104. Wine, like every created thing, is good, for it was created for our benefit by our Creator. "Every creature of God is good," says the Apostle, "and nothing is reprehensible, if it is received with thanksgiving" (1 Timothy 4:4). And in the Book of Genesis it is written: "And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good" (1 Timothy 1:31). "Wine, taken in moderation, is useful to man, joy of the heart and gladness of the soul, consumed at the proper time," says Sirach (Sir. 31:31,33); for what is used in this way rejoices the sorrowful, strengthens the weak. For this reason the Apostle wrote to St. Timothy: "Henceforth drink not only water, but drink a little wine, for the sake of your stomach and your frequent infirmities" (1 Timothy 5:28). Hence St. Paul forbids not to drink wine, but to get drunk on wine, saying: "Do not be drunk with wine." To drink wine is one thing, and to get drunk on wine is another. Consequently, those who abhor wine and do not use it sin, not for the sake of abstinence, but because it is as if it were a sin to use it. Thus, in cursing the creation that God has arranged man in favor of mankind, they also blaspheme the Creator, just as someone who despises art, for example, a painted image, also despises the artist himself, that is, the painter. 2) Those who abhor wine, and their brethren who use it, despise it, but dream highly of themselves: they say, I do not drink wine from birth.. As if piety consisted only in not drinking wine? Satan does not drink wine and does not eat bread, because he is bodiless; but he devours human souls like a lion, and makes partakers of his eternal destruction, and is the most evil and the beginning of all malice. In the same way, those who do not drink wine can be imitators of it. If you don't drink wine, it's good. But do not blaspheme wine, and do not despise the brethren who drink. For if you do not drink wine, but dream highly of yourself, you are always filled with the spirit of arrogance, which is abhorrent in the sight of God. Not wine, but drunkenness, not the use of wine, but abuse is vicious and harmful. A person uses it for evil, when he uses it at the wrong time and beyond measure. Thus, not only wine, but also bread, water, fire, and other creatures of God are used by man for evil. In the same way he uses his bodily limbs for evil, such as: the tongue - to slander, condemnation and slander; hands - to theft, robbery and unrighteous beating; the belly - to overeating and drunkenness. And so with them, as if with some kind of tools, he kills his soul.

105. Wine is not the cause of drunkenness, for if wine were the cause of it, then all those who drink it would be drunkards. But life itself shows the opposite: many drink wine, but are sober. The cause of drunkenness is: 1) An evil and intemperate heart, like other sins. "It is not wine that produces drunkenness," says St. Chrysostom, "but intemperance"

(Discourse 1 to the people of Antioch). 2) Idleness, as mentioned above. 3) Frequent feasts, companies, intensified feasting. 4) Treatment of the wicked and intemperate. From frequent repetitions, passion and evil custom are made.

106. Drunkenness, as in itself, is a sin, for "drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God," according to the teaching of the Apostle (1 Corinthians 6:10); and Christ says: "Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with gluttony and drunkenness" (Luke 21:34), so many and grievous sins are the causes. It quarrels, fights, and from this it produces subsequent bloodshed and murders. It is riotousness, blasphemy, blasphemy, it causes annoyance and offense to one's neighbor. It teaches you to lie, flatter, rob and steal someone else's property, so that you have something to satisfy your passion. It fuels anger and rage. It makes people wallow in filth, like pigs in a swamp. In a word, it makes man a beast, a verbal man dumb, so that not only the inner state, but also the external appearance of a person often changes. That is why St. Chrysostom says: "The devil loves nothing so much as luxury and drunkenness, since no one fulfills his evil will so much as a drunkard" (Discourse 58 on the Evangelist Matthew).

107. Drunkenness is the cause not only of spiritual but also of bodily temporal evils. 1) 1) The body relaxes and leads to weakness. That is why it is written: "Do not show yourself brave against wine, for wine has destroyed many" (Sir. 31:29). 2) It leads to misery and poverty. "A worker who is inclined to drunkenness will not be rich," says Sirach (Sir. 19:1). 3) Takes away glory and good name; on the contrary, it leads to disgrace, contempt and disgust: people despise no one so much as a drunkard. 4) Sorrow and sorrow to family, relatives, friends, and makes fun of enemies. 5) He makes his caretaker incapable of any calling. And although in some rank there will be a drunkard, he builds more troubles and misfortunes than benefits to society. St. Chrysostom, depicting the calamities and evils of drunkenness, says: "Drunkenness is self-willed possession, a revelation of thoughts, a mocking misfortune, a sickness, worthy of laughter, a voluntary demon, and so on" (Homily on the Resurrection).

