|
|
| Tabula |
Sunday December 07 2025, 22H05
Second Sunday of Advent
Ambrosius, Doct. Past. 3 lect.
Who we are | Recent postings 
|
Abba Joseph, the priest of Ascalon, told us the following story, saying: There was a certain merchant in Ascalon who borrowed from other people much money, and he hired a ship for himself and put out to sea; and a fierce storm rose up against him, and he lost everything which he had with him; but he himself was saved. And when he returned to the city those to whom he owed money seized him, and they took everything which he had in his house, and sold it, and shut him up in prison; but they left him his wife as an act of charity, so that she might beg for him and feed him. And the woman went about from door to door, and she herself begged for bread for her husband; and one day as she was sitting and eating bread with her husband, one of the chief men of the city went in to give alms to the prisoners who were there, and he saw the woman and lusted for her, for she was beautiful. And he sent his servant to call her, and she came thinking that he wished to give her alms; but he took her aside, and said to her, 'Why have you come here?' And she related unto him the whole matter. Then he said to her, 'If I pay one-third of your husband's debt will you lie with me this night?' And that chaste, free woman said to him, ' I have heard that the holy Apostle said, ' A woman has no power over her body, but her husband.' I will first ask my husband, and whatsoever he commands me that will I do.' And having come she told her husband, and he was grieved; and he wept, and said to her, 'Go, and say to him, ' I have told my husband, and it has not pleased him, and I have hope in God that He will not forsake us.'' Now there was in the prison-house a certain thief who had been a highway robber, and he was shut up [in a room] inside beyond them, and at that moment he happened to be sitting at a window which faced them, and he heard everything which they were saying; and with tears he said to himself, 'Woe is me! For although these people are in such great trouble, they are not willing to deliver over their freedom, and accept money, and go forth from this place, but they hold their chastity to be more valuable than riches. What then will I, the wretched one, do? For the thought that there is a God hath never entered my mind, and I never remember that my evil deeds will be judged, and I have committed many wickednesses, and many awful murders. And I know that when the judge comes here he will kill me without asking a question, as is just.' And he answered and said to the woman and her husband, ' Because I see that you preserve the purity of your bodies for Christ's sake, and that you have chosen to remain in great tribulation and not to destroy your chastity, God has put it into my heart to do to you an act of grace which you deserve, and perhaps God will show me mercy through you on the day of judgement. Go you to the northern side of the city wall, and dig there in a certain place, and behold, you will find there a large earthen pot, beneath which is a vessel full of gold. Take it, and pay your debt, and may a great blessing abide with you so that you may live upon it; but I beseech you to pray for me continually, that I may find mercy before God in the day of judgement.' And after three days the judge came to the city, and he ordered them to cut off the head of that thief without [asking any] questions, and after he had been slain, that noble woman said to her husband, 'Will you command me to go and see if that which the thief said is true?' And he said to her, 'Go.' And she went at the time of evening, and by the indications which the thief had given her, she found the place, and having dug a little she found the money, even as he had told her, and she took it and went to her house, giving thanks to God. And she brought it out little by little, and she gave it to the creditors, who thought that she brought it to them as the result of her begging, a little from here and a little from there; then when she had paid her husband's debt, he came forth from prison, thanking and glorifying God. Then Abba Joseph said to us, ' Behold these men, O my brothers! Because they chose to live in affliction, and refused to despise the command of God, God multiplied His grace to them without delay. For even if the woman had listened to that lascivious man he might not, perhaps,have given her what he promised her; but because they preserved their chastity which is pleasing to God, God rewarded her with the whole amount of their debts, and brought them to a greater state of prosperity than [that which they enjoyed] at first. And, my beloved, I think thus concerning Adam when he was in Paradise. Had he kept that little command, honour greater than that which he had at first would have come to him; but when he transgressed the command of his Lord, he fell from and was driven out of the delight and pleasure wherein he lived. May our Lord make us worthy to keep His commandments! Amen.'
|
|
|
