As we can see, in his refutation of Cicero's view of charity, Lactantius defends the absoluteness of the Christian commandment to do almsgiving; and here he emphasizes with particular force her unselfishness and complete devotion to the dictates of God's will. "The true use of riches consists in using them not for one's own pleasure, but for the maintenance of many people out of a sense of truth, which is an everlasting virtue. Our constant rule should be to show mercy free of charge. One must expect a reward from God alone. Whoever expects it from anyone else will trade in mercy, and not create it. He will not lend anyone and will act only for his own benefit. This does not mean that he who does good to another without expecting anything from him does not really have any benefit here: he receives a reward from God. Mercy is so important in all the acts of our lives that God commands those who are unable to show it to invite them to feasts... All the deeds of a just person should be beneficence. There is no charity when it returns. We have no right to it, because we have received payment for it.

Righteousness wants the blessings to be complete; and they cannot be complete otherwise than when they are shown to people who are not able to appreciate them... The chief duty of a good man is to feed the poor, and to ransom the captives. He who does good to his relatives and friends is not worthy of praise, because he fulfills only the duty of nature and friendship, which no one can omit without committing wickedness that deserves to be cursed. In such a case he avoids blame rather than gains glory. But whoever does good to the stranger and to the unknown is worthy of the greatest praise, because he does it out of the mere feeling of love for mankind. Some even do good out of pure motives of truth and honor when there is no need to do it" [955]. And on the way to fulfilling the duty to do alms, Lactantius sees no obstacles, up to the complete distribution of property and the endurance of poverty. "Some may say: 'I will have no property left if I perform all these duties; In one day I will spend all that I have, when I will help the poor, clothe all the naked, ransom all the captives, and bury all the dead. Should I thus squander the possessions which my ancestors had acquired with such difficulty, and bring myself to such a position that I should finally beg for help and compassion from others?" Are you so terribly afraid of poverty, which philosophers extol with such extraordinary praises, and which they call a safe haven, exempt from all the troubles and anxieties of wealth? Do you know the many adventures and accidents to which the possession of a large estate subjects us? You should consider yourself fortunate if you escape them without losing your life. You are burdened with treasures that arouse envy and ill-will in your fellow citizens. Why do you not hide in the safest place your property, which can easily be lost either from the robbery of thieves, or from unjust exile, or from the invasion of the enemy? What difficulty do you find in making eternal and unchangeable that possession which is temporary and temporary? Entrust your treasures to God, and they will not be subject to corruption, or to the theft of thieves, or to the injustice of tyrants. Those who give their wealth into the hands of God can never be poor. If you know the value of righteousness, then free yourself from the excess that burdens and troubles you, and follow it without hindrance. Cast off the chains that depress you, and flow to God. Great courage to trample earthly goods under foot. If you are not yet able to have perfection to transfer your treasure into the hands of God and to gain lasting blessings through the loss of perishing goods; then I will teach you how to achieve this and get rid of all fear here. These commandments are given not for you alone, but for all your brethren, who are so closely connected with each other that they constitute only one body with you. If you alone are unable to carry out such an undertaking, then at least assist in it by all means in your power and try to surpass others in generosity as much as you surpass them in wealth... Offer as a sacrifice to God the property that is perishing in your hands, and you will receive an eternal reward for it. God offered a huge price for works of mercy, promising remission of sins for them. It is as if He is saying to you: "If you hear the plea of those who ask you for help, then I will also hear your prayer. If you will be merciful to those who are afflicted, then I will be merciful to you in your time of grief. But if you do not pay attention to them and refuse them help, then I will do the same to you and judge you according to your own rules."[956]

