There are fourteen gifts of God, the all merciful; seven of them are bodily, and seven spiritual. The seven bodily gifts are: 1. to satiate the hungry; 2. to quench the thirst of the thirsty; 3. to clothe the naked; 4. to harbor the stranger; 5. to inquire after the sick, and to console the captive; 6. to procure liberty to prisoners; 7. to bury the dead. The spiritual acts are as follow: 1. to instruct the ignorant; 2. to advise the poor _in spirit_; 3. to comfort the heart of the mourners; 4. to admonish the sinners; 5. to forgive injuries inflicted; 6. to show forbearance to the deformities of nature; 7. to offer pious prayers for the living and the dead. The Christians say that every necessitous individual is worthy of charities, to whatever religion or sect he may belong, but the person of the same faith, or a relative, is more deserving of favor. It is a sin, when by choice we perpetrate an action which is in opposition to the pleasure of God, and when we abandon an act which we are commanded to perform. A capital sin is it for a man, by his own choice, to commit an abominable act and deed, such as the unrighteous spilling of blood, and whoredom. Of venial sins seven are enumerated: such as stealing some slight thing without a perfect concurrence of the will in it. The summary of the capital sins is as follows: pride, avarice, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth.
Pride consists in esteeming one’s self higher than others, whence proceed petulance, which displays itself in vaunting one’s self and despising others, and in dispute, and disobedience. The remedies to be applied to it are trust, submission, and obedience to another; these are suitable means by which the hateful mind may be subdued.
Avarice is a desire without measure of the brittle things of the world, and the bad consequences which result from it are theft, deception in buying and selling, lies, and perjury: the remedies for it may be good works and liberality.
Lust is an unbounded desire of sensual pleasures; but the way and scandalous display of it is the defilement of women: the remedy to be sought for counteracting it is chastity.
Anger is a desire without measure of vengeance upon somebody, and the display of it is hatred of God’s creatures, insulting speeches against men, contentions, and a total want of mildness: the remedies for it are patience, forbearance, and the reflection that, for our crimes and shameful acts, we are deserving of the adversity which comes upon us, and to keep before our sight the Lord Jesus and his apostles, who showed nothing but mercy and kindness to those very men who caused their distress and affliction.