'que donner pour Dieu n'apauvrit jamais un homme." * Thus, then, did riches pour into the Church. It remains to observe the purposes to which they were applied. Tenths were given to the clergy as shining in their divine mission, as representing Christ, "quo fit ut eis non frui, sed uti debeant religiose, pie, et parce.Ӡ "The tithes are to be divided into three portions," say the canonical rutes of Crodogang, Bishop of Metz, decreed in 816, "one for the ornament of the church, another for the poor and for strangers, which is mercifully to be dispensed with all humanity; the third part for the priests themselves." St. Ambrose says to Symmachus, the champion of the Pagan Temples," the Church possesses nothing for herself but faith; the possessions of the Church are the expenses of the poor. Let the Pagans count how many captives their temples have redeemed, what sustenance they have given to the poor, to what exiles they have afforded support." Thus, at the Council of Rheims, in 596, those who retain the goods bequeathed to the Church are styled murderers of the poor.|| Hence in the time of Charles the Bald, while many seculars had taken possession of ecclesiastical property, and were expending the goods of monasteries and churches in secular pomp, some of them proceeding to justify their conduct by representing that riches were a poison to the church, to their specious argument the fathers of the sixth Council of Paris replied in these terms, "It is right that the pastors of the churches should possess the goods of the Church not be possessed by them, and, as Prosper wrote, they ought, while possessing, to despise them, and not possess them for themselves, but for others. It is certain, that the most holy pontiffs who will reign with Christ their Remunerator, whose place we that are unworthy hold, possessed the goods of the Church, not for themselves, but for others; not for their own glory and delight, but rather to the honor of God and to the advantage of the faithful. Let cease, therefore, that ambition which is accustomed to say that the Church of Christ has too much wealth; and let it observe, that however great may be the riches of the Church, so long as they are dispensed in the manner in which they ought to be dispensed, they are never too great."

Mabillon relates, that in the monastery of Cluny, in one day, there was a stipend given to 17, 000 poor, as is stated by Udalricus. In fact, it was one and the same thing to give to the poor and to give to the Church, for all the substance of the Church was the patrimony of the poor, and the money intended for the poor was, therefore, committed to the Church; and this will partly explain why Constantine desired that the clergy should be exempt from paying taxes. In the primitive Church, the bishop was the sole dispenser of the goods of the Church, by the hands of the deacons. Thus we read in the Apostolical Constitutions, which are of great antiquity-"It is for you, O layman, to contribute liberally; it is for

*Desguerrois Hist. du Diocèse de Troyes.

Thomassinus, Pars iii. I. cap. 4.

Crodogangi Regula Canon. Cap. lxxv. apud Dacher. Spicileg. Tom. I.

§ Epist. XXXI. | Hist. de Reims, par Anquetil. ¶ Thomassinus, Pars iii. Lib. I. cap. 16.

the bishop, as the steward and administrator of ecclesiastical matters, to dispense. Beware, however, lest you wish to call the bishop to account; and do not watch his dispensation in what manner he expends it, or when or to whom, or whether well or otherwise; for he has God to call him to account, who hath delivered this procuratorial office into his hands, and desired to commit to him this great sacerdotal dignity." Thus we read that St. Cyril of Alexandria, protested against any attempt to call bishops to account.* But while the bishop had the sole dispensing power, he was bound to follow the canonical law of dispensation, and if he swerved from it, he might be summoned to answer before the metropolitan. This law divided the goods of the Church into four parts, one being for the poor, one for the clergy, one for the bishop, to enable him to exercise hospitality, and to redeem captives; and one for the repair of churches. In the cathedrals of Spain, was a threefold division, to the bishop, to the clergy, and to the repair and support of buildings; for what was received by the bishop and clergy, contributed to the maintenance of the poor. To attempt to enter upon any detail as to the distribution of ecclesiastical property, would not only lengthen this present discussion beyond proper limits, but lead me upon ground which I shall have to explore minutely in a future place, when we shall have to review the character of the clergy in these ages. Yet before we interrupt the subject, it may be well to give some idea of the extent of ecclesiastical charity, by stating a few instances. When the provinces of Gaul and Italy had been laid waste by the Goths, St. Patiens, archbishop of Lyons, contributed an incredible quantity of corn, which he caused to be conveyed from parts beyond sea. Sidonius Apollinaris congratulates the pontiff upon his munificence. "You sent corn gratuitously to these desolated provinces. We have seen the ways obstructed by your corn. We have seen on the banks of the Arar and the Rhone, not merely one granary which you had filled, you have filled rather two rivers than two ships." From the laws of Theodosius Valentinian and Theodoric, it appears that the Church possessed great ships, but it was for the sole purpose of assisting the poor, by procuring corn and other provisions for them. It was in this manner that the church of Alexandria, under the holy patriarch John the Almoner, nourished, besides a numerous clergy, 7500 poor. Victor Vitensis says of Eugene, bishop of Carthage, during the Vandal persecution," He never kept money in his possession, unless it was offered so late in the evening that nocturnal darkness had closed the labors of the day; he reserved for himself only what was sufficient for the day." The blessed Honoratus, who, after living in the monastery of Lerins, became bishop of Arles, used to distribute whatever he received without reserving any part even for his convent. Hilary, his successor in that see, says of him, "Exhausta est aliquando dispensationis substantia; fides nunquam." St. Chrysostom says that laymen must not hold themselves dispensed from hospitality to the poor, because the churches re