From Lactantius' teaching on almsgiving, it is also interesting to note his view of its purifying significance, and Lactantius definitely notes the true meaning of the Church-wide belief in such a significance of alms in Christian life. "When someone comes to you asking for help, be sure that this is an experiment sent to you from God to see if you deserve to be granted your request. Do not think, however, that the power provided by alms for the remission of sins gives you the right to sin again. Alms only blot them out when it is accompanied by pity for them and a determination not to do them again. God truly desires to cleanse people from their sins and for this purpose He commanded them to turn to repentance. Repentance consists in a firm promise not to sin in the future. God forgives sins committed through immodesty, carelessness, and ignorance; but does not forgive sins that are knowingly committed. People who have been forgiven their sins should not think that because they are clean, they are already freed from works of mercy. From the moment they are justified, they are even more obliged to fulfill the duty of truth, and must maintain, so to speak, their health by the same means that they achieved before it. Moreover, no one is freed from sin as long as he is clothed in a mortal body"[957].

In the writings of St. Ambrose of Milan we naturally expect to encounter a teaching on alms that agrees with the views of the Eastern Fathers of the Church, especially Basil the Great, in view of the complete agreement of St. Ambrose with these Fathers in their view of the Christian understanding of the right of property. And indeed, in the essential questions connected with the teaching on almsgiving, St. Ambrose affirms himself from the Church-wide point of view. But, for all this, the views of this holy father also reflected the general spirit of practicalism, which was characteristic of Western thought in general, and which was expressed in St. Ambrose by very insistent indications of the need for a clergyman to be especially cautious in the matter of giving alms.

On the question of the significance of alms in Christian life, St. Ambrose asserts himself on the same foundations on which this meaning was founded by other teachers of the Church, but dwells in particular detail on the properties of almsgiving.

In expounding St. Ambrose's view of the right to private property, as well as to wealth, we saw that the distribution of property through alms is a duty for a Christian, as a demand for truth and the fulfillment of the will of God, the Supreme Owner of the world. Therefore, almsgiving is both the result of a natural feeling of compassion for the unfortunate fate of one's neighbors, and a religious activity proper, service to God. "The greatest motive for mercy is, in the words of St. Ambrose, compassion for the misfortunes of others and all possible help in their needs" [958]. "Beautiful is charity, which in itself makes (people) perfect, inasmuch as through it they become like the perfect Father. Nothing is so praiseworthy in the Christian soul as charity; but it is necessary to be merciful, first of all, to the poor, so that they too may enjoy the gifts of nature, which gives birth to earthly fruits for the use of all; therefore, of what you have, give to the poor and help your brother. Just imagine how much your alms mean to him. You give him a coin, and he gets life; you give him money... and your denarius is already a fortune for him"[959]. And the highest religious sanctification, the duty of compassionate help to the needy, is received in the awareness that in the person of the poor, Christ Himself, Who became impoverished for our sake, demands our love and compassion. St. In revealing this thesis, Ambrose stands on the basis of the Church-wide idea of almsgiving.

