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41. Præstat bonumopus ex affectu facere, quam ex prœcepto. - Plerumque < nim multa homines pauperibus largiuntur, non quia eosdem pauperes diligunt, sed quia si minime tribuant, iram judicis superni formidant; qui si Deum non metuerent, quae habent dare noluissent. Et quidem in bono opere primus incipientium gradus est ut qui adhuc proximum sicut se nescit diligere, jam tamen incipiat judicia superna formidare. Quia igitur aliud est bonum opus ex praecepto, aliud vero etiam ex affectu facere, sanctus vir ut mentem nobis suae operationls insinuet, dicat: Pater eram pauperum.
四十一、出於愛而行善，勝過出於命令而行善。——因為人往往將許多財物施捨給窮人，並非因為愛這些窮人，而是因為若不施捨，就懼怕天上審判者的忿怒；他們若不懼怕神，本是不願施捨自己所有的。的確，在善工上，初學者的第一步，乃是那尚且不懂得愛鄰如己的人，至少已開始懼怕天上的審判。既然如此，出於命令而行善是一回事，出於愛而行善又是另一回事，那麼這聖人為要向我們表明他行事的心志，便說：「我曾作窮人的父親。」
41. It is better to do a good work out of love than out of command. — For very often men bestow much upon the poor, not because they love these poor, but because, if they gave nothing, they dread the wrath of the Judge on high; and if they did not fear God, they would have been unwilling to give what they have. And indeed in a good work the first step of beginners is that he who does not yet know how to love his neighbour as himself may nevertheless begin to dread the judgments from above. Since, therefore, it is one thing to do a good work out of command, and another to do it also out of love, let the holy man, in order to make known to us the disposition of his working, say: 'I was a father of the poor.'
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i Non enim patronuin se, vel proximum, vel adjutorem pauperum, sed patrem fuis e testatur, quia nimirum g magno charitatis officio studium misericordiae vertit in affectum naturæ, ut eos quasi lilios cerneret per ainorem,quibus quasi pater pr.rerat per protectionem. Quia igitur vis misericordiæ illius naturam fuerat imitata. patrem se pauperum fuisse commemorat. Ubi etiam subdit *
因為他見證自己並非窮人的保護者、鄰舍或幫助者，而是他們的父親——因為他實在藉著愛德的大服事，將憐憫的熱忱化為天性的親情，以致他憑著愛，將那些他如父親般以保護所照管的人，看作自己的兒女。既然他憐憫的力量已效法了天性，他便記述自己曾作窮人的父親。於是他又補充說：
For he testifies that he was not a patron, nor a neighbour, nor a helper of the poor, but a father—because indeed by the great service of charity he turned the zeal of mercy into the affection of nature, so that through love he regarded as his own sons those over whom, like a father, he presided by his protection. Since, therefore, the force of his mercy had imitated nature, he records that he was a father of the poor. Whereupon he also adds: