Christians and sharers of a heavenly calling, you country folk, and all who come from the towns, you who in concord have gathered at the present feast, — for by a general address I embrace you all, — has each one of you thoughtfully considered and realized why we are assembled? And why are martyrs honored by the construction of notable buildings and by these annual assemblies, and what end did our fathers have in view when they ordained the things we see, and left the established custom to their descendants? Is it not evident to one who concentrates his thought on this subject even for a short time, that these things have been given permanent form to rouse us to pious emulation, and that the feasts constitute public schools for our souls, in order that while we honor the martyrs, we may learn to imitate their sturdy piety; that lending the ear to the gathered teachers, we may learn some useful thing which we did not know before, — either the certainty of some doctrine, or the explanation of some difficult Scripture, — or may hear some discourse that will improve our morals?

But you seem to me to have abandoned your care for virtue, to have forgotten your zeal on behalf of your souls, and to have devoted all your thought to the rubbish of mammon and the business of the markets; some bargaining yourselves; some greedily haggling with competing dealers in order to reduce their prices. But transfer your love to the church, Abandon the love of money, that mad passion of the market. Turn from it as from a disorderly courtesan who, embellished with foreign stuffs and with the brilliant colors of the apothecary, smiles upon the multitude. Love the church, divine and discreet, modestly attired, with look august and grave. For thus Solomon says in the book of Proverbs, “Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.” Do not pass her by with contempt, nor deem the things that lie near us on this table of little worth because it is possible for you to procure them freely. But desire them all the more because we do not sit, as hucksters, with balance and scales; but seek only one gain, — the salvation of the hearer. — Sermon 3: Against Covetousness.