Sermons on the Song of Songs

not refer to God, is a theft from Him of which you are guilty. What ground have you for glorying, what ground, I repeat, you who art decaying dust? Is it the sanctity of your life ? But it is the Spirit that sanctifieth ; and when I say 1 spirit ' I mean not your spirit, but the Spirit of God.

Even though you should be renowned for signs and wonders, they are performed by your hand indeed, but by the power of God only. Or does the popular favour attend you, because you have, perhaps, spoken something good in itself, or elegantly worded ? But it was Christ who bestowed upon you a mouth and wisdom. For what is your tongue but as the pen of the writer ? And this very thing you have received only as a loan ; it is a talent entrusted to you to be returned with usury. If you are found untiring in the work committed to you, faithful in bringing forth fruit [of the grace of God], you shall receive a reward for your labour. But if it be otherwise the talent shall be taken from you — its interest being required, nevertheless — and you shall be called a wicked and slothful servant. Every praise, therefore, on account of good actions, and of the manifold graces which are made apparent in you, is to be referred to Him who is the Author and Giver of all that is good and laudable. And these must be referred to Him, not in appearance only, as is the wont of hypocrites, or as a matter of form and custom, as by those who are worldly

[secularibus, people in the world], nor even by a kind of necessity, as beasts of burden are obliged to bear their loads, but as it becometh saints, with faithful sincerity, with careful devotion, with grateful but restrained and moderated cheerfulness. Therefore, while offering to Him the sacrifice of praise, and performing our vows from day to day, let us endeavour, with all the watchfulness in our power, to join intelligence to our accustomed service, fervour to our intelligence, gladness to our fervour, gravity to our gladness, humility to our gravity, freedom of spirit to our humility, so that in the meantime we may go forward with the free steps of a mind purified from evil passions, and pass, in a sense, out of ourselves by the extraordinary fervour of our desires and affections, to feel spiritual joys and gladsome delights, to dwell in the light of God, in the ineffable sweetness of the Holy Ghost, and may show that we are of those whom the Prophet had in view when he said : They shall walk, O Lord, in the Digitized by Google PRAISE AND GLORY IS ALWAYS TO BE RENDERED UNTO GOD 73 light of Thy countenance ; in Thy Name they shall rejoice all the day, and in Thy justice they shall be exalted (Ps. lxxxviii. i6, 17).

8. But perhaps someone will say to me : What you say is good, but it would be still better, that you should continue to speak of your precise subject Wait a little, I reply ; I am not unmindful of it. Have we not taken in hand to expound these words : Thy Name is as oil poured forth f This is our subject ; this our endeavour.1 I leave you to judge whether the preliminary observations which I have made were necessary. Now, listen to these few words, in which I will show that they are not unconnected with the subject. Do you not remember that in treating of the bosom of the Spouse, the last thing referred to was the sweetness of the perfumes it exhaled?

What, then, follows more clearly than that the Spouse should recognise that this same fragrance is to be attributed to the gift of her Bridegroom, that she may not be thought to arrogate it to herself?

Now, you know well that all I have said tends towards that object. ' The fragrance/ she says, * which is exhaled from me, and which renders my perfume pleasing, I ascribe not to my own efforts, or my own merits, but acknowledge that it is due to Thy bounty, O my Bridegroom ; Thou whose adorable Name is as oil poured out.1 Thus much for the sense of the text. 9. As to the explanation of the verse, which has given me the occasion to speak to you at such length on the detestable vice of ingratitude, it requires another occasion, and the commencement of another sermon. At present it is sufficient for me to suggest to you one reflection. If the Bride does not venture to attribute anything to herself of all her virtues, and of ail her graces, how much less should maidens young and untried ? and with these we may, so to speak, compare ourselves. Let us, then, in conclusion, follow the footprints of the Bride, and say with her : Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us ; but unto Thy Name five glory (Ps. cxv. 1). Let us say it, not with tongue and in word only, but in deed and in truth, lest (which I greatly fear) those words should be spoken of us also : They loved Him with their mouth, and with their heart they lied unto Him : but their lieart was not right with Him, nor were they counted faithful in His covenant (Ps. lxxvii. 36, 37). Let us say it, then, let us say it, with a voice that comes rather from the depths of the heart, than merely from the lips : Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to Thy Holy Name (not, observe, to our own), and may glory (not in our own praise, but) in Thy praise (Ps. cv. 47) for ever and ever. Amen. unintended and fortuitous. — Ed. Digitized by Google 74

N Judah is God known: His Name is great in Israel (Ps. lxxv. i.).

The people (of the Gentiles) who walked in darkness have seen a ^ great light (Is. ix. 2), which was in Judah and in Israel, and have desired to approach it, and be enlightened ; so that those who once were not a people, now became the people of God (1 Pet. ii. 10) ; and one corner-stone united together the two walls which came from different sides, so that, thenceforth, the place of his abode was a place of peace. That which inspired [the nation] with confidence was the voice of invitation which it had heard : Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with His people (Rom. xv. 10). Therefore He desired them to draw near ; but the Synagogue forbade them, asserting the Church gathered out of the nations to be unclean, and unworthy of a favour so great Then, reproaching it as a sink of idolatry, and blaming the blindness of its ignorance, said [the Jew] : In what way have you merited this favour ? Touch me not To which the other replied : Why must I not do so ? Is He the God of the Jews only ? Is He not also of the Gentiles ? (Rom. iii. 29). And if merit is wanting in me, yet assuredly pity and compassion is not wanting in Him. He is not only righteous, but also compassionate O Lord, let Thy tender mercies come unto me, and I shall live ; and again she says : Many, O Lord, are Thy mercies : quicken me according to Thy judgment (Ps. cxix. 77, 156), which, inasmuch as it is moderated and restrained, is itself mercy. What, then, will the Lord so just and so merciful do, if there be one who glories in the Law, and proudly attributes righteousness to himself ; who supposes that he does not need mercy, and despises another who does need it; and, again, another who is aware of his offences, who confesses his un worthiness, who prays God not to deal with him according unto judgment, but to extend to him the Divine mercy ? What, I say, will the Judge do, and that Judge one to whom judgment and mercy are equally familiar, so that neither of the two belongs to Him more than the other? What can possibly be more appropriate, than that He should deal with each according to his prayer, and dispense judgment to the one and to the other mercy ? The Jew seeks judgment ; let him be judged ; but let the Gentiles honour God for His mercy.

