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St. Augustine
Enchiridion
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CHAPTER XIX - Almsgiving and Forgiveness


70. We must beware, however, lest anyone suppose that unspeakable crimes such as they
commit who "will not possess the Kingdom of God" can be perpetrated daily and then daily
redeemed by almsgiving. Of course, life must be changed for the better, and alms should be
offered as propitiation to God for our past sins. But he is not somehow to be bought off, as if we
always had a license to commit crimes with impunity. For, "he has given no man a license to
sin"
154 - although, in his mercy, he does blot out sins already committed, if due satisfaction
for them is not neglected.

71. For the passing and trivial sins of every day, from which no life is free, the everyday
prayer of the faithful makes satisfaction. For they can say, "Our Father who art in heaven," who
have already been reborn to such a Father "by water and the Spirit."
155 This prayer completely
blots out our minor and everyday sins. It also blots out those sins which once made the life of
the faithful wicked, but from which, now that they have changed for the better by repentance,
they have departed. The condition of this is that just as they truly say, "Forgive us our debts"
(since there is no lack of debts to be forgiven), so also they truly say, "As we forgive our
debtors"
156; that is, if what is said is also done. For to forgive a man who seeks forgiveness is
indeed to give alms.

72. Accordingly, what our Lord says - "Give alms and, behold, all things are clean to
you"
157 - applies to all useful acts of mercy. Therefore, not only the man who gives food to
the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothing to the naked, hospitality to the wayfarer, refuge to the
fugitive; who visits the sick and the prisoner, redeems the captive, bears the burdens of the weak,
leads the blind, comforts the sorrowful, heals the sick, shows the errant the right way, gives
advice to the perplexed, and does whatever is needful for the needy
158 - not only does this
man give alms, but the man who forgives the trespasser also gives alms as well. He is also a
giver of alms who, by blows or other discipline, corrects and restrains those under his command,
if at the same time he forgives from the heart the sin by which he has been wronged or offended,
or prays that it be forgiven the offender. Such a man gives alms, not only in that he forgives and
prays, but also in that he rebukes and administers corrective punishment, since in this he shows
mercy.
Now, many benefits are bestowed on the unwilling, when their interests and not their
preferences are consulted. And men frequently are found to be their own enemies, while those
they suppose to be their enemies are their true friends. And then, by mistake, they return evil for
good, when a Christian ought not to return evil even for evil. Thus, there are many kinds of
alms, by which, when we do them, we are helped in obtaining forgiveness of our own sins.

73. But none of these alms is greater than the forgiveness from the heart of a sin committed
against us by someone else. It is a smaller thing to wish well or even to do well to one who has
done you no evil. It is far greater - a sort of magnificent goodness - to love your enemy, and
always to wish him well and, as you can, _do_ well to him who wishes you ill and who does you
harm when he can. Thus one heeds God's command: "Love your enemies, do good to them that
hate you, and pray for them that persecute you."
159
Such counsels are for the perfect sons of God. And although all the faithful should strive
toward them and through prayer to God and earnest endeavor bring their souls up to this level,
still so high a degree of goodness is not possible for so great a multitude as we believe are heard
when, in prayer, they say, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Accordingly, it
cannot be doubted that the terms of this pledge are fulfilled if a man, not yet so perfect that he
already loves his enemies, still forgives from the heart one who has sinned against him and who
now asks his forgiveness. For he surely seeks forgiveness when he asks for it when he prays,
saying, "As we forgive our debtors." For this means, "Forgive us our debts when we ask for
forgiveness, as we also forgive our debtors when they ask for forgiveness."

74. Again, if one
seeks forgiveness from a man against whom he sinned - moved by his sin to seek it - he should
no longer be regarded as an enemy, and it should not now be as difficult to love him as it was
when he was actively hostile.
Now, a man who does not forgive from the heart one who asks forgiveness and is repentant
of his sins can in no way suppose that his own sins are forgiven by the Lord, since the Truth
cannot lie, and what hearer and reader of the gospel has not noted who it was who said, "I am
the Truth"
160? It is, of course, the One who, when he was teaching the prayer, strongly
emphasized this sentence which he put in it, saying: "For if you forgive men their trespasses,
your Heavenly Father will also forgive you your trespasses. But if you will not forgive men,
neither will your Father forgive you your offenses."
161 He who is not awakened by such great
thundering is not asleep, but dead. And yet such a word has power to awaken even the dead.





154 Ecclus. 15:20.



155 John 3:5.



156 Matt. 6:9-12.



157 Cf. Luke 11 :41.



158 This is a close approximation of the medieval lists of "The Seven Works of Mercy." Cf. J.T. McNeill, A History of the Cure of Souls, pp. 155, 161. (Harper & Brothers, 1951, New York.)



159 Matt. 5:44.



160 John 14:6.



161 Matt. 6:14, 15.





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