Third Day, The Vice of Avarice (with its Examination)

"Cavete ab omni avaritia;" "Take heed, and beware of all covetousness" (Luke xii. 15).

MEDITATION. I.—DISORDER OF AVARICE.

TO be rich is not an evil in itself; but there is evil in attaching oneself to the goods of this world, in eagerly seeking after them, in placing one's happiness in them, in employing unjust means to procure them. Consider, my soul, the words of St. Paul: "The desire of money is the root of all evils" (1 Tim. vi. 10). Yes, when we suffer ourselves to be domineered over by this desire, we become the slaves of every other vice.

The excessive desire of wealth at first inspires a forgetfulness of God; for God and riches are two masters which cannot be served at one and the same time (Matt. vi. 24). If we resolve to sacrifice to the golden calf, we then cease to think of the true God. Thus, the Apostle calls avarice an idolatry (Eph. v. 5). Forgetfulness of God is always accompanied with indifference to our soul's salvation: the goods of eternity appear to the avaricious as nothing compared with those of time. Hence it comes that many, according to the Apostle, by yielding to this passion, "have made shipwreck concerning the faith" (1 Tim. i. 19).

The love of riches also inspires hardness of heart and insensibility to the miseries of the poor. God, the Sovereign Arbiter of the world, in the distribution which He has made of the goods of life, has, like a wise father of a family, so regulated the use of wealth for those who possess it, that a portion of it ought always to be set aside for the poor. But the avaricious man reverses this law of Divine Providence. He wrongs the poor, by withholding from him his bread; the naked, by denying him covering; the miserable, by refusing him the money which is due to him. He is without mercy. Thus, according to the wise man, he fills up the measure of his wickedness (Eccles.).

Finally, avarice is the parent source of deceit, injustice, robbery, and violence. He who is a slave to this passion, no longer regards good faith, honour, or right. He employs every means at his command, even the most criminal, to increase the treasure upon which he has set his heart. And what is more lamentable still, is that this passion grows and strengthens with the growth of years. Reflection and age tend to weaken the other passions; but avarice appears to be reanimated and to acquire new strength in proportion as life advances. O my God, how cruel is the passion of avarice! It has no pity for the soul, no pity for mankind, no pity for conscience.

II.—PUNISHMENT OF AVARICE.

Our Lord compares riches to thorns, and with reason, for they produce many more torments than joys. They lead man into a multitude of temptations and unceasing cares. They rob him of tranquillity and repose. What hardships to acquire them! What cares to preserve them! What bitter regrets when he loses them! But, Lord, one of the most terrible chastisements whereby Thou punishest this vice of cupidity, is the consequent blindness which renders it incorrigible. Alas! for those who are tainted with this evil, they will not admit they are its slaves. They justify themselves on the ground of necessity or prudence. Sometimes it is to raise a family to rank and respectability, at other times it is a fanciful future, whose chances may be fatal, and against which it is needful to provide. Avarice is a devouring fever, so much the more insensible the more violent it is. Moses beheld the sacred fire burning the bush without consuming it; on the other hand, the profane fire of cupidity consumes and devours the avaricious person, without appearing to burn him, at least in his own eyes.

And yet at the hour of death, what will remain to him of all the riches that he has accumulated with such great care? Nothing, absolutely nothing. He was born poor, he will die poor. Death will relieve him of all temporal goods, and will leave him only his good or evil deeds. He will carry with him nothing else. And will he not forfeit the treasures of heaven, if he has occupied himself only in acquiring those of earth? "What doth it profit a man," says our Lord, "if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul?" (Matt. xvi. 26.) Miser, thou wilt lose thy soul. Wretched man, hast thou not sold it to the devil during thy lifetime?—well, hell will not part with it at thy death. "The rich man died," says the Gospel—the rich man, that is, the covetous man, the man devoured by the love of riches—"and he was buried in hell" (Luke xvi. 20).

III.—PRAYER.

