St. Augustine on the Beginning of Lent

Before I go offline for Lent, I want to share some wisdom from St. Augustine, from an early sermon of his (probably while he was a presbyter and before being ordained a bishop, according to Edmund Hill, OP), given on the beginning of Lent.  Among other things you'll see here a common theme in Augustine's Lenten preaching, which is that what is saved by fasting should then be given as alms to the poor.

Following is the concluding paragraph of Sermon 210:

First and foremost, clearly, please remember the poor, so that what you withhold from yourselves by living more sparingly, you may deposit in the treasury of heaven.  Let the hungry Christ receive what the fasting Christian receives less of.  Let the self-denial of one who undertakes it willingly become the support of the one who has nothing.  Let the voluntary want of the person who has plenty become the needed plenty of the person in want.

Again, let there be in mild-mannered and humble spirits a compassionate ease in forgiving.  Let the one who has done an injury ask pardon; let the one who has suffered an injury grant pardon; so that we may not be possessed by Satan, whose triumph is the discord of Christians.  And this, you see, is an almsdeed of great value and profit, to forgive your fellow servant a debt, so that you may be released from your debts by the Lord.  The heavenly teacher recommended each sort of good work to his disciples, when he said, Forgive, and you will be forgiven; and it will be given to you (Lk 6:37-38).  Remember that servant on whom the master piled back the whole debt he had forgiven, because the man didn't pay back to his fellow servant owing him a hundred dollars the same kindness as he had received over the ten billion which he had owed.

This kind of good work admits no excuses, because the means required consists solely of the will.  Someone can say, "I can't fast, or my stomach will give me trouble."  You can also say, "I would like to give to the poor, but I haven't got anything to spare"; or "I've only got so much, and I'm afraid of being left in want if I give anything away" - although even over these good works people often make false excuses for themselves, because they can't find genuine ones.  Who, though, could possibly say, "The reason I didn't grant him pardon when he asked, is that my health prevented me, or because I didn't have a hand to hold it out to him with"?  Forgive, in order to be forgiven yourself.  Here the body isn't needed at all, no part of the body has to be brought to the assistance of the soul in order for what is being asked to be granted.  It's all done by the will, completed by the will.  Do it without worrying, give it without worrying; it won't give you a pain anywhere in the body, you won't find you have anything less in the house.

But now then, brothers and sisters, just see what kind of evil it must be not to forgive your repentant brother or sister, when you're commanded to go on loving your enemy.  That being so, since it is written, Do not let the sun go down upon your anger (Eph 4:26), just ask yourselves, dearly beloved, whether people should really be called Christians, who at least in these days are unwilling to put an end to animosities, which they should never have indulged in the first place.