And it is judgment that those who despise the merciful righteousness of God, and desire to set up their own righteousness (which assuredly accuses, not justifies, them), should be left to that same righteousness of their own, to be overthrown rather than justified. 2. For the Law, which has never rendered anyone perfect, is a yoke which neither their fathers nor they have ever been able to Digitized by Google 75 bear. But the Synagogue is strong ; it cares not for an easy yoke, nor for a light burden. It is in health ; it has no need of a physician, nor of the anointing of the Spirit. It trusts in the Law ; let the Law deliver it, if the Law has the power. But there has been no Law bestowed which is able to give life ; nay, moreover, it is death that the Law gives : for the Utter killeth (2 Cor. iii. 6). Therefore (said the Lord) I say unto you, that ye shall die in your sins (John viii. 24).

This, then, O Synagogue, is the judgment which you, in your error, are clamouring for. O blinded and obstinate ! you shall be left to your error, until the fulness of the Gentiles, which you proudly despise, and reject by envy, shall come in, and you shall acknowledge as God Him who is known in Judaea, whose Name is great in Israel.

For the rendering of this judgment it is that Jesus has come unto this world, that they who see not might see, and that they who see may become blind (John ix. 39). Yet this judgment is but in part, for the Lord will not cast off His people (Ps. xciv. 14) altogether ; He preserves to Himself as a seed His Apostles, and the multitude of the believers, who were of one heart and of one soul. He will not reject them to the end, but will save a remnant. He will again take to Himself Israel His servant, remembering His mercy (Luke i. 54), so that mercy shall not fail to accompany judgment, even there where it finds no place. Otherwise, if He had treated them according to their merits, He would inflict judgment without mercy upon those who show no mercy (James ii. 13). For Judah hath in abundance the oil of the knowledge of God, and keeps it jealously to herself, as a miser, as it were in a closely-sealed vessel. I ask for it, and she does not take pity upon me ; nor will she even lend it. She desires to possess alone the worship, the knowledge, the great Name of God, not because she is jealous for her own happiness, but because she

is envious of mine. 3. Therefore do Thou, O Lord, give judgment in my cause that Thy great Name may be henceforth magnified, and thy oil Divine be multiplied still more. Let it rise, let it bubble up, let it be poured forth and roll among the nations, and let all flesh have part in the salvation of God. Wherefore, as the ungrateful Jew desires, should the unction of salvation remain upon the beard of Aaron alone ? It is not for the beard, but for the head. Nor does the head exist for the beard alone, but for the whole body. Let it receive first, but not exclusively. Let that [unction] which it has received from on high be poured upon the lower limbs also. Let the heavenly fluid descend — descend upon the breast also of the Church. She does not disdain — she eagerly receives — that which falls upon her from the beard [of her High Priest] ; and when saturated with the dew of grace, that she may not show herself ungrateful, she cries : Thy Name is as ointment poured forth (Cant i. 2). Let it roll farther yet, I entreat; let it reach even to the skirt of her clothing — that is to say, let it extend even to me, the last

and lowest of all, and the most unworthy, yet still belonging, as it were, to that clothing. I earnestly entreat, appealing to the Digitized by Google 76 goodness [of my God], that this stream of grace may come to me, as it were, from the bosom of my mother [Church], for I am as a babe in Christ. And if any man whose eye is evil because of Thy goodness should murmur, do Thou, O Lord, answer for me ; let judgment come forth from Thy Countenance, not from the arrogance of Israel. Nay, more, do Thou reply on Thy own behalf, and say to the slanderer — for it is of Thee that he utters slanders, because of Thy free grace Thou dost bestow Thy good gifts — declare, I say, to him : / will give unto this last even as unto thee (Matt. xx. 14). That displeases the Pharisee; but why, O Pharisee, dost thou murmur? My right is the will of the Judge. Is He not as just in discerning merit as He is rich in rewarding it ? May He not do as He will [with His own] ? To me, I confess, mercy is shown ; but to thee no injury whatever is done. Take what thine is, and go thy way. If He

has decreed to bestow upon me also the gift of salvation, what dost thou lose by His so doing ? 4. Exaggerate your merits to any degree you will, and extol your labours, the mercy of the Lord is better than life (Ps. lxiii. 3). I have not, I confess it, endured the burden and heat of the day, but I bear an easy yoke and a light burden according to the good pleasure of our Father. My task has been of scarcely an hour long, and if it had been longer, love would have prevented me from perceiving it. Let the Jew busy himself in his own strength ; but as for me, my only care is to make proof what is the good and acceptable and perfect Will of the Lord. It is from it that I repair the losses in time and in labour which I have sustained. He trusts to the letter of an agreement ; I to the decree of God's good pleasure ; yea, I believe, nor shall I be confounded in my faith, for my life depends upon His Will. That grace reconciles the Father to me, that restores to me my lost inheritance, and with even a greater weight of grace delights me with sweet melody, delicious viands, and all the delightful

joys of all His rejoicing family. If that elder brother of mine is indignant, and prefers to make merry with his friends upon a kid without the doors rather than with me in our Father's House upon the fatted calf, the answer shall be returned to him : // was meet that we should make merry and be glad ; for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again ; and was lost, and is found (Luke xv. 32). The Synagogue still feasts without, and with demons for friends, whom it delights to see that she is still so blind as to devour the kid [so to speak] of sin — to swallow, and. as it were, to hide it in the stomach of her folly and ignorance ; while, in her scorn of the righteousness of God and desire to establish her own righteousness, she declares that she has no sin, and no need of the death of the fatted calf, because she supposes herself to be pure and righteous by the works of the Law. But the Church, after having rent asunder, by the death of the Word crucified, the veil of the letter which killeth, is led by the Spirit of liberty to advance boldly into His secret things — to recognise and take delight in

them, to be chosen into the place of her rival, to become the Bride, to enjoy the graces Digitized by Google 77 of which the other is deprived ; and, being everywhere bedewed and anointed with the oil of her gladness, clinging closely to the Lord Christ, and receiving the vital warmth of the Holy Spirit, she obtains this happiness beyond her fellows (Ps. xlv. 7), and says : Thy Name is as ointment poured forth. What wonder if she who embraces Him who is filled with this sacred unction should herself be anointed therewith ! 5. The Church, then, reposes within, but as yet the Church of those who are perfect ; yet for us also there is hope. Let us who fall short of this perfection rest without, and rejoice in the hope which is given to us. In the meantime, the Bridegroom and the Bride are alone within ; they enjoy mutual and ineffable delights, untroubled by any tumult of carnal desires, or by the fleeting images of earthly things.

