Growing in almsgiving does not mean learning to drop a coin from time to time without thinking. It means allowing the mercy of God, received within us, to overflow in concrete gestures toward those who lack what they need. The word itself says it: alms comes from the Greek eleemosyne, "mercy." Almsgiving is charity descending into the hands, the heart becoming bread, clothing, presence, and forgiveness for a brother in need.
This is why the article does not treat love as an interior virtue — for that, see How to Grow in Charity, of which almsgiving is the visible fruit — but the practice: how to give, to whom, how much, in what spirit, and how this practice grows until it becomes second nature. Almsgiving presupposes a free relationship to possessions (see How to Grow in Detachment and How to Grow in Evangelical Poverty); it is the practical antidote to avarice (see How to Grow in the Fight against Avarice); and with prayer and fasting it forms the tripod of all conversion (see How to Grow in Fasting).
The great news of Catholic tradition is that almsgiving has a power that philosophy ignores: it "delivers from death," it "atones for sins," it lends to God himself. The Fathers of the Church spoke of it with a boldness our age has almost forgotten. This article seeks to let that boldness be heard again — and to make it practicable.
Why seek to grow in almsgiving?
One of the three columns of conversion
In the whole biblical and patristic tradition, Christian life rests on a tripod: prayer, which turns us toward God; fasting, which masters ourselves; almsgiving, which opens us to our neighbor. The Catechism takes up this ancient doctrine:
"Scripture and the Fathers insist above all on three forms: fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, which express conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to others." — Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1434[1]
Remove almsgiving from this tripod and it collapses. A prayer that never becomes sharing, a fast that relieves no one but oneself, remain suspect. That is why the prophet Isaiah, speaking in God's name, rejects purely ritual fasting and redefines it entirely as mercy toward the needy:
"Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?" — Isaiah 58:6-7[2]
Saint Leo the Great fixed this articulation in a formula that became classical in Lenten preaching:
"Three things especially belong to the acts of religion: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. By prayer we seek to appease God, by fasting we extinguish the desires of the flesh, by almsgiving we redeem our sins." — Saint Leo the Great, sermon XII on the fast of the tenth month[3]
Growing in almsgiving is therefore not an optional devotion for generous souls: it completes conversion on the side of the neighbor; without it, conversion limps.
"Almsgiving delivers from death": a power before God
The Old Testament attributes to almsgiving a startling spiritual efficacy. Old Tobit, model of the giver of alms, makes it his testament:
"Almsgiving delivers from death and purges away every sin. Those who give alms will enjoy a full life." — Book of Tobit 12:9[4]
Sirach gives the image that will run through the whole patristic tradition — water and fire:
"Water extinguishes a blazing fire: so almsgiving atones for sin." — Ben Sira the Wise (Sirach) 3:30[5]
The prophet Daniel dares to counsel a pagan king with this single remedy:
"Redeem your sins by righteousness, and your faults by mercy toward the afflicted." — Daniel 4:24[6]
This doctrine is not an archaism of the Old Testament: Christ confirms it. Before a Pharisee scandalized that he neglects ritual washings, Jesus displaces all purity toward almsgiving:
"But give for alms those things which are within; and behold, everything is clean for you." — Gospel according to Saint Luke 11:41[7]
The Fathers received this inheritance without diluting it. Saint Cyprian of Carthage devoted an entire treatise, On Works and Almsgiving, to it, taking up the biblical image:
"As the water of baptism extinguishes the fire of Gehenna, so almsgiving and works of justice extinguish the flame of sin." — Saint Cyprian of Carthage, De opere et eleemosynis (On Works and Almsgiving)[8]
This does not mean "paying" for one's sins or buying God: the unique source of forgiveness remains the Cross of Christ and baptismal grace. But almsgiving, animated by charity, is one of the means God himself has attached to the remission of venial sins and to conversion of heart. Saint Augustine explains in the Enchiridion: almsgiving done in faith, joined to prayer and amendment of life, extends in life what baptism accomplished at the root[9]. This is a decisive reason to seek growth in it: few gestures are as effective before God.
What we shall be judged on
Christ placed almsgiving at the exact center of the Last Judgment. In Saint Matthew's great scene, the King asks neither about exploits, nor doctrine, nor ecstasies: he asks about bread given, clothing shared, the sick and the prisoner visited.
"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me. [...] Amen, I say to you: as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me." — Gospel according to Saint Matthew 25:35, 40[10]
The parable of the rich man and Lazarus says the same thing negatively: the rich man commits no spectacular crime; he simply leaves Lazarus at his gate without giving him anything — and this omission is enough to ruin him[11]. Saint James draws the practical rule: faith that sees a brother lacking necessities and contents itself with pious words is dead faith.
