...just as hot water [drives] dogs from the kitchen. original: "sicut aqua calida canes de coquina" St. Vincent Ferrer, Sermon 9 on Holy Water.

Consolation. original: "Consolatio" "I will pour out waters," that is, I will pour out consolations. St. Thomas Aquinas on Isaiah 44.

Riches. original: "Divitiæ" The abundance of riches is rightly compared to waters because of their swift flowing away. St. Thomas Aquinas on Revelation 16.

TITLE XIV.

AVARICE; THE COVETOUS MAN.

Hawk, Kite, Eagle. original: "Accipiter, milvus, aquila" These signify plunderers. St. Isidore, chapter 9 on Leviticus.

Jar. original: "Amphora" Zechariah 5. Avarice is that which keeps the mouth of the heart open in its pursuit of things. St. Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job, book 14, chapter 27.

Abscess. original: "Apostema" The covetous man is like an abscess A painful, swollen collection of pus, used here to describe a spiritual "growth" that crowds the heart. that is located nearest to the heart. St. Bonaventure, The Diet of Salvation, title 1, chapter 6.

Water. original: "Aqua" Note on that text: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you"; because God frees us from the waters of desire. Exodus 15: "They sank like lead in the mighty waters"; in these, people are suffocated by greed. St. Thomas Aquinas on Isaiah 43.

Spider’s Web. original: "Aranea tela" Hosea 8. This signifies the instability of worldly things: for it is woven with great labor but is easily destroyed, just like temporal goods. Hence, the covetous are the devil’s spiders. (They set their traps outside; they disembowel themselves within). St. Bonaventure, Sermon 3 for Sexagesima Sunday.

Tree. original: "Arbor" Just as the roots of trees spread out widely from the trunk, in the same way, the image of gold and silver spreads. St. Asterius, Bishop of Amasea, Homily against Avarice.

Withered Hand. original: "Arida manus" By saying the hand was "withered," he reveals the character of an unproductive man. For this reason, the Lord said to him: "Stretch out your hand" (for the purpose of almsgiving). Arnobius on Matthew 16. It signifies the covetous, who, though they are capable of giving, want only to receive, to plunder, and not to be generous; to these it is said that they must stretch out their hands. St. Jerome, cited by St. Thomas Aquinas in the Golden Chain on Mark 3.

Mount Etna. original: "Ætna" Human avarice and desire behave in the same manner as Mount Etna A reference to the volcano's constant burning and consumption.. St. Thomas Aquinas on book 2 of Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy, meter 8.

Bird of Prey. original: "Avis rapax" Just as birds of prey do not fly in flocks but alone, so the covetous man stands alone and has no companion. Ecclesiastes 4: "Woe to him who is alone." St. Bonaventure, The Diet of Salvation, title 1, chapter 6.

Cause and Root original: "Causa, & radix" of all evils is the desire for having more. St. Asterius, cited above. The root of all evils. St. Gregory, Moralia, book 20, chapter 10.

Camel. original: "Camelus" Mystically, these are the rich who have converted to the faith, who have cast off the burden of riches, which is the "hump" of sin. St. Thomas Aquinas on Isaiah 60.

Dog. original: "Canis" The covetous man is like a dog. St. Bonaventure, The Diet of Salvation, title 1, chapter 6. The usurer is like a rabid dog; exiting the house, he bites whomever he finds; so the usurer demands interest from everyone. St. Vincent Ferrer, Sermon 2 on Avarice.

Grace of God. original: "Gratia DEI" The "water of refreshment" is Divine Grace. St. John Damascene, Oration 1 on the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin. He called the grace of the Holy Spirit "living water," that is, life-giving, refreshing, and moving. Theophylact, cited by St. Thomas Aquinas on John 4.

The Street-Walker. original: "Circumforanea" Abandon avarice, that street-walker, that Maenad A reference to the frenzied female followers of Bacchus/Dionysus.—that shameful little prostitute. St. Asterius, cited above.

His Chariot. original: "Currus illius" Avarice travels in a chariot; its four wheels are: inhumanity, faint-heartedness, contempt for God, and forgetfulness of death. Its two horses are: stinginess and rapacity. The charioteer is the love of possessing. Of this chariot it is said in Isaiah 5: "Woe to you who drag along..." St. Bonaventure on Psalm 19.

Dipsas. original: "Dypsas" The dipsas A legendary serpent whose bite was said to cause an unquenchable, fatal thirst., which by biting makes men thirsty even unto death, signifies avarice, through which money is thirsted for until death. St. Bonaventure, Sermon 3 for the First Sunday of Lent.

The Devil’s Horse. original: "Equus diaboli" All who serve avarice are like horses under the chariot of Pharaoh, which is to say, under the rule of the devil; but everyone who serves in charity has become a horse for our Creator. St. Thomas Aquinas on Song of Songs 1.

Hectic Fever. original: "Febris hectica" This is Avarice, which is cured with difficulty, or never. St. Thomas Aquinas, Sermon 2 for the 21st Sunday after Pentecost.

The Daughters of Avarice original: "Filiæ avaritiæ" are twelve: usury, robbery, theft, unjust taxes, the fraud of businessmen, the deception of lawyers, the taking of bribes, simony for the promotion of relatives, the sins of "Anchorites" (that is, those who are promoted through the favor and power of princes), the fraud of merchants, greed for knowledge, and the iniquity of gamblers. These twelve are prefigured by the twelve princes fathered by Ishmael. For Ishmael was an idolater and represents avarice. Genesis 17 and Ephesians 5. St. Bonaventure, The Diet of Salvation, title 1, chapter 6.

Form. original: "Forma" "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed." Romans 12. Know that there is a triple form of the world: 1. Desire for earthly things. 2. Lust of the flesh. 3. Pride of life. Concerning these three, see 1 John 2: "All that is in the world," etc. Know that this triple form gives a triple state of being: for the first form gives an earthly being; the second an animal being; the third a devilish being. Avarice makes a man earthly, lust of the flesh makes him animal, and pride makes him like the devil. St. Thomas Aquinas, Sermon 1 for the Sunday within the Octave of Epiphany.

Kindling. original: "Fomes" The kindling and the head of iniquity is Avarice. St. Ambrose on Psalm 61.

River. original: "Flumen" Rivers run into the sea, and the greedy slip away into the world. St. Augustine on Psalm 23.