Without await them the company of virgin souls, who cannot be as yet free from such disquietudes ; but they wait in assured peace, knowing that of them it has been said : The virgins, her companions that follow her, shall be brought [unto the King\ (Ps. xlv. 14). And that each of them may know of'what spirit they are, I call those virgin souls who, having been covenanted to Christ before they were defiled by the embraces of the world, persevere constantly in the love of Him to whom they have devoted themselves, and are so much the more happy the earlier they did so. And I call those ' their companions ' (proximas) who, after having shamefully given themselves over in bondage to the princes of this world — that is, to impure spirits — yet, at length, being ashamed of their own defilement in which they were once conformed to this world, came forth from it, and hasten to put on the likeness of the new man, and that with the greater sincerity the later they were in their reformation. Both the one and the other class go forward together ; they do not fail, nor are they wearied, even though they do not feel as yet in full that inward consolation which moves souls to say

: Thy Name is as ointment poured forth. For these souls do not venture to address themselves directly to the Bridegroom, yet their endeavour is to press closely in the footsteps of her who leads them on (magistrcs) ; they will enjoy the delightful perfume of the oil poured forth, and will be incited by it to desire and to seek for still higher and better things. 6. I am not ashamed to confess that often, and particularly at the commencement of my conversion, I myself experienced extreme coldness and hardness of heart. I sought after Him whom my soul was desirous to love ; for it was not then able to love one whom it had not yet found, or, at least, it loved Him less than it wished to do, and on that account was seeking Him that it might love Him with an increased affection, though assuredly it would not have sought Him without having some degree of love for Him previously. While, then, I was seeking Him in whom my frozen and languid spirit might find warmth and repose, and no one came from any side to my help, to dissolve the icy torpor of my spiritual senses and to bring back the sweetness and fruitfulness of the spring — at that time, I say, my

soul languished and drooped in torpor, a prey to hard and hopeless depression and dull Digitized by Google 78 discontent At such times it would murmur to itself : Who is able to abide the rigour of His frost ? (Ps. cxlvii. 17). Then, on a sudden, at a word, at the sight of some holy or piously-minded person, or at the mere remembrance of one dead or absent, the Holy Spirit would breathe upon [my frozen soul], and the waters would flow ; then tears were my food day and night. What was that but the perfume exhaled by that anointing with which that holy one was endued ? It was not the anointing itself, for that did not reach me except through the medium of some man ; and though the gift caused me joy, yet I was confounded and humiliated to know that I enjoyed but a passing gust of sweetness, and that the unction from which it arose was not vouchsafed to me. And having only the pleasure to perceive it at a distance, but not to draw near and touch it, I understood that I was unworthy that God should communicate to me its sweetness directly (per se if sum). And if now the same thing occurs to me, I receive, indeed, eagerly the favour

accorded to me, and I feel thankful ; but I am touched with extreme grief not to have merited it by myself, nor received it, so to speak, from hand to hand, as I earnestly entreated that I might do. I am ashamed to be moved more at the remembrance of man than at that of God. And then I cry with groaning : When shall I come and appear before God? (Ps. xlii. 2). I think, too, that some of you have gone through the same experience, and do so sometimes even now. What are we to think of this, except that God permits it either to warn us of pride, to preserve our humility, to nourish brotherly charity, or to increase our desire for holiness ? One and the same kind of food serves both as medicine for the sick, and as diet for the sickly (aegrotativis). Even more, it strengthens the weak, and delights those who are in health ; it both heals disease, and preserves health ; nourishes the body, and, at the same time, is agreeable to the taste. 7. But let us return to the words of the Bridegroom ; let us be careful to listen to what He says, and to delight in that which delights Him. The Bride, as I have said,

is the Church. She it is to whom more has been forgiven, and who loves the more. That with which her rival hastens to reproach her, she herself turns to her profit.

Thus she is the more gentle for chiding, more patient to endure, more ardent in love, more prudent in self control ; thus she becomes the humbler for the consciousness of her faults, more acceptable by her modesty, more prepared to obey, more earnest and devoted in thanksgiving. Finally, while the Synagogue, as has been said, murmurs, recalls her merits, her labours, and the burden and heat of the day which she has borne, the Church, on the contrary, recounts but the benefits which she has received, and cries: Thy Name is as ointment poured forth. 8. This is evidently the testimony which Israel gives to celebrate the Name of the Lord ; yet not the Israel which is according to the flesh, but that which is according to the Spirit. For how could the former speak thus ? It is not that he has not oil, but that he has it Digitized by Google 79 not poured forth. He has it, but it is hidden; he has it in his books, but not in his heart. He attaches himself to the outward letter ; he clasps in his hands a vase filled with fragrant oil, but it is closed, and he opens it not that he may be anointed therewith. The anointing of the Spirit is inward — yea, it is inward ; open, then, and be anointed, and no longer shalt thou be a rebellious house. Of what avail is oil in thy vases, if thou hast it not to anoint thy limbs ?

