Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/658

 CHARITY

596

CHARITY

helped to feed the poor, but promoted the doctrine of equality and brotherhood. Here the poor man and the slave sat down with the rich man and the master to partake of a meal to which all had contributed ac- cording to their means: and the wealthy and the powerful were strikingly reminded that possessions and authority were relatively insignificant in the eyes of the common Father of all. Abuses did, indeed, gradually creep in; in many places the love-feast took on' the character of a sumptuous banquet, or was wholly provided by some rich man as a meal for the poorer Christians only : but these changes were largely due to the increase in the size of the congrega- tions,*and to the dangers of meeting openly during the time of persecution.

The most notable achievement of Christian charity in the world of ideas sprang from its teaching concern- ing ownership, and concerning the intrinsic value of the individual. It was in large measure owing to the thoroughness with which the Christians put into prac- tice the truths that God created the earth for all the children of men. and that the human owner is merely the steward and distributor of his possessions, that they were so soon able to triumph over a hostile civilization which was built upon force and selfish- ness. In reproach of that civilization Tertullian could proudly exclaim: "All things are common among us except women". The Christian preaching and exemplification of the truth that not merely the Roman citizen, but every human being is clothed with the dignity of personality, brought about at length the end of slavery, and exerted a considerable influ- ence upon legislation even before the victory of Con- stantine. Trajan encouraged the emancipation of slaves; Hadrian deprived the masters of the right to put them to death; Plutarch and Epictetus held far more humane views concerning the claims of slaves than did Cicero and Cato. Xerva and Trajan ex- tended public assistance to the needy children through- out Italy, instead of confining its benefits to the idlers in the city of Rome, after the manner of all their pred- ecessors. Uhlhorn maintains that as soon as the Church had freed herself from the heresy of Montan- ism, the Christians began to lose their grasp of the higher motives of charity, and to lay stress upon the distinction between the counsels and the Command- ments (op. cit., p. 205 sq.). For the majority, who aimed only to comply with the Commandments, the duties of charity became, like all other duties, less rigorous. The motives of their charitable activity also degenerated into the desire to obtain personal in' lit in the supernatural order, and release from their sins. According to Uhlhorn, these doctrines first found definite statement in the works of Hernias, Cyprian, and Origen; but they soon became the pre- vailing view of the Church, and so continued until the Reformation, when a return was made to the primi- tive teaching (pp. 397, 398). These, however, are the facts: whatever diminution of charitable work occurred is explained by the change in the political and social conditions surrounding the Christians; the distinction between counsel and precept was orig- inated by Chris! Himself (Matt., xix, 11, 12); the meritorious character of almsgiving was likewise taught by Him (Matt.. \w. 31-46, and frequently elsewhere); and both these doctrines, together with thai of almsgiving as expiatory of the temporal pun- ishment due to sin (not of sin itself), are found in all tie early writers, a.s well as in the liturgy of that age (. 1 Itatzinger, op. cit., pp. 89-92).

(3) From Constantine to Gregory the Great— As a result of the freedom and social importance which the Church obtained through the victory' of Constantine, she was called upon to relieve the distress not merely

of her own children, but of the whole population. Thi universal corruption, cruelty, and extravagance

>l the civil officials, the relentless and grinding usury

of the money-lenders and the almost continuous in- vasions of the barbarians, combined to produce a greater amount of wretchedness than had ever before existed in the empire. Over the three classes just mentioned the Church had very little influence, since none of them became fully Christianized until long after Christianity had become the established religion. Among the means available to meet this distress there remained the oblations at Mass, the collections on fast days, and the extraordinary collections. But none of these was relatively as fruitful as in the age of the persecutions. Hence exhortations to alms- giving become much more frequent, and towards the end of the sixth century the law of tithes makes its. appearance A new source of charitable relief was created by the contributions of the emperors, and of the powerful and wealthy generally. Many of the latter were converted on their death-beds, and en- deavoured to atone in their wills for previous neglect of the duty of almsgiving. The bishops not only condemned this postponement of a grave Christian obligation, but refused to accept money which was acquired through dishonesty or extortion, even when it came from the hands of kings. As in the preceding period, the relief of the poor was recognized as a pri- mary function of the Church, and all her revenues, even the sacred vessels, as subject to the demands of charity. Hence arose the custom of referring to the possessions of the Church as "the patrimony of the poor". In the interests of security and system, the church revenues were divided into four parts, of which one went to the bishop, another to the clergy, a third to the maintenance of worship, and the fourth to the relief of distress. This practice became quite general in Rome during the fifth century, whence it gradually extended over the whole Christian world (of. Ratzinger, op. cit., p. 116 sq.). The adminis- tration of charity remained in the hands of the bishop, assisted by the ceconomus, who was usually a priest. The latter was in turn assisted by the deacons, sub- deacons, and deaconesses. In every episcopal city, and in other places of importance, were houses called diaconice, at which and from which assistance was given to the poor, the sick, and the aged. A new institution of charity appears in t he xenodochia, hos- pitals, which originated during the reign of Constan- tine. They were primarily intended for the recep- tion of strangers, but soon undertook the care of the sick, the homeless poor, widows, abandoned children, and other helpless classes. In brief, they performed the tasks that are now divided among hospitals, hotels, almshouses, and asylums. Towards the end of the fourth century they increased very rapidly, and by the time of Gregory the Great were to be found in almost every city of the empire. They were all under the control of the bishop, and were maintained by landed endowments, the general revenues of the Church, and special contributions from the faithful. A form of charity which in the latter half of the Middle Ages becanr the dominant one, came into existence during the period now under consideration. This was the monastic system of poor relief. The precept of labour, which occupied a primary place in the rules both of Basil and Bene- dict, was the means of providing a most strikini; and most beneficent example to an age that had not yet learned the dignity and value of work. And a large share of the product >f the industry of the monks was distributed among the poor. The monasteries sup- plied physicians for all the sick of the neighbourhood, maintained hospitals for all classes of the distressed, reared and educated the young, and during the fifth century were about the only places of refuge for per- sons whose homes lay in the path of the devastating

barbarians. On the other hand, the present period witnessed the decay of the once important agape. More and more they became repasts for the poor