"Let us visit," exhorts the Holy Father, "the prisons, let us console them in their bonds, sharing in the poverty and torment of men with our condolences. For in all such is found Christ, Who, being incomprehensible in His Divinity, is nevertheless attained by works of mercy. He Himself says to the merciful in the Gospel: "For I am hungry, and give Me food; be thirsty, and give me drink; Be naked, and clothe Me. You see to what good deeds the word of God incites you. Here, in the person of the hungry, and the thirsty, and the naked, Christ Himself accepts alms"[960]. And with such a view of alms as a religious activity, it is quite natural that St. Ambrose, in agreement with other teachers of the Church, assimilates to it a purifying meaning and speaks of a heavenly reward for it. St. Ambrose speaks of the purifying significance of almsgiving, like St. Cyprian and Origen. "Almsgiving is to some extent a second bath for the soul, so that if someone sins after baptism due to human weakness, then there is still a means for him to purify himself by almsgiving, since the Lord said: "Give alms, and behold, everything is pure in you." Even with the exception of faith, I could say that alms bring forgiveness even more than baptism, because baptism is performed once and promises forgiveness once, and alms give forgiveness as often as it is given. Both are sources of mercy that give life and forgive sins. He who uses both is worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. But he who, having polluted the living fountain (baptism) with sins, has recourse to the river of mercy, also receives mercy"[961]. St. Ambrose speaks no less definitely about the great heavenly reward for almsgiving, as an incentive for the latter. The poor who receive help repays the benefactor, according to the Holy Father, more than he receives, "since he is the author of salvation. If you clothe the naked, you clothe yourself in righteousness. If you bring a stranger into your house, if you receive a poor man, then he will bring you close communion with the saints, and will also lead you into eternal abodes. This gratitude is no small thing, since you sow bodily things, and in return you receive spiritual things... Truly blessed is he from whose house the poor have never left with an empty bag, for no one can be more blessed than he who perceives the need of the poor and needy, who takes to heart the sufferings of the poor; on the day of judgment he will receive salvation from the Lord, Whom he will have as the debtor of his mercy"[962]. Similar thoughts, sometimes literally similar to the teachings of St. Basil the Great, are revealed by St. Ambrose in his discourse on the parable of the mad rich man. Here the idea is revealed that a good deed is more useful to the giver than to the receiver, since if alms go to the poor, then the giver receives a hundredfold reward, like a sower scattering his seeds over the field, and at the price of "perishable food" "the incorruptible glory of the Kingdom of Heaven" is bought. Of course, the meaning of these speeches of the saint "about the purchase of heaven" must be understood in the same way as the teaching on this subject of other teachers of the Church, about which teaching we have already made small remarks. Here we note that St. Ambrose himself establishes the ethical meaning of his understanding of the meaning of almsgiving. "If you have money," says the saint, for example, "atone for your sin. God is not corrupt, but you yourself are corrupt... redeem yourself with your works, redeem yourself with your money. Money is insignificant, but mercy is precious. Almsgiving, he said, frees from sin"[964].