What does it profit thee to read the life-giving Name of the Saviour in books, and not to have faith in Him in thy heart and obedience in thy life? Thou hast oil; pour it forth, and thou shalt feel its threefold virtue. But the Jew disdains these things ; do you, then, listen. I wish to tell you what I have not yet mentioned, why the Name of the Bridegroom is compared to oil. Now, for this there are three reasons. But since He is called by many names, inasmuch as that which is proper to Him is known to none (for it is Ineffable), we must first of all invoke the Holy Spirit that He will deign, by His Divine wisdom, to reveal to us, since it has not pleased Him to declare it in the Word written, that Name, out of all those which have been given to Him, which He would have us to understand in this passage ; but of this also at another time. For although I am quite prepared to speak of all these things, yet that neither you should be burdened, nor I wearied with speaking, the hour warns us to make an end. Keep in mind what I have drawn your attention to, that it may not be needful to repeat it to-morrow. This is what I have in hand and propose to speak of next ; namely, why the Name of the Bridegroom is compared to oil ; and what is that special Name among the many given to Him. And since I am able to speak nothing of myself, let your prayer be offered that the Bridegroom Himself, Jesus Christ our Lord, may by His Spirit reveal it to us.

To Him be honour and glory, for ever and ever. Amen. IN WHAT MANNER THE NAME OF JESUS IS A SALUTARY MEDICINE HE Spirit of wisdom is benevolent,1 and He is not accustomed to show Himself unapproachable to those who invoke Him, since often, before even He is called upon, He saith, Z#, lam here (Is. lxv. 24). Listen, now, to what at your prayer He has deigned to make known by means of me upon that subject, of which we treated yesterday, and receive in due season the fruit of your prayers. Behold, I show you a Name which is rightly compared to oil, and I will explain to you by what right it is thus compared. You read, upon

Wisd. i. 6, Vulgate and Douay version.

Digitized by Google ^ 8o every page of the Divine Scripture, many Names given to the Bridegroom, but these I will sum up in two only. None of these you will, in my judgment, find, which do not express, either the grace of His beneficence, or the power of His majesty. The Holy Spirit thus instructs by the mouth of one through whom He frequently speaks : These two things have I heard, that pouter belongeth to God, arid mercy to Thee, O Lord.1 Again, as to His Majesty, we read : Holy and terrible is His Name (Ps. ex. 9). As to His goodness towards men, There is none other Name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved (Acts iv. 12). Let me render this still more clear by examples. This is His Name, whereby He shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness (Jer. xxiii. 6). It is here a name of power. Again : And his Name s/iall be called Immanuel (Is. vii. 14), here implying His goodness to men. Also He speaks thus of Himself : Ye call Me Master and Lord (John xiii. 13) — the former a name of grace, the latter of greatness. For it is no less a deed of beneficence to bestow knowledge upon the mind than to give food to the body. Again, the Prophet says : His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty One, God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (Is. ix. 6). The first, the third, and the fourth attributes, express His majesty ; the others, His goodness to men.

Which, then, of these is i as oil poured forth ?' Evidently the Name of His Majesty and Power is in some mysterious manner transfused into that which is the Name of His Goodness and Grace; and this last is poured forth abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour. For example, does not the Name of ' God ' pass into and become transfused in that which is * God ivith us* that is, in * Immanuel9?

So the name of ' Wonderful 1 into that of 1 Counsellor 1 God, the Mighty One 1 into those of * the Everlasting Father ' and 1 the Prince of Peace '; and * TIu Lord our Righteousness 9 into ' the Lord gracious and full of compassion 1 (Ps. cxi. 4). In this I say nothing new, for Abram also was, in an earlier age, changed into Abraham, and Sarai into Sarah ; and in those cases also we find that a mystery of beneficence was prefigured and celebrated. 2. Where, now, is that Voice of thunder which made itself heard so frequently and so terribly by the people of old time : lam the Lord I I am the Lord I (Exod. xx. 2). In its place there is dictated to me a prayer, which commences with the sweet name of Father, and thus affords good ground for confidence that the petitions which follow will be granted. Those who were servants are now called friends ; and the Resurrection of Jesus is announced, not even2 to disciples only, but to those who are named brethren. And I do not wonder that this pouring forth of the Holy Name was made when the fulness of time came ; for God thus fulfilled what He had promised by Joel

(ii. 28), and poured out His Spirit upon all flesh ; and I read that something similar had taken place among the Hebrews in ancient Digitized by Google IN WHAT MANNER THE NAME OF JESUS IS A SALUTARY MEDICINE 8l times. Your minds, I dare say, outstrip my words, and you already know what I am about to mention. For of what nature was the answer, I would ask, which was given to Moses when he inquired at first who was speaking to him ? I am that I am ? and I am hath sent me unto you ? (Exod. iii. 14). I know not whether Moses himself would have understood it thus if the Name had not been already poured forth. But that was done, and it was understood ; not only poured (fusum), but poured forth (effusum) ; for the inpouring (infusum ) was already achieved. Already the heavens possessed it ; already it had been made known to the angels. But it is [now] sent forth abroad ; and the Name which had been so infused into the angels that it was become even familiar to them, was sent forth among men also, so that thenceforth the cry of joy should be with justice raised from earth, Thy Name is as oil poured forth, if the

odious obstinacy of an ungrateful people had not hindered. For He says : / am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob <Exod. iii. 6, 15). 3. Approach, ye nations ; your salvation is at hand. That Name is poured forth which whosoever calls upon shall be saved. The God of angels names Himself the God of men also. He has shed forth oil upon Jacob and it has fallen upon Israel. Say, then, to your brethren. Give us of your oil (Matt. xxv. 8). But if they will not, pray ye the Lord for oil, that He may send it unto you also. Say ye unto Him, Take away our reproach (Is. iv. 1). Permit not, I entreat, an evil tongue to insult Thy beloved, whom Thou hast been pleased to call from the ends of the earth, and that with so much the greater bounty as he was less worthy [of Thy goodness]. Is it fitting, I beseech Thee, that a wicked servant should shut out those whom their kind Father has invited ? Iam, Thou sayest, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And are there no more [than these] ? Pour forth, pour forth ; open still wider Thy Hand, and fill with blessing