"Suppose a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food; if one of you says to them, 'Go in peace! Be warmed and filled!' without giving them what is necessary to live, what does it profit?" — Letter of Saint James 2:15-16[12]
To seek growth in almsgiving is therefore to prepare for the examination on which eternity depends — the examination of effective love.
Restoring more than giving: almsgiving and justice
This is the most forgotten point, and the sharpest in the tradition. For the Fathers, giving alms is not first an extra act of generosity: it is often an act of justice, because the rich person's surplus already belongs, in a certain sense, to the poor. Saint Ambrose of Milan says it without hesitation:
"You are not making a gift of your own property to the poor man; you are handing back to him what is his. For what was given in common for the use of all, you have taken for yourself alone." — Saint Ambrose of Milan, De Nabuthe (On Naboth), 12, 53[13]
Saint Basil of Caesarea, preaching during the famine of Cappadocia, takes the logic to its end:
"The bread you keep belongs to the hungry; the cloak you store in your coffers belongs to the naked; the shoe that rots in your house belongs to the barefoot; the money you keep buried belongs to the needy. Thus you commit as many injustices as there are people to whom you could give." — Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homily on Luke 12:18 ("Destruam horrea mea")[14]
And Saint John Chrysostom formulates the consequence in a sentence so strong that the Catechism took it up as is:
"Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs." — Saint John Chrysostom, Homily on Lazarus, cited in the Catechism of the Catholic Church § 2446[15]
This tradition does not abolish private property — the Church has always recognized it as legitimate. But it recalls its universal destination: the goods of the earth are meant for all, and the one who withholds his surplus while his neighbor is dying of hunger is not merely avaricious, but unjust[16]. Understanding this changes everything in the way we give: we no longer give alms "from above," as a benefactor stooping down, but "from below," as a steward rendering account.
What exactly is almsgiving?
Mercy become action
The word says the thing: eleemosyne means "mercy." Almsgiving is therefore not defined first by money, but by compassion that passes into action. One can give alms with a coin, a meal, a roof, but also with counsel, forgiveness, a visit, a prayer. To reduce almsgiving to money is to lose nine tenths of it.
Corporal works, spiritual works
Catholic tradition has classified almsgiving into the fourteen works of mercy — seven for the body, seven for the soul. The Catechism gathers them together:
"The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. [...] Among all these, alms given to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God." — Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2447[17]
| Corporal works of mercy | Spiritual works of mercy |
|---|---|
| Feed the hungry | Counsel the doubtful |
| Give drink to the thirsty | Teach the ignorant |
| Clothe the naked | Warn sinners |
| Welcome strangers | Comfort the afflicted |
| Visit the sick | Forgive offenses |
| Visit prisoners | Bear wrongs patiently |
| Bury the dead | Pray to God for the living and the dead |
This list is not a fixed catalogue: it is an examination of conscience. To grow in almsgiving is to widen it little by little — from the anonymous check to the real visit, from material help to forgiveness granted, from corporal almsgiving to spiritual almsgiving. Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, the "poor man of the Forty Hours," held the two together: a beggar who never asked for alms and hastened to give the poor all he received beyond his strict necessities, he lived in profound union with God in prayer[18].
Almsgiving, charity, justice: not confusing them
To avoid misunderstandings, Saint Thomas Aquinas carefully distinguishes three planes. Almsgiving as an act belongs to justice when it restores what is owed, and to charity when it gives out of love; but its interior root is always mercy, itself an effect of charity. This is why he places his great treatment of almsgiving not under justice, but under charity:
"Almsgiving is an act of charity through the medium of mercy." — Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 32, a. 1[19]
The practical consequence is immense: we do not grow in almsgiving by forcing ourselves to give through clenched teeth, but by letting charity grow within us until it makes giving easy and joyful. Love commands the hand, not the reverse.
Almsgiving in Scripture: an unbroken thread
The Law, the Prophets, and the poor
From the Law of Moses onward, the poor person is sacred: one must leave him gleanings, open one's hand to him, lend without interest. Deuteronomy makes it an inescapable command:
"The afflicted shall never disappear from this land; therefore I give you this commandment: you shall open wide your hand to your brother when he is, in your land, poor and afflicted." — Deuteronomy 15:11[20]
And the Book of Proverbs states the "secret" that makes almsgiving so desirable: to give to the poor is to open an account with God.