* Can. Tom. V. Par. ii.

§ Lib. II.

Thomassinus, Pars iii. Lib. II. cap. 13. Lib. VI. Epist. 12.

ceive them. "Let every Christian have a hospice in his own home, a house in which Christ may enter. Say this is Christ's room."* The Romans having gained a great victory over the Persians, and taken 7000 prisoners, whom they kept in chains and dungeons, Acacius, bishop of Amida, hearing that they suffered also from hunger, obtained the consent of his clergy tomelt down all the gold and silver vessels of his Church, to redeem them from chains and hunger. So they returned back to Persia. "The thing done by Acacius being known, the king of Persia was seized with admiration, that the Romans should labor to conquer in both war and benefits, and the king desired to see the bishop." When Atticus, bishop of Constantinople, had sent 360 pieces of gold to the Church of Nicene, he advised the priest Calliopus, who was to dispense them, not to give to those who made an art of begging, but to the ingenuous poor. The distribution of corn for the use of the poor, which had been committed to the Church by Constantine through all the imperial cities, was revoked by the emperor Julian, but again renewed by Jovian, his successor, and confirmed by Marcian, from whose edict it appears that whatever was conferred upon the Church was conferred upon the poor.‡

St. Gregory the Great used to give gold and habits to strangers natalitio apostolorum vel suo, that is, on the anniversary of his consecration. His wonderful charity is described in detail by John the Deacon, who wrote his life. When the Persians laid waste Syria, vast multitudes of every condition and sex fled to Alexandria, when the holy patriarch, John, received them with wonderful charity, and when some of his clergy asked him what they were to do when men dressed in splendid habits asked alms of them, he replied that he was the dispenser of Christ, from whom he had these orders, "Omni petenti te da." These are wonderful things, but still more wondrous was the sweetness and humility which accompanied his bounty. On one occasion, seeing a poor person appear ashamed to receive so great a gift, he encouraged him, saying, "nondum sanguinem meum pro te, frater, effudi, sicut mandavit mihi Dominus meus et omnium Christus Deus."§

The sixth Council of Paris, in 829, condemns the accumulation of riches in the Church, because the Church always is in want as long as there are poor in want. In a general convention of abbots in 817, it was decreed that of all the alms which were conferred upon the churches and upon monks, the tenth part should be given to the common poor. In the more opulent churches under Charlemagne and Lewis the Pious, two parts out of three of all oblations were given to the poor, and the third was reserved for the nourishment of the monks and clergy; but in churches which were less rich, an equal portion was allotted to the poor and to the clergy. The Council at Paris in 1212 enjoined the practice of hospitality to and at the same time taught, that what was occasionally expended upon

the

poor

*In Acta hom. 45.

§ Vita ejus, cap. 29.

Socrat. Lib. VII. cap. II.

Cod. Lib I. Tit. I. leg. xii. Conc. Gall. Tom, II. p. 429. Capitulio Carl. Mag. Lib. I. c. 87.

the rich might be for the use of the poor, when it propitiated the favor of the rich, and inclined them to love and liberality. Such were the gifts of the holy Vuanus, Archbishop of Hamburg, as appears from the Chronicle of Adam, "Ut ferocissimos reges Aquilonis hilaritate suorum munerum ad omnia quæ voluit, benignos obedientesque haberet."* When a great famine afflicted Rome, Pope Innocent III. nourished 8000 poor, besides those whom he sustained in fixed houses. On his elevation to the Pontificate he gave to the poor all oblations which came to him from the Church of St. Peter, and the tenth of all other supplies, and also all offerings which were presented at his feet in the ancient manner. It would be endless to relate the charity of the blessed Antoninus, Archbishop of Florence, St. Thomas of Villeneuve, Archbishop of Valentia, St. Laurence Justinian, the first of the Venetian Patriarchs, St. Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, &c. The decrees of Cardinal Pole, Legate of the Apostolic see in England in 1566, reminded the clergy of the charge of Pope Gregory to St. Augustin, the Apostle of England, respecting the distribution of ecclesiastical goods, that they should be dispensed to the poor, and for the purpose of educating youth in schools, to the glory of God and utility of man; that the ministers of holy Church should be the fathers of the poor, of orphans, and widows. And the Council of Trent renewed all the ancient canons prohibiting the expenditure of the goods of the Church upon relations and friends of the dispensers.‡