every living thing. Let them come from the east and from the west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven (Matt. viii. 11). Let the tribes, the tribes of the Ix)rd come, let them come ; unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the Name of the Lord (Ps. cxxii. 4). Let them come, and take the seats of guests ; let them feast in gladness of great joy ; let there everywhere be heard but one great chorus of thanksgivings and praises, one song of them that feast (Ps. xlii. 4) : Thy Name is as oil poured forth. Of one thing I am sure, that if we have Philip and Andrew for porters at the gate of heaven, whosoever among us seeks for this celestial oil, whosoever of us desires to see Jesus, will encounter no repulse. At once Philip cometh and telleth Andrew, and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. But what will Jesus say ? Without doubt what He has already said : Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone : but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit (John xii. 22-25). Let the grain, then, die, and let there rise from it the harvest of the Gentiles. It is

needful that Christ should suffer, 6 Digitized by Google 82 that He should rise from the dead, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name, not only in Judaea, but among all nations (John xxiv. 46, 47) ; insomuch that from one Name, which is Christ, thousands of thousands of believers shall be called Christians, and shall say : Thy Name is as oil poured forth. 4. I recognise that Name also in that which I have read in Isaiah : The Lord God shall call His servants by another Name, in which he that is blessed in the earth shall be blessed in God.1 Amen. O Blessed Name ! O oil everywhere poured forth ! How far does it penetrate ?

It spreads from Heaven to Judaea, and thence over the whole earth ; and from every part of the earth rises the adoring cry of the Church : Thy Name is as oil poured forth. Yes, that is indeed poured forth, with which not only the heavens and the earth are steeped, but even the abodes of the dead besprinkled ; so that in the adorable Name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess (Phil, ii. 10, 11), and say, Thy Name is as oil poured forth. Behold the Christ, behold Jesus, whether infused into angels, or effused upon men — yea, upon men who had defiled themselves as beasts upon their dunghill, saving both men and beasts, in like manner as God has multiplied His mercy. How dear is that Name, but how common {vile) ! — common, but precious in its power to heal ! If it were not common it would not have been poured out upon a sinner such as I ; and if it had no power of healing it would have profited me nothing. I am a sharer in that Name — a sharer, too, in its heavenly inheritance.

I am a Christian ; I am even the brother of Christ ; and if I be truly that which I am thus called, I am an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ (Rom. viii. 17). What wonder is it if the Name of the Bridegroom be thus poured forth, when He Himself is poured forth likewise ? For when He emptied Himself did He not take upon Him the form of a servant (Philipp. ii. 7)? Therefore He says: I am poured out like water (Ps. xxii. 14). The plenitude of His Divinity was poured forth when He dwelt in bodily form upon the earth ; so that we all who bear about a mortal body should participate in that plenitude, and, being filled with an odour of life, should say : Thy Name is as oil poured forth. I go on to say, What is that Name which is poured forth, in what manner, and in what degree ? 5. First, why is it called oil? — for this I have not as yet explained. I had begun to do so in a former sermon, but another subject suddenly presented itself which seemed to me to require to be treated of.

But I have deferred to speak of this longer than I supposed, for which I see no other reason than this, that Wisdom is as the virtuous woman in the Book of Proverbs (xxxi. 10), who layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. For she knows how out of a little wool or flax to draw out the thread and to broaden the web with the shuttle, and so to clothe all her servants in garments both of linen and of wool. There is no doubt that oil has its points of Deo. Amen.1 The Septuagint renders 1 Jn the true God.* — Ed.

Digitized by Google IN WHAT MANNER THE NAME OF JESUS IS A SALUTARY MEDICINE 83 resemblance to the Name of the Bridegroom, and that not without reason has the Holy Spirit compared the one to the other. Perhaps you may discern better than I the reasons for this ; but, as far as I am able to judge, the reasons are three : that it gives light, it gives nourishment, and it anoints. It maintains flame, it nourishes the flesh, it relieves pain ; it is light, it is food, and it is medicine. Notice now that the same thing can be said of the Name of the Bridegroom : for when preached it enlightens the mind, when it is meditated upon it is food to the mind, and when invoked it softens and alleviates the wounds of mind and soul. Let us examine each of these qualities separately. 6. Whence do you suppose so bright and so sudden a light of faith has been kindled in the whole world, except by the preaching of the Name of Jesus? Is it not by the light of this sacred Name that God has called us into His marvellous light, so that when we had been enlightened by it, and in that light we had seen light, St. Paul was enabled to say to us : Ye were sometimes darktiess, but now are ye light in the Lord (Eph. v. 8). This Name, in conclusion, it was that the same Apostle was bidden to bear before the Gentiles, and Kings, and the children of Israel (Acts ix. 15) ; this Name he bore as a lamp to enlighten his country and his people, crying everywhere : The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us, therefore, cast off the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light: let us walk honestly, as in the day (Rom. xiii. 12, 13). To all he displayed a lamp shining upon its pillar, when in every place he preached Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. How resplendent was that Light ; how it dazzled the eyes of all beholders, when, coming forth as a lightning flash from the mouth of Peter, it set the lame man upon sound and strong limbs ; when it restored to sight many who were spiritually blind ! Did it not shoot forth a light of fire, when he said, In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk ? (Acts iiL 6).

But the Name of Jesus is not only light ; it is also nourishment. Do you not feel spiritually strengthened as often as you meditate upon it ? What enriches the mind of the thinker as does the Name of Jesus? What so restores exhausted powers, strengthens the soul in all virtues, animates it to good and honourable conduct, fosters in it pure and pious dispositions ? Dry and tasteless is every kind of spiritual food, if this sweet oil be not poured into it ; and insipid, if it be not seasoned with this salt. A book or writing has no single point of goodness for me if I do not read therein the Name of Jesus ; nor has a conference any interest for me, unless the Name of Jesus be heard in it.1 As honey to the mouth, as melody in the ear, as a (Bk. iii., c. 4) with respect to reading a book of Hortensius : 1 There was only one thing in all that eloquent language which distressed me ; it was that the name of Christ was not to be found there . . . and any writing in which that Name was wanting, however learned, polished, and veracious it might be, would not wholly satisfy me.' Digitized by 84 song of gladness to the heart, is the Name of Jesus.1 But it is also a medicine. Is any of you sad ? Let Jesus come into your heart ; let His Name leap thence to your lips, and behold, when that blessed Name arises [as a sun], its light disperses the clouds of sadness, and brings back serenity and peace. Is any falling into crime ? or even, in his despair, rushing upon death ? Let him call upon that life-giving Name ; does he not speedily begin to breathe again and revive? In the presence of that saving Name, who has ever remained fast bound (as is the case with some of us) by hardness of heart, ignoble sloth, rancour of mind, or cold indifference ?