108. In order to guard against drunkenness, it is useful to note the following: 1) Young people should not be allowed to drink intoxicating drinks, since young people easily get used to it, and what they learn in their youth they will hold on to it all their lives. 2) Do not allow them to associate with drunkards and depraved people. 3) Adults should not drink wine unnecessarily. 4) To distance oneself from evil companies and feasts. 5) Remember that it is very difficult to lag behind this passion. And many perish in soul and body because of this passion and in that very passion. 6) Those who are accustomed to this passion should arm themselves firmly against its torment, stand firm, not succumb, pray and call upon God's all-powerful help. 7) Remember the troubles that happen in drunkenness and compare the state of a sober life with the state of a drunken person. 8) To think that many people die drunk in their sleep, and from this world they pass from this world to the next without any feeling and therefore without repentance, and so on.

Chapter 8: On the Love of Money and Covetousness

"Take heed, beware of covetousness, for a man's life does not depend on the abundance of his possessions," says Christ (Luke 12:15).

"No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or he will be zealous for the one, and neglect the other. You cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24).

"Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and into a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which plunge a man into calamity and destruction; for the root of all evil is the love of money, to which, having given themselves up, some have deviated from the faith and subjected themselves to many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee from this" (1 Timothy 6:9-11).

109. The love of money here refers not only to the love of silver, but also to the insatiable desire for all earthly possessions, acquisitiveness, and wealth.

110. Love of money, like any passion, has its place in a person's heart and possesses his heart. Consequently: 1) the lover of money is not only the one who, by his very deed, collects wealth in every possible way and keeps it for himself, not giving it to those who need it; but also he who, although he does not gather and does not have, yet insatiably desires it. 2) Not only that covetous and predatory person who steals someone else's property by his very deed; but also he who covets what is not righteous; this is a sin against the tenth commandment: "Thou shalt not covet" (Exodus 20:17). For as far as his will is concerned, he covets and steals what is not his; and that which does not do this by his very deed does not depend on him, but on the external obstacle which does not allow him to steal someone else's goods. 3) Not every rich lover of money, but he who loves silver, who has touched silver with his heart, who "adds his heart to riches" (Psalm 61:11). 4) A beggar who, even though he has nothing, has love for riches, is a true lover of money. And therefore it is not he who has much, but who desires much, and not he who is rich, but who clings to riches in his heart, who is defamed. There were, as there are now, many rich and glorious, but they pleased God, and therefore they were not lovers of money. A lover of money cannot please God, for he does not please God, but his own passion. "Wealth is not a bad thing," says St. Chrysostom, "but the love of money is a bad thing, covetousness is a bad thing. One is covetous, and the other is rich: the covetous is not rich, the covetous lacks much; and he who lacks much can never be rich. The covetous man is the guardian of money, and not the master, the slave, and not the owner. He is more likely to give his flesh to another than the silver that is hidden" (Second Discourse to the People of Antioch).

111. Love of money and covetousness is an insatiable passion. For the more the lover of money gathers wealth, the more the desire and lust for wealth increases in him. "Love of money," says St. John Chrysostom, "is insatiable drunkenness. Just as drunkards, the more wine they drink, the more thirst they feel, so the lovers of money cannot quench their excessive desire; but as much as they see their possessions multiplying, so much do they burn with desire, and they will not abandon their evil desire before, as when they have already fallen into the most calamitous abyss" (Discourse 22 on the Book of Genesis). In another place he says: "Greedy and predators are worse than beasts. For the beasts, he says, when they are satisfied, cease to steal; but these can never be satisfied" (Discourse 9 on the First Epistle to the Corinthians). And again: "If you want to get rich, you will never cease to be wounded by this desire; for this desire is endless" (Discourse 12 on the Epistle to the Romans).