In his teaching on the properties of Christian almsgiving, St. Ambrose stands out from other teachers of the Church by constant reminders of the need for a certain discernment in the distribution of alms. In his view of the other qualities of almsgiving, St. Ambrose, in general, teaches in accordance with the general teaching of the Church. Thus, St. Ambrose emphasizes that remarkable feature of Christian almsgiving, according to which its value depends not on the amount given, but on the mood of the donor. "Blessed," says the Holy Father, "is he who does from the heart what he can. To the gifts of the rich, Christ preferred the widow's two mites, because she gave everything she had, and they gave only a small part of the abundance. Thus, our spiritual disposition makes a gift either great or small, it also imparts this or that value to the actions themselves" [965]. And considering the value of almsgiving, the Holy Father emphasizes that it should always combine both generosity and benevolence. "It is not enough," argues St. Ambrose, "to have a good will, it is also necessary to do good, and on the other hand, it is not enough to act well, it is necessary that this good deed proceeds from a good source, that is, good will, for God loves the giver willingly. And if you give involuntarily, is this your reward? That is why the Apostle says in general: "If I do this voluntarily, I will have a reward, and if I do it involuntarily, then I perform only the ministry entrusted to me"... Thus, it is very good to be benevolent, guided in one's generosity by the intention to be useful." Generosity should be found in giving no less of one's strength and giving to the really poor, and not in being extravagant. According to the Holy Father, if a benefactor does not give the poor such alms as he can, then alms are not pleasing to God, and what remains with those who give is not their righteous inheritance[967]. And a sincere willingness to alleviate the suffering of the poor must be expressed in the fact that generosity does not turn into extravagance. "There are two kinds of blessings," says St. Ambrose, "one is generosity, and the other is extravagant luxury. To be generous means to receive a stranger, to clothe the naked, to ransom captives, to help the needy; and to be profligate is to make great feasts. And this must be called extravagance, when for the sake of popular sympathy one depletes one's wealth; so do those who squander their father's inheritance on circus or theatrical entertainments in order to surpass their ancestors in fame"[968]. And it is precisely in the definition of what true generosity is that St. Ambrose introduces into the understanding of the Christian view of alms such features that we have not encountered in the Eastern Fathers, and which bear a fairly clear stamp of that limitation which is alien to the spirit of Christian teaching, as an expression of an ideal point of view on the subject. We have already seen how the great teachers of the Church understood this absoluteness: they were completely alien to thoughts and concerns about the practical results of almsgiving, and the starting point in the evaluation of alms was always the absolute expression of God's will (give to everyone who asks) and the mood of the donor. St. Ambrose applied a new criterion to the evaluation of almsgiving—its practical expediency—and from this point of view he gave advice that fundamentally ran counter to the general church spirit of understanding Christian almsgiving. "Even in the expenditure of good deeds," we hear from St. Ambrose, "it must be moderate." And these words are, as it were, the motto of the entire teaching of the saint about almsgiving. What is needed is prudence both in relation to those persons who need help, and in relation to the property security of the charity itself. "In almsgiving," advises the saint, "one must pay attention to age, physical weakness, and sometimes even to modesty, which testifies to the nobility of origin. Thus, to the elderly who are no longer able to earn their living by labor, give more generously; In the same way, you are more willing to help the crippled. Then, do not refuse to help someone who has become poor from a rich man, especially if he has lost what he had through no fault of his own, but as a result of an attack by robbers, or as a result of confiscation, or through slander." "And it is not only the person who needs to be paid attention to, but often also the circumstances and the time, for example, when one has to help a neighbor rather than a brother" [971]. Thus, it is clear that in generosity one must observe a certain measure, so that charity does not turn out to be useless. One must be cautious in order to do good for the sake of real need. "Able-bodied people come, who had no need except the desire to wander, and want to deprive the poor of help, to leave him without a piece of bread; not content with little, they seek more, by the appearance of their rags they try to persuade gullible benefactors in favor of their request... That is why in the distribution of alms it is necessary to observe a certain prudence, so that the really needy do not leave empty-handed, and so that poverty is not judged by a deceptive appearance. Let it be a yardstick so that neither humanity is forgotten, nor need is left unattended... He who observes the measure is not stingy with anyone, but is merciful to all. It would be necessary that we should not listen to those who ask for help with our ears alone, but also see their needs with our eyes." But it should be noted about these instructions of St. Ambrose that they were directed mainly to priests who were benefactors on behalf of the Church and, moreover, distributors of property donated by others. For this reason, the Holy Father also insists that the donor, on the one hand, should not be indiscriminately extravagant for the sake of gaining popular sympathy; and on the other hand, he would not be stingy, "so that the well-being of the poor would not be contained in the box"[973]. As we have said, St. John Chrysostom, who is the most consistent in the pursuit of the absolute Gospel point of view regarding the debt of almsgiving, spoke of the need for the priest to take careful care in the distribution of church property. But for all this, the general arrangement of St. Ambrose's speech clearly distinguishes his teaching from the teaching of other great teachers of the Church, especially when the Holy Father instructs that in almsgiving one can limit oneself to such a limit beyond which poverty threatens the beneficent himself, although St. Ambrose notes that such poverty is not to be feared[975] and that sometimes it is necessary to give "unbearable help"[976].