Who has not known the fountain of his tears, which seemed dried up, to burst forth anew, and with added abundance and sweetness, at the calling upon the Name of Jesus ? Who, when in fear and trembling in the midst of dangers, has called upon that Name of power, and has not found a calm assurance of safety, and his apprehensions at once driven away ? Where is the man who, when labouring under doubt and uncertainty, has not had the clear shining of faith restored to him by the influence of the Name of Jesus ? Or who has not found new vigour and resolution given to him at the sound of that Name full of help, when he was discouraged by adversities, and almost ready to give way to them ? Those are the diseases and ailments of the soul, and for them this is the remedy. And what I say is proved by these words : Call upon Me in the day of trouble : 1 will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me (Ps. 1. 15). Nothing is so powerful as the Name of Jesus to restrain the impulse of anger, to repress the swelling of pride, to cure the wound of envy, to bridle the impulse of luxury, and extinguish the flame of fleshly desire ; to temper avarice, and put to flight ignoble and impure thoughts. For, when I utter the Name of Jesus, I set before my mind, not only a Man meek and humble in heart, moderate, pure, benign, merciful, and, in short, conspicuous for every honourable and saintly quality, but also in the same individual the Almighty God, who both restores me to spiritual health by His example, and renders me strong by His assistance. All these things are said to me when the Name of Jesus is pronounced. From Him, inasmuch as He is Man, I derive an example ; inasmuch as He is the Mighty One, I obtain assistance. 'Jesu dulcis meworia, Dans vera cordi gaudia ; Sed super rnel et omnia.

Ejus dulcis memoria. Nil canitur suavius, Ail auditur jucundius, Nil cogitatur dulcius, Quam Je*us Dei Filius.' M. Haureau (' Des Poemes Latins attribue*s a St. Bernard' Paris, 1890) declares positively (pp. 63 68) that this poem is not from the hand of St. Bernard. The passage above shows, however, and that incontestably, that the writer of it, if not . the Saint, had borrowed his very words. — Ed. Digitized by Google IN WHAT MANNER THE NAME OF JESUS IS A SALUTARY MEDICINE 85 Of His example I make, as it were, medicinal and salutary herbs, and His help is an instrument to prepare them; thus I obtain a remedy of power, such as none among physicians is able to compound. 7. In this sacred Name, O my soul, hidden in the Name of Jesus as in a vase, thou hast a saving antidote (electuarium\ which shall never be found without efficacy against any disease or infection.

Let it be always in thy bosom, always in thy hand, so that all thy affections, and all thy actions may be directed towards Jesus. To this you are invited, where it is said : Set Me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm (Cant. viii. 6). But of this at another time. You have here (let us now consider) a sure remedy both for your heart and for your arm. You have, I say, in the Name of Jesus a means of correcting those actions in you which are bad, and of perfecting those that are defective ; of protecting your feelings and affections from being denied ; or if defiled, of restoring them to health and purity. 8. There were in Judaea certain [others] named Jesus, in whom she glories ; but these are but empty names ; they render neither light, nor nourishment, nor healing. Therefore it is that the Synagogue is even tonhis day in darkness, weak with hunger, and languishing from disease. Nor will its hunger be satisfied, nor its disease healed, till it comes to know that it is our Jesus who rules in Jacob and unto the ends of the world [until then], at evening let them return, grin [for famine] like dogs, and go about the city

(Ps. lix. 14, 7), They, indeed, were sent on before, as the staff was sent before him by the Prophet to the presence of the dead child (2 Kings iv. 29-35) > nor could they read a meaning in those names of theirs, for they were void of power. The staff was laid upon the face of the child ; but there was neither voice nor hearing, because it was but a staff. He came who sent the staff ; He descended and came unto His people ; and ere long He saved them from their sins, proving that to be the fact which was said of Him : Who is this that forgiveth sins also ? (Luke vii. 49). No doubt He is that One who saith, / am the salvation of My people (Ps. xxxv. 3). Now there is voice; now there is hearing; it is manifest that He does not, like those who came before Him, bear an empty name. The life and salvation poured into the soul is felt ; nor is so great a benefit passed over in silence. Within there is hearing ; without there is speech. I am touched with penitence ; I make confession [of my sins] ; and to confess shows spiritual life : Thanksgiving perisheth from the dead, as from

one that is not (Ecclus. xvil 28). 1 Here is the proof of life, and of feeling. I am raised perfectly from the dead ; my resurrection is complete. What is the death of the body, but the depriving it of feeling and of life? Sin, which is the death of the soul, had left of sin, or thanks for benefits. But the word here seems to be intended in the former sense. For a third sense of the word see Rom. x. 10.— Ed.

Digitized by Google 86 unto me neither any feeling of compunction, nor utterance of confession, and I was dead. Then He came who taketh away sins, and He restored to me each of these powers, saying unto my soul, / am thy salvation (Ps. xxxv. 3). What wonder if death gives place, where Life descends from heaven ? Now with the heart the man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth makes confession unto salvation (Rom. x. 10). As the child opened widely his mouth, even seven times, so the man saith, Seven times a day do I praise Thee, O Lord (Ps. cxix. 164). Note the number of seven. It is a sacred number, not without a mystical meaning. But it will be better to reserve this for another sermon ; so that we may draw near with keen appetite, not with distaste, to this repast so excellent, to which we are invited by the Spouse of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is above all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

OF CONTRITION OF HEART, AND OF THE THREE KINDS OF TRUE HAT, then, is intended by that number seven ? For I suppose that none among us is so undiscerning as to suppose that the seven times which the child yawned was a number fortuitously reached, and without meaning. Nor do I think the fact is without signification that the prophet Elisha stretched himself upon the dead body of the child, setting mouth upon its mouth, eyes upon its eyes, and hands upon its hands (2 Kings xxxiv. 34). The Holy Spirit has willed all these circumstances to take place thus, and thus to be recorded, for the instruction without doubt of those spirits whom the treacherous companionship of their body of corruption has led astray, and whom the wisdom of this world, which is foolishness, has taught to be without understanding. For the corruptible body presseth down the soul ; and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind, that museth upon many things (Wisd. ix 15).

