Page:Theartofdyingwel00belluoft.djvu/86

 in the same book the angel Raphael says, " For alms delivereth from death, and the same is that which purgeth away sins, and maketh to find mercy and life everlasting." And Daniel said to Nabuchodonoser: "Wherefore, king, let my counsel be acceptable to thee, and redeem thou. thy sins with alms, and thy iniquities with works of mercy to the poor, perhaps he will forgive thy offences." (chap, iv.)

Alms also, if they be given by a just man, and with true charity, are meritorious of eternal life: to this the Judge of the living and the dead beareth witness: " Come ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat," &amp;c. And he answer ed: " Amen, I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me." (St. Matthew xxv.)

Thirdly, almsdeeds are, as it were, like baptism, because they do away both with the sin and the punishment thereof, according to the words of Ecclesiasticus: "Water quencheth a flaming fire, and alms resisteth sins." (chap, iii.) Water entirely extinguishes fire, so that not even any smoke remains. That almsdeeds are of this nature, many holy fathers teach, as St. Cyprian, St. Ambrose, St. Chrysostom, St. Leo, whose words it is unnecessary to quote. Such, then, is one great advantage, which ought to enflame