In his views on almsgiving by Blessed Augustine, we will allow ourselves to note only his explanation of how the Church's teaching on the purifying significance of almsgiving should be understood, which is interesting from a Christian and ethical point of view. Blessed Augustine personally also believed in its meaning and spoke about it more than once, but he did not struggle with that crude understanding of this meaning of almsgiving, according to which, as it were, the most valuable thing in every Christian deed – the spiritual disposition – was forgotten and all attention was one-sidedly falsely directed to the idea of the redemptive significance of alms in itself. "It remains to answer those," says the blessed father, "according to whom only those who do not care about their sins will burn in eternal fire, to do worthy almsgiving, according to the words of the Apostle James: judgment without mercy to him who has not done mercy. And whoever, they say, has done almsgiving, even if he has not improved in his immorality, and in the midst of the works of his mercy has lived impiously and unseemly, for him the judgment will be merciful, so that he will either not be condemned at all, or will be released from the last condemnation after a while. Hence, they believe, Christ will make a division between those standing on the right and on the left, of whom He will send some to the Kingdom, and others to eternal torment, meaning only their love or neglect of almsgiving. And that the daily sins, which we will not cease to commit completely, of whatever kind and how many of them there are, can be absolved thanks to almsgiving, in support and in confirmation of this view they refer to prayer, which the Lord Himself taught.

For, it is said, just as there is not a day when Christians do not say this prayer, so there can be no sin, even if it is committed daily, that it cannot be forgiven when we say: "And forgive us our debts," if only we try to act in accordance with the further words: "As we also forgive our debtors." For the Lord, they continue, does not say: "If you forgive the sins of others, your Father will forgive you also your daily small sins"; and says: "He will forgive you your sins"[979]. Thus, no matter how many and whatever kinds of sins there are, even if they are committed daily, even if they do not evade them, changing their lives for the better, all these sins, in their opinion, can be absolved of them by virtue of the promised forgiveness for almsgiving.

It is also good that they exhort us to do worthy works of mercy for sins: if they were to say that any almsgiving, whatever it may be, even for daily and great sins, and in every criminal way of life, can win Divine mercy, so that daily forgiveness follows for it, they would see for themselves that they are talking stupidity and absurdity. Then they would be forced to admit the possibility that a very rich man, at the cost of ten small coins daily given as alms, can cover murder, adultery, and all other obscenities. If it is extremely absurd and senseless to assert this, then when it comes to what should be understood by worthy works of mercy for sins, of which the Forerunner of Christ spoke: "Bring forth fruit worthy of repentance"[980]; Without any doubt, it will not turn out that such deeds are done by those whose lives are full of daily crimes. And this is because, first of all, by plundering the property of others, they seize too much for themselves, and, giving a grain of it to the poor, they represent Christ as their protector in this respect; so that, supposing that they have bought, or rather daily buy from Him, the right to do evil deeds, they calmly commit all the most reprehensible things. And yet, even if for one evil deed they distributed all their possessions to the needy members of Christ, but did not abandon such deeds, not having that love which does not act perversely, then there would be no benefit for them. Thus, whoever does works of mercy worthy of his sins begins to do them, first of all, from himself. For whoever does for his neighbor what he does for himself, acts contrary to the words of the Lord: Love your sincere one as yourself[982]; likewise with the words: love thy soul, pleasing God[983]. And whoever does not do this alms for his soul, that is, to please God, how can he be called to give alms worthy of his sins? To the same applies what is written: "Who is evil to himself, to whom will he be good?" [984] Almsgiving undoubtedly helps prayer. It is necessary to bear in mind what is read: Child, if you have sinned, do not add to it and pray for your former ones[985]. Therefore, we must do alms in order to be heard when we pray for our former sins, and not so that, by persisting in them, we think by means of alms to obtain permission for evil deeds.