Let no one, then, wonder or take it ill, if I seem to be minutely curious in searching into such things as these, which are, if I may say so, the treasure-houses of the Holy Spirit ; since I know that to do thus is truly to live, and that in such things is the life of my spirit. Yet I say to those who outstrip me by the quickness of their apprehension, and in every sermon are anxious to arrive at the end, almost before they have heard the beginning, that I have a duty towards those of slower minds as well, and that, indeed, it is much greater towards them than towards others ; nor is it nearly as much my object and my care to explain words as it is to touch and to influence hearts.

It is my duty (so to speak) to draw water, and to give it to others to Digitized by Google 87 drink ; and this duty is not discharged by rushing through subjects in great haste, but rather by treating them with leisurely care, and making them frequently the occasion for exhortation. It is true that the discussion of these mysteries (sacrammtorum) has detained us longer than I could have supposed. I thought, I must confess, that one sermon would suffice for all of those subjects, that we should quickly traverse that forest, sombre and shady with allegories, and arrive, in a journey of perhaps one day, at the open plain of the moral meanings of our subject ; but it has proved otherwise. We have been occupied in their consideration two days already, and we have still some distance to go. The eye of an observer at a distance traverses in a moment the tops of great masses of verdure, and marks the mountain peaks ; but it cannot pierce into the vast depths of the low-lying valleys, or penetrate the obscure coverts of the thickets.

How could I foresee, for instance, that when treating of the calling of the Genciles and the rejection of the Jews, the miracle of Elisha would present itself of a sudden to my mind? But now, since we have fallen upon that incident, let us linger upon it for a little while, and we will return afterwards to the subject we have left ; and, in fact, this, as well as the other, has in it food for souls. Does it not happen to hunters also and their hounds often to leave the quarry they had started, and to follow another, which they rouse unexpectedly ? 2. It is a fact which gives me no little confidence to reflect upon, that this great Prophet, mighty in word and deed, has deigned to descend from the height of heaven, and to visit me, who am but dust and ashes ; to have pity upon me in my state of death, to bend down to me as I lay prostrate, to be narrowed and made equal to my littleness, to share the light of His eyes with me in my darkness, to unloose the dumbness of my mouth with a kiss from His own, to strengthen my weak hands by the touch of His own in their strength.

I meditate upon these benefits with sweetness unspeakable; my heart is filled with joy, my soul receives new vigour, and all that is within me ; and my bones render praise to God. This He has once done for all the world ; this each of us feels to be in process of doing daily in us ; so that to his heart is given the light of intelligence, to his mouth the word of edification, to his hands the work of righteousness. It is He who gives us the power to think good and faithful thoughts, to express them usefully, to carry them out efficaciously in our life. In this is a threefold cable not easily broken, to draw souls out of the prison of the devil, and to draw them after one's self into the kingdom of heaven : it consists of three things ; to think rightly, to speak worthily, to conform also our life to that which we speak.

He has touched my eyes with His own, thus adorning the forehead, as it were, of my inner man with two bright luminaries, faith and intelligence. With His Mouth He has touched mine, and has pressed upon one who was dead the sign of peace, since, when we were still sinners and dead to righteousness, He has reconciled us to Digitized by Google s 88 God. He has, I say, with His sacred Mouth touched mine, thereby breathing a second time upon my face the breath of Life, and that life more holy than at first. For in the first place He created me to be a living soul ; but in the second, reformed me to be a quickening spirit (i Cor. xv. 45). His Hands upon mine He placed, affording me an example of good works, a model of obedience. Or, at least, He has set His Hands to great and noble deeds, that He might teach my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. 3. And the child^ it is said, yawned seven times. It would have Ijeen enough to manifest the glory of the miracle had the child yawned but once ; but the multiplicity, and the number itself being so noble, warn us of a mystery. If you consider that corpse as the type

of the whole human race, which was spiritually dead, you will see that the universal Church, from the time of its receiving life from the Prophet stretched upon it, yawned, so to speak, seven times ; for it has been the custom of the Church to sing praises to God seven times a day. And if you yourself consider, you will perceive that you are living a spiritual life, and fulfilling this mystical number, if you hold in subjection your five organs of sense to a twofold charity, and, according to the Apostle's precept, make your members the instruments of righteousness unto sanctification, as you formerly yielded them as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin (Rom. vi. 13) ; or if you use those five senses for the salvation of your neighbours, and make up the number of seven by adding these two things — viz., the praising God for His mercy, and for His justice. 4. Seven other yawnings I have to consider, which are seven experiences, without which a soul cannot be assured that it has truly regained life. Four of these have reference to the feeling of penitence for sin; three to the outward sound of confession of it If you are living, if you have a voice and spiritual consciousness, you recognise the same in yourself. That

is to say, you know that you have entirely recovered spiritual sensibility if you feel your conscience keenly grieved by a fourfold penitence ; namely, a twofold shame, and a twofold fear. With the threefold confession, of which we will speak afterwards, the number seven is made up, and these are an unfailing proof of life regained. Does not the holy prophet Jeremiah also observe this number in his Lamentations ? And do you also, in that which you make for yourself, observe the form which the Prophet has prescribed, think of God as your Creator, your Benefactor, your Father, your Lord. You are a criminal before Him in regard to each of these His characters ; be, then, penitent as you think of each. To the first and the last of these let your fear respond ; to the second and third your shame. A father, just because he is a father, is, indeed, not the object of fear, because it is the nature of a father always to pity and to spare. Even when he punishes, it is with a rod that he strikes, not with a heavy staff, and Himself heals the wounds which he has made. It is a father's voice which says : / will strike^ and I will heal (Deut. xxxii. 39). You have,

then, no Digitized by Google 89 cause for extreme terror of God your Father ; since though He sometimes strikes that He may bring about correction in you, He never strikes to avenge Himself. But when I consider that I have offended that heavenly Father, there is good reason for my feeling shame, though there be none for fear. He has begotten me of His own will by the Word of Truth, not urged by the spur of any necessity.

