Regulae in Erogandis Eleemosynis Servandae, et de Scrupulis

Regulae in Erogandis Eleemosynis Servandae, et de Scrupulis

Some guidelines should be followed when distributing alms. First, if you want to give something to people, or to those with whom you feel a stronger bond of friendship, you should pay attention to four rules that we have mentioned regarding choices. Therefore, the first rule is that your feelings toward such people should arise from a genuine love for God, which I must certainly feel within myself, as the root and cause of any affection I have for relatives and friends, and I should strive to ensure that this principle shines through in my current dealings. Second, I should consider if there's anyone else whose situation is similar to mine, or if I desire to reach a level of perfection that they have, and I should ask them for guidance regarding this matter of giving. Therefore, I should also be willing to help others in the same way. Third, I should consider what I would want to have done regarding this matter if my life were now coming to an end. Therefore, I will decide what needs to be done in the present moment. Fourth, I should consider what I would want to have done about these matters on the day of judgment. And now, without a doubt, I will choose what I prefer. Fifth, whenever I feel my heart inclined more toward people connected to me by some human bond, I will diligently reflect on the four rules mentioned earlier and examine my feelings in light of them, thinking nothing about almsgiving or the distribution to be made, until I remove from my heart anything that isn’t right. Sixth, although resources dedicated to divine worship and ecclesiastical use can be taken without blame by someone called to this ministry, many still tend to experience scruples when determining a fair portion of their own expenses; therefore, it is worthwhile to arrange their life according to the previous rules. Seventh, for the reasons mentioned and others, when managing those things that pertain to one's own person, condition, household, or family, it is best and safest for each person taking on the care of distribution to subtract as much as possible from their own comfort and to conform themselves closely to the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, the supreme Pontiff; since at the third Carthaginian Council, in which St. Augustine participated, it was decreed that the possessions of a bishop should be humble and poor. The same applies in any state or way of life, taking into account the circumstances of the people and their conditions, as exemplified in marriage by St. Joachim and St. Anna, who, dividing their resources each year into three parts, gave one to the poor, dedicated another to the ministry of the Temple and divine worship, and reserved the third for their own needs. Some noteworthy points about the scruples that the devil injects into the soul are worth mentioning. The first, commonly called a scruple, occurs when we conclude something is a sin based on our own free will and judgment, even though it is not a sin, or when someone, noticing they have stepped on a cross made of straw on the ground, thinks they have committed a crime. However, this should not be called a scruple, but rather an erroneous judgment. Secondly, a scruple is properly said to arise when, after stepping on a cross made of straw, or after a thought, word, or some action, we experience an external suspicion of having committed a sin. And although another thought may come to mind that we have not sinned at all, we still feel a certain ambiguity and disturbance of the mind, which is evidently thrust upon us by the devil. Third, the first type of scruple, improperly called as such, is completely to be avoided, as it is full of error. On the other hand, for a time (especially when the improvement of life is recent), it is quite beneficial for a soul that is vacant of spiritual matters, as it remarkably purges it and removes it from any semblance of sin, according to that saying of St. Gregory: "It is the mark of good minds to recognize guilt where there is none." Fourth, the enemy often cunningly observes what kind of conscience each soul has, whether it is more coarse or more delicate. And if he finds a delicate one, he tries even harder to make it more delicate, and to reduce it to a certain extreme of anxiety, so that he may thus throw it down, troubled, from its spiritual progress. For example, if he knows a soul that consents to no sin, whether mortal or venial, and not even to the shadow of voluntary sin (so to speak), then, since he cannot present to it a true account of sin, he strives to lead it to believe that a sin exists which really does not, such as might arise from some word or a sudden thought. He aims to make the soul, or its conscience, more coarse, so that it neglects the venial sins it previously overlooked and now cares little for mortal sins, and day by day pays less attention to them. Fifth, for the soul to progress in the spiritual path, it’s necessary to aim for the opposite of the direction the enemy tries to pull it in: if he attempts to make the conscience more lax, let it become stricter; or let it relax in response if the demon wants to restrain it too much. For this reason, it will happen that, by avoiding the dangers of both extremes, the soul will remain in a certain quiet and secure state in the middle. Sixth, whenever a person wants to say or do something that aligns with the Church's practice or the understanding of our ancestors, and that aims for the glory of God, an external suggestion may arise to dissuade them from saying or doing that thing, either by appealing to vain glory or by some deceptive reasoning of evil: then the mind must be lifted to God. If it seems that what is said or done is directed toward His glory, or that it certainly is not contrary to it, then one should firmly resist such thoughts and respond to the adversary who is troubling us, as Saint Bernard said: 'I did not begin for you, nor will I end for you.'