"He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed." — Book of Proverbs 19:17[21]
Tobit, the model giver of alms
The Book of Tobit is the great biblical catechism of almsgiving. Tobit, deported to Nineveh, risks his life to bury the dead and feed the hungry; blind and ruined, he hands on to his son a golden rule that contains a whole pedagogy of giving:
"Give alms with the goods that belong to you. Do not turn your face away from any poor man, and God's face will not turn away from you. [...] My son, act according to what you have: if you are in abundance, give more; but if you have little, give according to the little you have." — Book of Tobit 4:7-8[22]
Three practical lessons can be drawn from Tobit: give without turning your face away (the joy of giving, without doubt or regret), give in proportion (each according to his means; little counts as much as much), give always (even when poor, even when afflicted).
Christ and almsgiving: "Give"
Jesus does not merely recommend almsgiving: he commands it, and he guarantees its fruitfulness with an overflowing promise.
"Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back." — Gospel according to Saint Luke 6:38[23]
He praises above all the rich a widow who gives almost nothing — but gives everything:
"Truly, I say to you: this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had." — Gospel according to Saint Luke 21:3-4[24]
This is the decisive teaching on the measure of almsgiving: God weighs not the amount given, but the amount kept; not what leaves the hand, but what remains in the heart. Zacchaeus, for his part, translates his conversion immediately into almsgiving — "I give half of my goods to the poor" — and Jesus at once declares: "Today salvation has come to this house [...]"[25].
"In secret": purity of intention
But Christ immediately warns that almsgiving can be spoiled at the root if it is done to be seen. This is the great trap, treated below.
"When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you." — Gospel according to Saint Matthew 6:3-4[26]
Saint Paul and the joy of giving
The first Christian communities were recognizable by their sharing of goods: "there was not a needy person among them"[27]. Saint Paul even organizes a great collection among the Churches and uses it to deliver the spiritual law of giving — not quantity, but the heart:
"Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." — Second Letter to the Corinthians 9:7[28]
And he transmits a saying of Jesus that the Gospels did not preserve, which became the motto of all saints of charity:
"It is more blessed to give than to receive." — Acts of the Apostles 20:35[29]
The degrees of almsgiving according to Saint Thomas
Saint Thomas Aquinas devoted an entire question of the Summa Theologiae to almsgiving (II-II, q. 32). Four of his conclusions structure all practical growth.
Almsgiving, an act of charity
As seen above, almsgiving is not first an isolated exterior gesture: it is the act by which charity, through mercy, becomes effective[30]. First lesson for growth: working on the root (love of God and neighbor) makes the sap rise (the gift). Whoever loves more gives more, and more freely.
A precept, not merely a counsel
People often object: "Almsgiving is good, but it is not obligatory." Saint Thomas answers that giving alms from one's surplus to someone in ordinary necessity, and from one's necessities to someone in extreme necessity, belongs to precept, not counsel. Not doing so is a sin.
"To give alms out of one's surplus is a matter of precept, and likewise to give alms to one who is in extreme necessity; otherwise, almsgiving is a matter of counsel." — Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 32, a. 5[31]
Second lesson: one does not grow in almsgiving by waiting for an exceptional impulse, but by honoring first an ordinary duty. Surplus is not a treasure generosity may touch if it wishes: it is already, in large part, owed.
Giving from surplus — and sometimes from necessity
To the question whether one must ruin oneself for the poor, Thomas answers with fully Catholic realism: the order of charity requires one first to provide for one's own subsistence and for those in one's care, then to give from one's surplus. But before another's extreme necessity — someone is going to die — even what is necessary can become matter for almsgiving[32]. Third lesson: to grow in almsgiving is to learn to redefine one's surplus. What we thought indispensable often proves superfluous as soon as we look at a face lacking everything.
Corporal and spiritual almsgiving
Which is greater? Thomas answers with nuance: in itself, spiritual almsgiving is more excellent, because it helps the soul, which is worth more than the body, and obtains a more lasting good; but in a concrete case, corporal almsgiving can be more urgent — one does not catechize a starving man before giving him food[33]. Fourth lesson: both hands of almsgiving must grow, without opposing bread and the Word, gesture and prayer.
| Saint Thomas's question | Answer (ST II-II, q. 32) | Practical consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Is almsgiving an act of charity? | Yes, through the medium of mercy (a. 1) | Cultivating love makes giving grow |
| Is it a precept? | Yes, from surplus and in extreme necessity (a. 5) | It is first a duty, not a luxury |
| From what goods? | From surplus; from necessity in extreme cases (a. 6) | Constantly redefine one's "surplus" |
| Corporal or spiritual? | Spiritual more excellent, corporal often more urgent (a. 3) | Give with both hands |
How to make almsgiving grow within oneself
Here is the practical heart of the article: no longer why, but how.
Begin by asking for an open heart
Almsgiving is born in the heart before it is born in the hand. Yet the heart, because of sin, closes in and clenches around its possessions. The first step is therefore not an effort of will, but a prayer: asking God for the grace of a merciful heart, able to see the poor and suffer from their lack. "Covetousness," Saint Paul wrote, "is idolatry"[34]: one does not tear oneself away from it alone. Asking every day to become capable of giving — that is the true beginning.
