merely to lop off its branches; but let him strive to tear out the root from his heart, if he wishes to please Him who deigns to look upon the heart. Whoever is unwilling to fulfill this shall lie under the curse of all the Scriptures; and there shall be fulfilled in him that which is written, 'The just Lord shall cut asunder the necks of sinners' (Ps. 128:4); and that other, 'He shall rain snares of fire upon sinners' (Ps. 10:7). 6. Whose necks God cuts. The proud are stiff-necked. When sinners hear this sentence, they tremble and say: If the just Lord shall cut asunder the necks of all sinners, how shall we, who are sinners, be able to escape?