www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Origins of the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy

I know that we have quite a few history buffs on this forum...

Does anyone know the origin of the list of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy? I know that organizations have existed in both East and west that performed many or all of these in varying degrees, but I'm curious as to when or how these were identified.

The corporal works of mercy are as follows:

To feed the hungry;
To give drink to the thirsty;
To clothe the naked;
To harbour the harbourless;
To visit the sick;
To ransom the captive;
To bury the dead.

The spiritual works of mercy are:

To instruct the ignorant;
To counsel the doubtful;
To admonish sinners;
To bear wrongs patiently;
To forgive offences willingly;
To comfort the afflicted;
To pray for the living and the dead.

Does the East have a similar list? If so, can anyone direct me to a source?

Thanks!

Peace -

Gordo

Gordo,

Fascinating question and, though one of those history buffs, I am at a loss for an answer.

Many years,

Neil

Dear Friends,

Actually, the list above appeared in Orthodox prayerbooks in the time of St Peter Mohyla of Kyiv.

The bodily works of mercy are mentioned in the passages on the Final Judgement in the Gospel.

The East simply did not go into lists such as this - which does not mean it didn't want to!

Meyendorff and Ohienko make mention about how Orthodoxy borrowed from Thomas Aquinas with respect to systematic moral philosophy.

"Good works" in the East had a wide definition in spiritual books and prayer and fasting are among the first "good works."

In other words, the notion of "good works" in the West always had a "social" dimension whereas monastics living alone would be seen to be doing "good works" if they only worked on their own salvation.

Alex

Alex -

I knew you would come through for me!

Thank you for your help on this. I wonder, though, if the purpose of the list of the works of mercy is to identify those specific good works which in a more direct and explicit way extend the mercy of Christ to the world, versus all good works which might then include prayer and fasting? That is not to say, of course, that individual prayer and fasting have no social or cosmological dimension to them, but that they are works which are to be primarily hidden.

Just a thought...

Peace -

Gordo

Dear Gordo,

You are probably right!

When I was in a Trappist monastery, the hot issue of debate of the day was the legitimacy of cloistered monastic life.

After all, what "good" did they do in terms of social action, helping the poor and downtrodden etc.?

That question would never come up in Orthodoxy or Orthodox monastic circles.

But, there is a great social action tradition in Orthodoxy - for example, St Dmitri of Rostov sermonizing about the responsibility of the rich to help the poor in time of war (and they did). Or St Paisius Velichkovsky ordering his monasteries to feed and house war-time displaced persons.

Alex