Give concretely, regularly, proportionally
Occasional almsgiving, governed by emotion, does not make one grow: it depends on mood. The saints almost all adopted a rule: a fixed share of income, set aside first, before expenses, in the manner of the biblical tithe[35]. Giving "what is left" at the end of the month most often means giving nothing. Giving "first" a pre-decided proportion — modest but real, and growing over the years — transforms almsgiving into a virtuous habit. Saint Paul already recommended that the Corinthians set aside, "on the first day of the week," what each had managed to save for the poor[36].
Give yourself, not only your surplus
The easiest gift is money; the costliest is oneself — one's time, attention, presence. Yet that is often what the poor person awaits most. Visiting the sick, listening to the isolated, accompanying the dying: these are alms no check can replace. The widow in the Gospel is praised because she gave "all she had to live on": to grow in almsgiving is to move from surplus to the gift of one's own substance — time one does not have, attention one would rather keep.
See and serve Christ in the poor
The whole difference between philanthropy and Christian almsgiving lies in one gaze: the Christian gives to Christ. "You did it to me" (Mt 25:40). This faith transfigures the most ordinary gesture. Saint Martin of Tours, still a catechumen, cuts his cloak in two for a shivering beggar at the gate of Amiens; the following night he sees Christ in a dream clothed in that half cloak, saying to the angels: "Martin has covered me with this garment"[37]. Likewise, when the deacon Saint Lawrence is ordered to hand over the treasures of the Church, he gathers the poor and presents them:
"Here are the treasures of the Church." — Saint Lawrence of Rome, deacon and martyr (✝ 258)[38]
To grow in almsgiving is to practice this gaze until it becomes spontaneous: no longer seeing "a social case," but a member of Christ.
Give joyfully and in secret
Two qualities complete almsgiving and make it pleasing to God. Joy, first: "God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor 9:7). Alms torn from someone grudgingly may feed the poor person's body but wound his heart; joyful alms honor him. Secrecy, next: Jesus wants the left hand not to know what the right is doing (Mt 6:3). Not from false modesty, but because almsgiving done to be seen has already received its wages — human esteem — and has nothing more to await from God. Discreet giving protects both the donor's humility and the recipient's dignity.
Join almsgiving to prayer and fasting
Isolated almsgiving dries up; joined to prayer and fasting, it catches fire. Fasting in particular is the natural ally of almsgiving: what is taken from one's own table becomes another person's bread. The Fathers called this "the fast that feeds" — one truly fasts only if the poor eat from one's privation. Saint Leo the Great explicitly linked the three acts in this way: what fasting subtracts, almsgiving transfers to the poor, and prayer offers to God[39]. On this point, see How to Grow in Fasting.
Traps to avoid
Buying a clean conscience
The first trap is to turn almsgiving into a receipt: giving in order not to think about it anymore, settling the poor as one settles a bill. Christian almsgiving is not a toll that dispenses us from encounter; it is the beginning of a relationship. Saint Alphonsus Liguori recalls that God welcomes the gift of our will more than all our other works: in alms and austerities we give him what belongs to us; in consecrating our will to him we give him our whole selves[40].
This conformity of which Saint Alphonsus speaks — doing God's will in charity — is not the gift of living in the Divine Will (the third Fiat): it is the holiness of the virtues, the necessary first step, not divine life itself received and acting in the soul. The third Fiat, in simple words, is the gift God wants to give now: to live in his Will itself, and no longer only to do his will.
Almsgiving without respect
To give while humiliating is to undo with one hand what one does with the other. The poor person is not an inferior helped from above: he is a brother and — according to the Fathers — a creditor. Contemptuous almsgiving wounds more than it relieves. Discretion, delicacy, and respect for dignity are part of the gift itself.
Giving in order to be seen
This is the trap Christ explicitly names (Mt 6:1-4): almsgiving "with a trumpet," done for reputation. It is not useless to the poor, but it is sterile for the donor, who "has already received his reward." In the age of social media, where generosity stages itself, this warning is more current than ever.
The excuse of prudence
"He will misuse it," "it is not my responsibility," "the State is there for that": all these reasonings, under cover of prudence, suffocate almsgiving. Prudence is a real virtue — it is right to give intelligently, to favor serious works, and not to maintain a vice. But it becomes an alibi when it mainly serves never to give. The saints' rule is the opposite: in doubt, the poor person receives the benefit of the doubt, because giving never deceives.
