November: Day 12: Saint John the Merciful

November: Day 12:
Saint John the Merciful
 
(On the Motivations for Works of Mercy)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint John, Patriarch of Alexandria, whose memory the Holy Church celebrates today, devoted himself entirely to the work of almsgiving, which he provided to all the poor and those who accidentally fell into need. Therefore, Saint John among the choir of the saints has the special distinctive title of "the Merciful."

Having become the Patriarch of Alexandria, Saint John said to the stewards of the church: "Go through the whole city and write down for me my masters." The stewards asked: "Who are your masters, lord?" He answered: "Those whom you call the poor and needy, for they can grant me entrance into the eternal dwellings and provide assistance for salvation." The will of the Saint was fulfilled and a permanent allowance was assigned to all the poor.

In order that no one in need would be excluded from him, Saint John sat the whole day on Wednesdays and Fridays with some respectable persons at the church gates, so that all who had business with him could come to him without hindrance. When they expressed amazement at his patience, the Saint replied: "If I always have access to my Lord Jesus Christ, converse with Him in prayer and ask Him for everything I want: how can I prevent my neighbor from coming to me?"

And indeed, no urgent matter could force Saint John to postpone the work of mercy. Thus, one widow approached him at a time when he was going to church and, since it was already time to begin the service, those accompanying John advised him to listen to the widow after the service. But the Saint answered: "And will God listen to me if I do not want to listen to her?" and immediately, having examined the matter, made satisfaction to the widow.

They told Saint John that some girls, well dressed, stand among the poor to collect alms, so they asked the Saint: "Should alms be given to such?" He answered: "If you are the servants of Christ, give as Christ commanded, without regard to persons: for we do not give what is our own, but what is Christ's."

One day a rich nobleman visited the Saint and, seeing a poor coverlet on his bed, sent him a silk one worth 36 gold pieces. The Saint honored his zeal and put on the coverlet given to him, but that same night, upon awakening, he repented and said: "Woe to you, wretched one! You cover yourself with a costly coverlet, while the brothers of Christ - the poor - are frozen with cold. Let a few poor people be covered with its price." In the morning he sent to sell the coverlet, and when the nobleman returned it again, the Saint did not want to take advantage of the gift and turned the nobleman's devotion to himself into a means of charity.

Saint John died in 620 A.D. Dying, he prayed: “I thank You, O Lord, that You have enabled me to bring You Your own.”

II. Let us learn mercy, brethren, from Saint John the Merciful, for which purpose let us recall to our minds those great motives for Christian almsgiving which are contained in the word of God and in the works of the Holy Fathers of the Church and by which Saint John the Merciful was undoubtedly guided.

a) Let us know, first of all, that mercy makes us like God. “Nothing makes man so like God as beneficence,” says Saint Gregory the Theologian, “although God does much more good, and man less, according to his powers. God created man, and again raises him from corruption; and you, at least, do not despise the fallen. If you can render to your neighbor the highest benefits that bring benefit to the soul, do not refuse to serve the needy in this way; but if you cannot serve your neighbor in this way, render him at least lesser benefits, occupying second place and not exceeding your powers. Help him, bring food, give rags, bring medicine, bandage wounds, ask about his plight, talk about patience.” (“A Sermon on Love for the Poor”).

b) Remember, further, that almsgiving is a loan to God. “When giving alms, let us look not to the poor man,” says Saint Chrysostom, “who receives it, but to God Who rewards it; not to the one who receives the silver, but to the One Who becomes our debtor. For this reason one receives and the Other pays, so that on the one hand the poverty and misfortune of the recipient may dispose you to mercy and compassion, and on the other hand the wealth of the One who has to give, guaranteeing payment with a great addition, may dispose you to almsgiving with greater generosity. Let us not hoard money, or rather, let us hoard money; for he who hoards his property places it in the hands of the poor, in an inviolable treasury, inaccessible to robbers, servants, or evil-doers.” (1st Homily on the Words: “Having the Same Spirit”).

c) Never forget that almsgiving brings great benefit to those who give it:

1) “Almsgiving is a great beauty and treasure,” says Saint Chrysostom, “a great gift, or rather a great blessing: if we learn to despise money, then we will learn other virtues. See how much good comes from this: he who gives alms, as he should give, learns to despise money, has rooted out the root of evil – the love of money – therefore he does good not so much to others as to himself – not only because alms are to be recompensed and rewarded, but also because his soul becomes wise, lofty and rich. He who gives alms learns not to value either money or gold: and he who has learned this has taken a very great step towards heaven and has destroyed countless pretexts for enmity, quarrel, envy and sorrow, for you know yourselves that all this comes from money and that there are countless battles because of money. But he who has learned to despise money has placed himself in a quiet haven, and no longer fears deprivation, for this has taught him almsgiving. He no longer desires what belongs to his neighbor, for how can he desire this who gives up his own and gives? He no longer envies the rich; for how can he envy who desires to be poor? He cleanses the eye of his soul. (Homily on Philippians).

