by St. John Chrysostom
Check your anger, quench your wrath. If anyone does you
injury or violence, weep for him. Do not be vexed, but sow sympathy for him, so
that you may not become provoked and say: “My soul has been hurt.” No one’s
soul is hurt, unless we hurt our own souls. How is this so? Let me tell you.
Has someone stolen your property? He has not hurt you in your soul, but in your
purse; but if you bear a grudge against him, you have hurt yourself in your
soul. The loss of property did no hurt to your soul, but even helped it; if,
however, you do not put aside your anger, you will pay the penalty hereafter
for the grudge you bear. Has someone abused and insulted you? He has hurt
neither your soul nor your body. But did you return his abuse and insults in
kind? You have hurt your own soul and you are going to pay hereafter the
penalty for the words you have spoken.
Indeed, I wish, above all things, that you understand that
no one has the power to do harm to the soul of the faithful Christian, not even
the devil himself. Not only is it a wonderful thing that God has made us incapable
of being overcome by any treachery, but that He has fitted us for the practice
of virtue. If we be willing, there is nothing to stop us, even if we be poor,
weak in body, outcasts, nameless, or slaves. For neither poverty, nor weakness,
nor bodily disability, nor slavery, nor any other such thing could be a
hindrance to virtue.
And why do I speak of the poor man, the slave, and the
nameless? Even if you are in prison, this is no hindrance to virtue. Let me
tell you how this is so. Has someone in your household hurt or provoked you?
Lay aside your anger against him. Neither prison, nor poverty, nor lack of fame
is a hindrance to your doing that, is it? And why call these a hindrance? They
even help us and work with us in checking our vanity.
Did you see some other man enjoying prosperity? Do not envy
him, for poverty is no hindrance in this case either. Again, when it is time to
pray, do so with a sober and wakeful heart, and there will be nothing here to
hinder you. Show your meekness, all the mildness of your heart, your
temperance, your holiness; these require no external aids. And this is the most
important thing about virtue: it has no need of wealth, or power, or glory, or
any other such thing. If only the soul be holy, virtue seeks nothing beyond
that.
Note well that this same thing is true in the case of grace.
Even if a man be lame, or his eyes have been torn out, or he be disabled in
body, or has fallen into the most extreme weakness, none of these things
prevents grace from coming into the soul. For grace seeks out only the soul
which is eager to receive it, and ignores all these external things.
Baptismal Instruction 12:25 in Paul W. Harkins (trans.), St. John Chrysostom, Baptismal Instruction, Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1963, pp.180-2.