Forgetting justice and those nearest
Finally, distant almsgiving must not serve to evade justice close at hand. Paying a just wage, honoring debts, caring for one's own: these precede almsgiving, and almsgiving never replaces them. "If anyone does not provide for his own, [...] he has denied the faith," Saint Paul writes[41]. The order of charity begins with the duty of justice and the nearest neighbor.
The fruits of almsgiving
It purifies and obtains forgiveness
We have seen it: Scripture and the Fathers attach to almsgiving an efficacy of purification — not as a magical automatism, but as a fruit of the charity that animates it. "Almsgiving obtains forgiveness for sins" (Sir 3:30); it "delivers from death" (Tob 12:9). This is why the Church recommends it especially during Lent and as a concrete expression of penance.
It draws God's mercy
The law of the Kingdom is a law of reciprocity: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy"[42]. The one who opens his hand receives in turn a "good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over" (Lk 6:38). Almsgiving is, in this sense, the safest investment: one lends to the Lord, who never remains in debt.
It frees the heart from avarice
Regular almsgiving is the concrete remedy for avarice: one is not cured of attachment to money by resolutions, but by loosening one's fingers one by one, through real gifts. Each act of almsgiving loosens the grip. It is the exercise that gradually makes detachment and poverty of heart possible. See How to Grow in the Fight against Avarice.
It prepares Heaven
Finally, almsgiving is the only known way to "transfer" one's goods into eternity. What we keep, death tears away; what we give, God keeps.
"Do not make treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and worm consume, where thieves break through to steal. Make treasures for yourselves in heaven instead. [...] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." — Gospel according to Saint Matthew 6:19-21[43]
Saint Paul says the same to the rich in terms of investment: let them be "rich in good deeds," "laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life which is life indeed"[44]. To give is to ship ahead to Heaven what the earth will not be able to retain.
Almsgiving at the school of the saints
The history of the Church is a long chain of givers of alms. Saint Vincent de Paul (1581-1660), the "saint of charity," institutionalized almsgiving — Confraternities of Charity, Daughters of Charity, organized relief for galley slaves, foundlings, and the starving in war-ravaged Lorraine — while reminding everyone that material giving has value only when carried by real love:
"Let us love God, my brothers, let us love God, but let it be at the cost of our arms, let it be by the sweat of our faces." — Saint Vincent de Paul, conference to the priests of the Mission[45]
In the twentieth century, Saint Teresa of Calcutta gave the world again the face of corporal and spiritual almsgiving united: picking up the dying from the streets so that they might die surrounded, not from social strategy, but to "do something beautiful for God"[46] in the poorest person — Christ "in his distressing disguise"[47] of the destitute. Between the two stands a host of others: Saint John of God and his hospitals, Saint Camillus de Lellis and the sick, Blessed Frederic Ozanam and his Saint Vincent de Paul Conferences, the Cure of Ars selling all he owned to found his Providence for orphan girls[48]. They all say the same thing: one does not become a saint without becoming a giver of alms.
Further Reading
- How to Grow in Charity — the theological virtue of which almsgiving is the visible fruit.
- How to Grow in Detachment — the free relationship to possessions that makes almsgiving possible.
- How to Grow in Evangelical Poverty — freely choosing lack for God.
- How to Grow in the Fight against Avarice — the vice almsgiving heals.
- How to Grow in Fasting — the other column of penance, almsgiving's natural ally.
- How to Grow in Justice — because almsgiving often restores what is owed.
- What Do the Saints Say about Charity? — the anthology of spiritual voices on love.
Notes and References
Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1434, quoted verbatim from vatican.va (FR): « La pénitence intérieure du chrétien peut avoir des expressions très variées. L'Écriture et les Pères insistent surtout sur trois formes : le jeûne, la prière, l'aumône (cf. Tb 12, 8 ; Mt 6, 1-18), qui expriment la conversion par rapport à soi-même, par rapport à Dieu et par rapport aux autres. » (https://www.vatican.va/archive/FRA0013/__P46.HTM)
1Book of Isaiah 58:6-7, official French liturgical translation (AELF), quoted here in full: v. 6 (bringing down unjust chains, untying the yoke, freeing the oppressed) then v. 7 (sharing bread, welcoming, covering, not hiding from one's kin). The great prophetic text that redefines true fasting as justice and sharing.
2Saint Leo the Great (✝ 461), Sermo XII (Ballerini), De jejunio decimi mensis I — first sermon on the fast of the tenth month (December Ember Days), ch. 4: « Tria vero sunt quae maxime ad religiosas pertinent actiones, oratio scilicet, jejunium, et eleemosyna […] Oratione enim propitiatio Dei quaeritur, jejunio concupiscentia carnis exstinguitur, eleemosynis peccata redimuntur » — by prayer one seeks to appease God, by fasting one extinguishes the desires of the flesh, by almsgiving one redeems one's sins. Latin verified against the Ballerini edition reproduced in PL 54 (archive.org scan); English translation of the article. (No. 90 in Ballerini's continuous numbering is another sermon, on the fast of the seventh month: not to be confused.)