When the son of a certain count was elected bishop, Peter of Blois, fearing the temptations that his rank and family would occasion to him, wrote a long letter of counsel to him, "Ad honorem vocavit te Deus propter onera, non ad multiplicandum numerum, familiæ, aut equorum, non ad dandas parentibus dignitates, sed ad dandam scientiam salutis plebi ejus.§-Si quia filius comitis aut consobrinus regis es, manu effusiore teneris expendere, necessitas hæc Christi patrimonium non contingit." Yet this very bishop became so charitable and liberal, that Peter himself wished that he would moderate it, or rather regulate it better.||

In the general chapter of the Cistercian order in 1134, in whose churches the splendor of monastic poverty shone most remarkably, it was decreed that the goods of the Church were not to be expended upon the vessels and furniture of their temples, but upon the poor. Yet St. Bernard, even in his censure, furnished an apology for the magnificence of other churches, "Dicite pauperes in templo quid facit aurum, &c. Expenditur, ut augeatur ; et effusio copiam parit. Ipso quippe visu sumptuosarum, sed mirandarum vanitatum, accenduntur homines magis ad offerendum, quam ad adorandum. Sic opes opibus hauriuntur, sic pecunia pecuniam trahit, quia nescio quo pacto ubi amplius divitiarum cernitur, ibi offertur libentius. Ostenditur pulcherrima forma sancti, currunt homines ad osculandum invitantur ad donandum." Well does Thomassinus observe here,

* Baron. An. 1013. + Decreto 5. + Sess. 25, 61. § Epist. 15.

| Epist. 20.

:

after relating the zeal of St. Bernard, of Pope Alexander III., of Hugo Victorinus, and of Peter of Cluny, in condemning the acquisition of wealth in monasteries, "Cautiously and wisely were these decrees instituted and yet we ought not to be angry at these holy congregations if, in course of time, other counsels were followed which seemed to militate against them, while they departed not from the rule of piety and sobriety, which they always professed, that each, contented with necessaries, might dispense the superfluity to the poor. It is not of such consequence whether the riches of these abbots and bishops were little or great. Virtue is not always a faithful companion of poverty, nor does vice necessarily accompany wealth. It often happens that even heroic virtue arises from wealth; but it is of the greatest consequence that these riches should be dispensed according to canonical custom; and with that practice, they who abounded in riches might have retained all that belongs to evangelical poverty." Pope Innocent III., in this age of monastic and episcopal wealth, changed his golden and silver vessels into wood and earthen, and would not suffer more than three dishes. upon his table.* And the Chapter of Rheims went so far as even to sell many reliquaries of gold and silver to contribute to the ransom of king John.† But when Francis I. required the canons of that cathedral to sell for his use many pieces of silver plate belonging to it, saying that he would secure them a rental for the sum obtained, they replied, "that the king might dispose of their treasure, but as for us," they continued, "we should regard as a sacrilege the converting to our own profit any thing which had been consecrated to God." The king was admonished, and restrained his impatience.‡

When the plague and famine desolated Rheims, in the year 1521, Robert de Lenoncourt, the archbishop, refused to abandon his languishing flock: his granaries were open to the poor; every day he fed three hundred people in his palace, and he made a general remission of all debts due to him.§ During the famine in Normandy, consequent upon the wars of England and France, the abbey of Jumièges was a resource for a multitude of unhappy people. There was another similar occasion in 1538, when the citizens of Rouen would have perished by famine had it not been for the generosity of the same monks. At this very time their farms and granaries were pillaged by riotous people, and an order was dispatched to hang a troop of the seditious who had committed this outrage, but the abbot, François de Fontenai excused them, saying, that it was to be ascribed to the distress of the times, and petitioned for them, and succeeded in obtaining their pardon.** An instance of the same kind is related of St. Remi, who, foreseeing a year of scarcity, had made large provisions of corn for the sake of feeding his people. For this action the holy man was ridiculed and reviled by some, who used to say over their cups, "What means this old man, this jubilee priest? (for

*Rainaldus, An. 1216. Anquetil. Hist. de Reims, Lib. III. 236. Id. Lib. IV. 100. § Id. Lib. IV. 96. | Deshayes, Hist. de l'Abbaye de Jumièges,61. ¶ Id. 118. ** Id. 118.