"God commanded to give money to the needy not only to help them in poverty, but also to teach us compassion" (Homily 19 on Romans).

"He who has learned to be merciful to the unfortunate will also learn not to bear ill will toward his enemies" (Homily 14 on Acts).

2) “Almsgiving brings not only the Kingdom of Heaven, but also security and abundance in this life. Who said this? He Himself, Who has the power to do this. He who gives from his possessions to the poor, He said, will receive a hundredfold in this age, and will inherit eternal life (Matt. 19:29). Do you see the rewards given with great abundance in both lives?” (2nd Homily on the Words: “Having the Same Spirit”).

3) "The poor are warriors. Having accepted alms, they propitiate God, they destroy the wiles, not of the barbarians, but of demons; they do not allow the evil spirit to grow stronger and make incessant attacks on you, but weaken his power" (Homily 66 on the Gospel of Matthew).

"Those are wise," says Gregory the Theologian, "who, not trusting in present blessings, gather up treasure for themselves in the future, and seeing the inconstancy and changeability of human well-being, love almsgiving, which they never change. But, without a doubt, they will receive - at least - one of three rewards: either that they are never subjected to disasters, because God often consoles the pious with earthly blessings, calling them by His goodness to compassion; or that even in the midst of disasters they have boldness in themselves before God, for they suffer not for a wicked life, but for a special reason the arrangement of Providence; or finally, that they can rightfully demand from prosperous people the same compassion that they themselves showed to those in need during their time of happiness” (“A Sermon on Love for the Poor”).

4) Almsgiving covers a multitude of sins and gains us the kingdom of heaven. “The poor,” says Saint John Chrysostom, “are the physicians of our souls, benefactors and intercessors, because you do not give them as much as you receive; you give silver, but you receive the Kingdom of Heaven; you alleviate poverty, but you reconcile yourself with the Lord” (3rd Homily on the Words: “Having the Same Spirit”).

"You give silver, but you receive remission of sins; you deliver the poor from hunger, and he delivers you from the wrath of God. This is a kind of exchange and trade, bringing in a profit much greater than the expense and a significant benefit. The expense consists in money, and the profit is not only in money, but also in the remission of sins, in boldness before God, in the Kingdom of Heaven and in the enjoyment of blessings, 'which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man' (1 Cor. 2:9)" (1st Homily on the Words: “Having the Same Spirit”).

“There is no sin which almsgiving cannot destroy; all sins are beneath it; it is a medicine suitable for every wound. What is worse than a publican! He is capable of every ungodliness, but Zacchaeus cleansed even this ungodliness with alms” (Homily 25 on Acts).

“Just as a physician, stretching out his hand and applying iron, cleanses rotten wounds, so is a beggar, stretching out his hand and receiving alms, erases the sinful scabs of wounds; and what is especially amazing is that it performs its excellent healing without pain or suffering" (Homily 30 on 1 Corinthians).

"Great is the flight of alms: it cuts through the air, passes the moon, rises above the rays of the sun, reaches to the very heavens. But it does not stop there; on the contrary, it passes through heaven, floats around the hosts of angels, and the faces of archangels, and all the highest powers and appears before the Royal throne itself. Learn this from the Scripture itself, which says: 'Cornelius, your prayers and your alms have ascended before God' (Acts 10:4). And the words 'before God' mean this, that although you have many sins, but, as an advocate of alms, do not be afraid; none of the highest powers stops it; it demands debt, holds its own handwriting in its hands. This is the voice of the Lord Himself: 'Whoever did something for one of the least of these,' He said, 'did something for Me' (Matt. 25:40). Thus, no matter how many sins you have, your almsgiving exceeds everything” (3 Discourses on Repentance).

d) When doing good to the poor, remember that you are of the same nature with them. Pointing out “the sameness of nature” in us and the poor, and by this mutual kinship of ours urging us to mercy, Saint Gregory the Theologian says: “They received the same nature as we; they were composed of the same clay from which we are; or rather, if we must mention the most important thing, they, like us, were gifted with the image of God and preserve it, perhaps, better than we; although they have decayed in body, they are clothed in one Christ, according to the inner man; they have received the same pledge of the Spirit for preservation as we do, they participate with us in the same laws, the words of God, covenants, assemblies, mysteries, hopes; for them Christ died equally, taking upon Himself the sin of the whole world; they are heirs of heavenly life, although they are very much alienated from the earthly; they are buried with Christ, and rise with Him; they suffer with Him, so that they may also be glorified with Him. Therefore, do not despise your brother" (“A Sermon on Love for the Poor”).

III. Having such great motives for mercy, let us not become lazy, brethren, in doing good to the poor according to our ability.

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