3Book of Tobit 12:8-9, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article, quoted here in full: "It is better to pray with truth and to give alms with righteousness than to be rich with iniquity. It is better to give alms than to lay up gold. Almsgiving delivers from death and purges away every sin. Those who give alms will enjoy a full life." Counsel of the angel Raphael to Tobit and his son; English quotation rendered from the RSV-CE.
4Ben Sira the Wise (Sirach / Ecclesiasticus) 3:30, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article: « L'eau éteint la flamme du feu, et l'aumône obtient le pardon des péchés. » (Other translations read "atones for" or "remits" sins: the article follows the letter of the AELF throughout.) Classical patristic image of water extinguishing fire, taken up by Saint Cyprian and Saint Augustine; English quotation rendered from the RSV-CE.
5Book of Daniel 4:24, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article. Daniel's counsel to King Nebuchadnezzar: redeem sins by righteousness and mercy toward the poor. Numbering followed here: 4:24 in the Vulgate (« peccata tua eleemosynis redime ») as in French Bibles; the same verse is numbered 4:27 in some translations (e.g. Segond).
6Gospel according to Saint Luke 11:41, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article; English quotation rendered from the RSV-CE. Jesus displaces ritual purity toward almsgiving from the heart.
7Saint Cyprian of Carthage (✝ 258), De opere et eleemosynis (On Works and Almsgiving), § 2. Cyprian develops the satisfactive value of almsgiving done with faith, in the line of Tob 12 and Sir 3:30: « Hic quoque ostenditur et probatur quia, sicut lavacro aquae salutaris gehennae ignis extinguitur, ita et eleemosynis atque operationibus iustis delictorum flamma sopitur. » Text PL 4.
8Saint Augustine (354-430), Enchiridion de fide, spe et caritate, ch. 70 (PL 40), completed by ch. 71-72 on daily prayer: the light sins of each day are expiated by almsgiving and prayer, provided one amends one's life for the better — almsgiving serves to move God regarding past faults, not to buy future impunity.
9Gospel according to Saint Matthew 25:31-46, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article; English quotation rendered from the RSV-CE. The Last Judgment: the criterion is effective love toward "the least of these" (v. 40), identified with Christ himself.
10Gospel according to Saint Luke 16:19-31: parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus. The rich man is not condemned for a spectacular crime, but for his omission — giving nothing from his surplus to Lazarus lying at his gate.
11Letter of Saint James 2:15-16, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article; English quotation rendered from the RSV-CE. Faith without works of mercy is dead faith (cf. Jas 2:17).
12Saint Ambrose of Milan (✝ 397), De Nabuthe (On Naboth), 12, 53: "Non de tuo largiris pauperi, sed de suo reddis. Quod enim commune est in omnium usum datum, tu solus usurpas." Foundational text for the doctrine of the universal destination of goods, taught by Vatican II (Gaudium et Spes, § 69).
13Saint Basil of Caesarea (✝ 379), homily on Luke 12:18 (In illud Lucae: "Destruam horrea mea", PG 31, 261-277), preached during the famine of Cappadocia (368); English rendered from the article's French translation.
14Saint John Chrysostom (✝ 407), Homily on Lazarus, cited in the Catechism of the Catholic Church § 2446: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs." The French CCC gives (Laz. 1, 6: PG 48, 992D) and the English edition "Hom. in Lazaro 2, 5: PG 48, 992" (references verified on vatican.va). Verification on the PG 48 scan (archive.org): the Greek sentence — « τὸ μὴ μεταδιδόναι πένησιν ἐκ τῶν οἰκείων χρημάτων, ἁρπαγὴ πενήτων ἐστὶ καὶ ἀποστέρησις τῆς ἐκείνων ζωῆς· καὶ οὐ τὰ ἡμέτερα, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἐκείνων κατέχομεν » — begins at the bottom of col. 991 and occupies the top of col. 992, and closes the SECOND discourse on Lazarus (λόγος Βʹ, § ς' / 6; the third discourse begins at the bottom of that same col. 992). Edition reference to retain: De Lazaro, hom. 2, n. 6 (PG 48, 992): the English "2" (discourse) and the French "6" (section) are each exact, but neither pair is entirely so under Migne's numbering — hence the noted divergence.
15Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2446, quoted verbatim from vatican.va (FR) — after the Chrysostom quotation: « Il faut satisfaire d'abord aux exigences de la justice, de peur que l'on n'offre comme don de la charité ce qui est déjà dû en justice » (AA 8); « Quand nous donnons aux pauvres les choses indispensables, nous ne leur faisons point de largesses personnelles, mais leur rendons ce qui est à eux » (S. Grégoire le Grand) — and §§ 2402-2403: « Les biens de la création sont destinés à tout le genre humain »; « Le droit à la propriété privée, acquise ou reçue de manière juste, n'abolit pas la donation originelle de la terre à l'ensemble de l'humanité. » Almsgiving from surplus thus participates in justice, not mere generosity.
16Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2447, quoted verbatim from vatican.va (FR): « Les œuvres de miséricorde sont les actions charitables par lesquelles nous venons en aide à notre prochain dans ses nécessités corporelles et spirituelles (cf. Is 58, 6-7 ; He 13, 3). […] Parmi ces gestes, l'aumône faite aux pauvres (cf. Tb 4, 5-11 ; Si 17, 22) est un des principaux témoignages de la charité fraternelle : elle est aussi une pratique de justice qui plaît à Dieu (cf. Mt 6, 2-4). » Verified list of the 14 works: « Instruire, conseiller, consoler, conforter […] pardonner et supporter avec patience »; « nourrir les affamés, loger les sans logis, vêtir les déguenillés, visiter les malades et les prisonniers, ensevelir les morts (cf. Mt 25, 31-46) ».
17Saint Benedict Joseph Labre (1748-1783): born 26 March 1748 at Amettes, died at Rome 16 April 1783, canonized by Leo XIII on 8 December 1881; a beggar pilgrim who "never asked for alms and was anxious to give away to the poor whatever he received in excess of his scanty wants." Joseph Delany, "St. Benedict Joseph Labre," Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 2, New York, Robert Appleton Company, 1907 (newadvent.org/cathen/02442a.htm). First biography by his confessor Marconi (English translation 1785, cited by the same notice).
18Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 32, a. 1, corpus, verified against the Leonine edition (Rome 1895, via corpusthomisticum): « dare eleemosynam proprie est actus misericordiae […] et quia misericordia est effectus caritatis, ut supra ostensum est, ex consequenti dare eleemosynam est actus caritatis, misericordia mediante » — almsgiving is thus an act of charity through the medium of mercy.
19 30Deuteronomy 15:11, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article; English quotation rendered from the RSV-CE. Command to open one's hand to the poor, taken up by Jesus in Mt 26:11.
20Book of Proverbs 19:17, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article; English quotation rendered from the RSV-CE. Some translations read: "He who gives to the poor lends to the Lord."
21Book of Tobit 4:7-8, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article; English quotation rendered from the RSV-CE. Spiritual testament of Tobit to his son Tobias: give alms without regret and in proportion to one's goods.
22Gospel according to Saint Luke 6:38, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article; English quotation rendered from the RSV-CE. The promise of the "overflowing measure" returned to the giver.
23Gospel according to Saint Luke 21:1-4 (the widow's mite), official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article; English quotation rendered from the RSV-CE. God measures the gift not by the sum given but by what remains.
24Gospel according to Saint Luke 19:8-9, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article. Zacchaeus immediately translates his conversion into almsgiving and fourfold restitution.
25Gospel according to Saint Matthew 6:3-4, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article; English quotation rendered from the RSV-CE. Almsgiving done in secret, pleasing to "the Father who sees in secret."
26Acts of the Apostles 4:34-35, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article. The community of Jerusalem shared goods, "and there was not a needy person among them."
27Second Letter to the Corinthians 9:6-7, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article; English quotation rendered from the RSV-CE. On the great collection for the poor of Jerusalem: the joy of the giver counts more than the amount.
28Acts of the Apostles 20:35, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article; English quotation rendered from the RSV-CE. Saying of Jesus (an agraphon) transmitted by Saint Paul in his farewell speech to the elders of Ephesus.
29Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 32, a. 5, corpus, verified against the Leonine edition (Rome 1895, via corpusthomisticum): « Sic igitur dare eleemosynam de superfluo est in praecepto; et dare eleemosynam ei qui est in extrema necessitate. Alias autem eleemosynam dare est in consilio. » — giving alms from one's surplus, and assisting one who is in extreme necessity, belongs to precept; the rest belongs to counsel.
31Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 32, a. 6, corpus, verified against the Leonine edition (Rome 1895, via corpusthomisticum): one gives from surplus after providing for oneself and one's own; third case excepted — « quando occurreret extrema necessitas alicuius privatae personae […] laudabiliter praetermitteret aliquis id quod ad decentiam sui status pertinere videretur, ut maiori necessitati subveniret » — before another's extreme necessity, one may laudably give even from what is necessary.
32Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 32, a. 3, corpus, verified against the Leonine edition (Rome 1895, via corpusthomisticum): in themselves, spiritual alms take precedence on a threefold ground (« eleemosynae spirituales praeeminent, triplici ratione »); but in a given particular case, the corporal takes precedence — « magis esset pascendum fame morientem quam docendum »: one must first feed the one dying of hunger rather than teach him.
33Letter to the Colossians 3:5, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article: "covetousness, which is idolatry."
34The tithe (Lev 27:30; Dt 14:22-29; Mal 3:10) — a tenth of one's income — is, in Jewish and then Christian tradition, the model of proportional and regular giving, set aside first. Christianity no longer imposes it as law but retains its spirit: giving first, according to a decided proportion.
35First Letter to the Corinthians 16:1-2, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article: Saint Paul recommends setting aside, each first day of the week, what each has decided for the collection for the poor.
36Sulpicius Severus (✝ c. 420), Life of Saint Martin (Vita sancti Martini), ch. 3: Martin, a catechumen soldier, shares his cloak at the gate of Amiens; the following night, he sees Christ clothed in that half cloak. Latin text CSEL 1; French translation Sources chretiennes no. 133.
37Saint Lawrence of Rome (✝ 258), archdeacon of Pope Saint Sixtus II. Ordered to hand over the treasures of the Church, he presented the poor as "the treasures of the Church." Tradition reported by Saint Ambrose, De officiis ministrorum, II, 28, 140 (PL 16, 141).
38Saint Leo the Great, sermons on fasting (nos. 12-20 De ieiunio, including those of the Ember Days), where fasting, almsgiving, and prayer are constantly articulated: what fasting subtracts, almsgiving gives to the poor.
39Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787), Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ (Pratica di amar Gesù Cristo, 1768), ch. XIII, § 15 ("On Obedience"): "God welcomes the sacrifice of our own will subjected to obedience more than all others; for in alms, austerities, mortifications, we give God what belongs to us; but in consecrating our will to him, we give him our whole selves." Tournai ed. 1845, p. 154 (§ 15 "De l'Obéissance": "macéra-tions" split across the page break, noted on the archive.org scan id pratiquedelamou00ligugoog; the "[…]" of the previous version is lifted). Same doctrine in his opuscule On Uniformity with God's Will (1755), § 1: "He who gives his goods in alms, his blood in scourgings, his food in fasting, gives God what he has. But he who gives God his will, gives himself, gives everything he is." (English translation CCEL).
40First Letter to Timothy 5:8, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article. The duty of justice toward one's own precedes distant almsgiving.
41Gospel according to Saint Matthew 5:7, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article. Fifth Beatitude: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
42Gospel according to Saint Matthew 6:19-21, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article; English quotation rendered from the RSV-CE. Treasures in heaven, as opposed to corruptible treasures on earth.
43First Letter to Timothy 6:17-19, official French liturgical translation (AELF) in the source article. To the rich: be rich in good works, generous, "laying up a good foundation for the future."
44Saint Vincent de Paul (1581-1660), conference to the priests of the Mission, quoted from the critical edition of Pierre Coste alone: Correspondance, entretiens, documents, vol. XI (Entretiens aux Missionnaires, vol. 1), Paris, Gabalda, 1920-1925, p. 40. The passage contrasts affective love (feelings) with effective love (acts and service). Any reference to Abelly (1664/1684) is removed, the passage having been impossible to verify there in session.
45"Faire quelque chose de beau pour Dieu" (do something beautiful for God): motto of Saint Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), which became the title of Malcolm Muggeridge's book, Something Beautiful for God, London, Collins, 1971 (transcription of his interview with Mother Teresa).
46"Christ in his distressing disguise": Mother Teresa's words in the same interview (Muggeridge, Something Beautiful for God, 1971) — distressing meaning "in distress, afflicted," not "overwhelming" in the emotional sense.
47Saint John-Marie Vianney, Cure of Ars (1786-1859), appointed to Ars in 1818: a few years later he founded for poor girls an orphanage called "Providence" (Catholic Encyclopedia, "St. John Vianney," newadvent.org/cathen/08326c.htm). To buy the house he sold all he owned — "he sold all that he possessed, and purchased the house for the sum of 20,000 francs" — and from his arrival (9 February 1818), his charity had already stripped him of the wooden bed and blankets inherited from his holy master: "The furniture which he had inherited from his holy master consisted of a wooden bedstead and some coverlets, of which his charity soon dispossessed him" (Abbé Alfred Monnin, Vie du Curé d'Ars, chapter "Fondation de la Providence"; English translation Life of the Curé d'Ars verified on archive.org).
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