It was for this reason that the Lord foretold that He would impute alms to those who stand both to the right and to the left, to the former created and to the latter uncreated, in order to show what significance alms have for the atonement of previous sins, and not for their constant unpunished commission. Those who do not want to change their criminal way of life for the better should not be called those who do this kind of almsgiving. For by saying, "Wherefore ye do not give to one of the least of these, neither do ye co-possess me," He shows that they do not give alms even when they think they do. And indeed, if they were to give bread to a hungry Christian as a Christian, they would certainly not deny themselves the bread of righteousness, which is Christ Himself, for God does not pay attention to who is given, but to the disposition with which it is given. Therefore, whoever loves Christ in a Christian gives with the disposition with which he approaches Christ, and not with which he wishes to depart from Christ with impunity. For each of us loves Christ all the more the more he loves what Christ approves. What good would it be if each of us were only baptized and not justified? He who said: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, cannot enter into the Kingdom of God"[987], did he not also say: "Unless your righteousness be fulfilled more than the scribe and the Pharisee, do not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven"[988]. Why then do many, fearing the first utterance, hasten to be baptized, and many do not try to acquire justification, not fearing the last? Hence, if not to his brother, says "mad" he who, by saying this, expresses dislike not for the brotherhood itself, but for its sin; for otherwise he will be guilty of hell of fire[989]; so, on the contrary, whoever gives alms to a Christian, gives it to a non-Christian, if he does not love Christ in him; but he does not love Christ who does not want to be justified in Christ. In the same way, if anyone is possessed by such a vice that he says to his brother "foolish," that is, he reproaches him unjustly, without a desire to remove him from sin, it is not enough for him to do works of mercy to atone for this, but it is also necessary to add to them the means of reconciliation that are spoken of later. For it goes on to say the following: "If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and remember that thy brother hath something against thee, leave thy gift before the altar, and go first and humble thy brother, and then come and bring thy gift." Thus, it is not enough to give any alms for this or that crime and at the same time remain in the same vicious way of life... It goes without saying that those whom the righteous receive into eternal abodes are not so virtuous that their very life can deserve mercy without the intercession of the saints, and therefore mercy is all the more evident in them above judgment.

There is a certain way of life: on the one hand, it is not so bad that for those who live in this way, in the matter of receiving the Heavenly Kingdom, there is no benefit from almsgiving, which serves as a support for the righteous in their poverty and wins in the person of their friends who receive them into eternal abodes; but on the other hand, it is not so good that alms alone are sufficient for them to receive blessedness, unless this alms are supported by the merits of those whom it makes friends" [991].

Blessed Jerome, in his view of Christian almsgiving, emphasized both its religious significance and its characteristic feature, according to which the value of alms is determined by the attitude of a person's will and his spiritual mood to it. We have already seen that, according to the conviction of Blessed Jerome, the duty to follow Christ requires of the Christian the renunciation of wealth, or, in any case, a constant readiness to share his possessions with others, the poor. Such is the duty of every Christian in the face of God's truth, and this duty receives the highest sanctification from the realization that Christian alms are also given for the sake of Christ and even to Christ Himself in the person of His poor brethren. At this point in his teaching, the blessed father is very close in verbal expression of thought and its sharp delineation to St. John Chrysostom. "Give to everyone who asks you," the blessed one repeats the Gospel exhortation, "and especially to those who are ever in the faith. Clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit the sick. Stretching out the hand of charity, always think about Christ. See that thou shalt not multiply the riches of others, while the Lord thy God remains meagre."[992] In a letter to Demetrias, the blessed father, contrasting the decoration of churches with works of mercy, gives preference to the latter and sees in them service to Christ Himself. "It is destined for you," he says, "to clothe Christ in the face of the poor, to visit in the sick, to nourish in the hungry, to receive Him in those who are homeless." We find a similar personification of the poor with Christ Himself in the contrast between the luxury of some and the poverty of others: "We live as if we were going to die the next day, and we build as if we were going to live forever in this world. The walls shine with gold, the ceilings with gold... and the naked and hungry Christ in the form of a beggar dies before our doors"[994]. The Holy Father urges the rich "to make Christ a joint heir with his children"[995]; Blessed Jerome also speaks of the purifying significance of almsgiving, and in one place of his letters he directly refers in this case to St. Cyprian as an authoritative teacher of Christian truth: "What significance mercy has and what rewards it entails, St. Cyprian speaks of this in detail in an extensive work" [997]. Blessed Jerome remarks.