October: Day 27: Teaching 1: Holy Martyr Capitolina

October: Day 27: Teaching 1:
Holy Martyr Capitolina

(Wealth and Poverty in Relation to Human Salvation)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Martyr Capitolina, whose memory is celebrated today, was from Cappadocia and came from a rich and noble family. Having accepted the Christian faith and heard a sermon about “it is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven,” she gave away all her property and set her slaves free. When the governor of Cappadocia, Zilikinthus, learned of this, he imprisoned her, then, bringing her out of prison, demanded that she offer a sacrifice to the Cappadocian idol Serapis. Capitolina refused, and her head was cut off. The Holy Martyr died in 304 A.D.

We have seen, brethren, that the Holy Martyr Capitolina, having heard the Gospel sermon on how difficult it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, possessing great wealth, gave away all her property and set her slaves free, in order to follow the teaching of Jesus Christ with greater convenience. Thus, she found that in poverty, or at least in the absence of great earthly acquisitions, it was easier for her to enter the Kingdom of God, which she actually inherited, having been crowned with the crown of martyrdom. Considering the life of rich people, which often very strongly disposes them to go the broad path that leads to destruction, we must truly say that it is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, because of the many temptations to sin, although, on the other hand, we cannot call poverty, leading to destitution, always and for everyone favorable to our salvation, since it often gives rise to envy, complaining against God and other sins.

II. Let us consider, brethren, in more detail how wealth and poverty affect a person in the matter of his salvation.

a) We must not hide from ourselves that, given the corruption of our will, wealth can pose great obstacles on the path to the Kingdom of God. The Lord Himself said: “It is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” And the Apostle testifies that “those who want to be rich fall into misfortunes and snares and into many senseless and harmful lusts, which plunge a man into destruction and ruin.”

1) We see from experience that the rich man sooner falls into many vices, which the poor man can more easily avoid. Having all the means to fulfill his desires, it is difficult to keep them within proper limits. But each frequently fulfilled desire grows and intensifies to the point that it finally becomes an irresistible passion, which in turn with force drags the heart into the abyss of vice. This is precisely how all carnal passions are born and nourished, grow and strengthen, in which human souls are mired. He who has nothing to quench his hunger and thirst with, much less to please the whims of his flesh, is less subject to this temptation.

2) Having become accustomed to finding in gold an easy means of satisfying all his desires, a person easily becomes accustomed to honoring it as his idol - the sole object of all his cares and concerns, the goal of all his aspirations and hopes, to which his heart clings and serves. And this poor heart, having enslaved itself entirely to its idol, being filled with one passion for treasures, closes itself to all feelings of love and mercy for one's neighbor, becomes deaf and inaccessible to the pleas of need and poverty - cruel and inattentive to human suffering. It is not without reason that the apostle reproaches the rich for closing their ears before the pleas of the unfortunate.

3) On the other hand, having become addicted to gold, a person always and in everything places his hope in gold alone, places all his happiness, all the good of his soul, in it, forgetting about God and His all-good Providence, not thinking about acquiring the inexhaustible treasure in heaven. On the contrary, a poor person, not finding help and protection either in himself or outside himself, quickly turns to heaven, more zealously stretches out his hands to the heavenly Father, more willingly surrenders himself to His all-holy will.

4) Wealth and splendor always attract praise and flattery from men, which feed vanity and pride: one's head will involuntarily spin from the stupefying properties of this counterfeit incense. On the contrary, wretchedness, contempt and humiliation from men plunge the soul into the depths of humility and self-condemnation, and from external wretchedness turn the heart to spiritual poverty. Therefore, without a doubt, in the Apostolic Church "not many" were "wise according to the flesh, not many were strong, not many were noble, but God chose the fools of the world, that He might shame the wise, and God chose the weak things of the world, that He might shame the strong, lest all flesh should boast in the sight of God" (1 Cor. 1:26, 27:29).

b) But, on the other hand, we must not forget that the rich man, meeting many obstacles on the path to the Kingdom of God, has in his earthly wealth such means for acquiring heavenly treasures as the poor man does not have, and is free from many temptations to which the latter is subjected. For if a man does not lose his reward for one cup of cold water given in the name of Christ, then how much reward can a rich man acquire for himself in heaven if he opens his heart and hand to the prayers of the unfortunate, if with faith and love for the Lord and mercy for his brothers he willingly shares his surplus with the poor! How many friends can he acquire for himself in heaven, “who will receive him into eternal shelters!” If the Lord promises to glorify everyone who glorifies the name of God on earth with eternal glory in heaven, then how many incentives and means does a rich man have to glorify the all-holy name of God both in word and deed, and by the sacrifice of thanksgiving from the lips of those who confess the name of God, and by the sacrifices of charity to neighbors in the name of the Lord!

c) Poverty, on its part, has its own, and moreover the most difficult and impassable obstacles on the path to the Kingdom of God, its own temptations, which cannot be overcome without the help of God's grace. If it is difficult not to apply the heart when wealth flows; then is it less difficult not to desire wealth, not to envy the rich, not to grumble at one's lot, to endure poverty and wretchedness with patience, humility and submission to the will of God. If it is difficult to overcome passions when there are means to satisfy them, then is it less difficult to struggle with them when it is impossible to satisfy them? "Believe me, Abba Zosimas," said the Venerable Mary of Egypt: "I spent seventeen years in this wilderness, fighting wild beasts: mad desires and passions... a fire was kindled in my miserable heart which seemed to burn me up completely."

III. So wisely has the all-good Providence of God measured and balanced all the nations of the earth, that they are all equal to each other in relation to heaven and eternal life, and in each of them one can be saved or perish. So wisely has the Lord arranged all the paths of human life, that all of them, with the help of God's grace, lead to the Kingdom of God, just as, with the corruption of the human will, they lead to hell. And wealth and poverty, and glory and dishonor, and height and humiliation, all can be turned by us into a means either to salvation or to destruction.

a) Wealth will be a means of salvation if we do not collect it only for ourselves, but grow rich in God, as the Lord teaches us. That is, if we use wealth according to the will of God - to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to care for the orphans, to accept strangers, to relieve the suffering, to provide for the beauty of God's temples, to assist in public needs and misfortunes. According to the Spostle's commandment, "Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life" (1 Tim. 6:17-19); that is, if in abundance in everything we experience hunger and thirst for voluntary abstinence, if in in wealth we experience the need for moderation, if among honors we experience the humiliation of humility and self-condemnation, if in a state of health we experience the sorrow of compassion and condolences for those who suffer.

Poverty will also be a means of salvation if we endure it with humility and patience, without envy and grumbling, with good nature and submission to the will of God.

b) Wealth will turn into destruction if it is used only for rest, eating, drinking and having fun.

Poverty will also lead to destruction if it serves as a pretext for lies and deceit, theft and debauchery, laziness and social parasitism, envy and grumbling against God.

Everything depends on human will; in every nation in this world, under all the circumstances of our temporary life, our own will is the cause of destruction. The Lord does not see persons. Before Him, both rich and poor, slave and free, are of equal dignity. He “desires for all” one thing – “to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Amen.

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.