What folly, O my God, to place one's affections in perishable goods, to multiply them without measure, to make one's happiness consist in them, to hoard them up without enjoying them! Is not a man truly blind, not to see how shameful and unreasonable this passion is? Alas! O Lord, I may fall myself into this excess, since others fall into it; I should not be less guilty than they, if Thy grace did not preserve me therefrom. Deign to grant me this grace, O my God! If Thou bestowest riches upon me, permit me not to set my heart upon them. Suffer me not to abuse them, by employing them to gratify my passions, living in softness and delights. It is Thy Will that they should be serviceable to my salvation, by becoming in my hands the resource of the poor; vouchsafe that I may correspond to the desires of Thy Providence by relieving their miseries; and to detach my heart efficaciously from them, grant that I may frequently call to mind the frightful maledictions spoken of in the Gospel against the rich who make not a holy use of Thy benefits, and the glorious recompense promised to those who employ their riches in alleviating the distressed. Amen.

EXAMINATION.

I. In what light have I till now viewed the things of this world? Is it as a secondary means for accomplishing the providential object of my life, or as the chief end towards which all my efforts converge? Have I regarded the kingdom of God and His justice as the principal, and the things of the world as the accessory?

II. Have I been wanting in confidence in the Providence of God, which feeds the birds of the air, clothes the lilies of the field, and promises to supply the necessities of every human creature? Have I sighed after immoderate riches, fabulous treasures, vast possessions? Do I not amuse myself with dreams of unlimited wealth?

III. Have I been guilty of sordid meanness, unseemly parsimony, with a view to increase my prosperity? Have I refused to the poor what my fortune and position prescribed me to give to them? When I have shared with them God's gifts, have I done it reluctantly, with repugnance, without delicacy?

IV. Have I neglected to pay my debts through avarice? Have I been wanting in fairness in buying or selling? Have I tried to deceive my neighbour to his prejudice? When I have found any article, have I carefully sought to discover the owner? Have I restored what I knew belonged to another?

V. Have I regretted to have Masses said for the deceased members of my family, or for the souls in purgatory generally? What sacrifices have I made for the propagation of the Faith and other pious works of Catholic charity?

Conclusion.—Practise almsdeeds from early childhood. Accustom yourselves early, and teach those whom you direct, to practise Christian liberality.

Spiritual Instruction.— God endowed St. Vincent with a great and generous soul, which led him at once to despise the goods of earth, and to pour them freely, when he could, into the lap of the poor. When quite a little child, he obtained in his family permission to distribute the alms, and he acquitted himself of that duty with a joy, prudence, and liberality very rare indeed. When he embraced the religious state, he joyfully abandoned his whole patrimony in favour of the poor. In his sermons he thundered with energy against avarice. "With St. Paul," said he, "we should count the goods of the earth as dung" (Phil. iii. 8). "Dung and other odours," added he, "become fatal if shut up, for they corrupt the air, and breed pestilence among the inhabitants; whereas, on the other hand, if spread on the fields, they become useful by communicating fertility to the land. Hoard up riches," he concludes, "hoard up dung, and they will only serve to infect your soul by the irregular love of perishable goods. Cast them on the dry and barren soil, that is, dispense them to the poor, and they will bring forth, to your profit, the fruits of eternal life."

St. Vincent also preached strongly against injustice, the common root of cupidity, as will be seen by the following miracle, which he wrought in the Isle of Majorca.

While he sojourned in that island, a tavern-keeper one day went to ask him to preach on the obligation of the payment of debts; "for," said he, "I have given credit for several measures of wine, and cannot recover payment." "Very well," answered the Saint, "I shall say how guilty those are who keep what belongs to another; but first of all I should like to know what the wine is like which you sell." The man went for a bottle of wine to show him, and said: "Taste it, Father; you will see that it is of excellent quality." "Pour it on my scapular," said the Saint. "But I shall spoil your holy habit." "That concerns me; do what I tell you." What was the tavern-keeper's astonishment when he saw the contents of his bottle separate into two parts; that which was wine ran upon the ground; the other, which was water fraudulently mixed with wine, remained on the scapular.

"My brother," exclaimed St. Vincent, "you desire that others should pay you what is due; but have not you injured many persons by selling them an adulterated article? and ought not you to repair that injury?" The tavern-keeper being greatly confused, confessed his fault, and made restitution to each of his customers whom he had overcharged. He speedily renounced his trade for ever, and entered the company of penitents who followed the Saint in his apostolic journeys.

Litanies of the Saint.