Then, also, He did not spare His only begotten Son for me, who was thus begotten. Thus He, indeed, treated me with all the affection of a Father ; but I have not behaved in turn with the obedience of a son. With what assurance, I ask, can a son so evil venture to raise even his eyes towards the Countenance of a Father so good ? I am ashamed to have done actions so little worthy of my parentage ; I am ashamed to have degenerated from a Father so exalted.

O my eyes, do ye cause streams of tears to flow ; let my face be covered with shame and confusion, and let shadow fall upon it. May my life be worn away in grief, and my years in mourning. Shame upon me ! What profit have I of those things of which I am now ashamed ? If I have sown unto the flesh, from the flesh I shall reap only corruption (Gal. vi. 8) ; if to the world, both it and the lust thereof passes away (1 John ii. 17). Yet I, unhappy and devoid of reason, have not blushed to prefer such perishing and vain advantages as these, which are almost nothing, and of which the end is death, to the love and to the honour which I owe to the Eternal Father! Well may I be covered with confusion to hear these words : If I be a Father^ where is Mine honour 7 (Mai. i. 6). 5. But even if He were not a Father, has He not overwhelmed me with benefits ? Without speaking of innumerable other blessings, He brings forward against me, as witnesses of my ingratitude, the sustaining of this my mortal body, the use of a lengthened time in this world, and, above all, .the Blood of His dear Son, which cries out against me from the ground. My ingratitude puts me to shame, and to complete my confusion, I stand convicted also of having rendered evil for good, and hatred for love. It is true that, from a Benefactor, as from a Father, I have nothing to fear ; for He is truly beneficent, giving to all men liberally, and upbraiding not (James i. 5) [for what He has given]. He does not upbraid us for His gifts, because they are truly gifts; nor does He sell His benefits, but bestows them. And, lastly, His gifts are without repentance.

But the more benign and liberal I am obliged to think Him, the more unworthy I must consider myself to be. Blush with shame, O my soul, and be dissolved with grief; since, although it is according to the goodness of God to give without reproaching me or reclaiming what He has given, yet it is a disgrace to me to show myself ungrateful, and unmindful of these gifts. Alas ! what shall I, even now, and thus late, render unto the Lord for all the benefits which He hath done unto me ? 6. Let me, if I am not affected, as I ought, with shame and regret, at least be open to feelings of fear, and let the fear come to the help Digitized by Google 9o of the regret ; let it be aroused, that it may arouse me. Put aside for a moment the tender names of Benefactor and Father, and turn to other Names more austere ; for He of whom we read as the Father of mercies ; and the God of all consolation (2 Cor. i. 3), we read of also as the Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth (Ps. xciv. 1) ; as God the Judge righteous and powerful (Vs. vii. 12); as terrible in His doin°s toward the children of men (Ps. lxvi. 5) ; as a jealous God (Exod. xx. 5).

It is for you that He is Father and Benefactor, for Himself He is Creator and Lord ; for, as Scripture declares, He hath made all things for Himself (Prbv. xvi. 4). He, then, who defends and preserves with so much care that which is yours, will He not ever be jealous, think you, for Himself? will He not require the honour due to His sovereignty ? Because of this it is that the wicked hath provoked God ; for he hath said in his heart, He will not require it (Ps. ix. 13, Vulg.). And what is it to say in his heart, He will not require it, except to be without fear of His requiring it ? But He will require it, and that to the last farthing ; He will require it, and will abundantly recompense the proud doer (Ps. xxxi. 23). He will require service from him whom He hath redeemed ; He will expect honour and glory from His creature. 7. Let it be granted that as Father He will pass over offences, and as Benefactor forgive, yet not as Creator and as Lord ; and He who will spare a son will not spare an evil servant, the work of His Hands.

Consider what a fearful and terrible thing it is to have despised Him who is your Creator, and the Creator of all things — to have offended the Lord of glory ! It is the prerogative of Majesty, of Lordship, to be feared, and especially of this Lord and of this Majesty ; for if the laws of man punish with the supreme penalty one who shall be guilty of high treason against the royal majesty, though it be that of a man, what shall be the end of those who despise the Omnipotence of God ? If He do but touch the mountains, they shall smoke (Ps. cxliv. 5) ; and shall a mere petty mass of vile dust that a puff of wind may scatter in a moment, not to be brought together again, dare to arouse the anger of a Being of Majesty so awful ? He, He is to be feared, who, after He hath killed the body, hath power even to cast into hell (Lukexii. 5).

Hell it is I fear ; the Face of my Judge, before whom the angels veil their faces in fear — at this I fear and tremble. At the mere thought of the anger of the Almighty, of the beholding of His Face in wrath, of the crash of a perishing world, of the roar of the elemental fires bursting forth, of the tumultuous conflict of the powers of nature, of the voice of the Archangel, of the awful word of the Judge's doom — at the mere thought of these I tremble and shake. Terrible to me is the mere idea of the teeth of the monster of hell, of the lions roaring for their prey, of the abyss which contains and which hides them. I shudder at the gnawing of the never-dying worm, at the ever-burning lake of fire, at the smoke, the sulphur, the livid clouds, the whirlwinds of flame, and, lastly, at the outer darkness which broods over all. Who shall make my head to be a river, mine eyes a fountain of tears (Jer. ix. 1), so that by my weeping day and night I might anticipate and so Digitized by Google 91 avoid the weeping and gnashing of teeth, the hard fetters upon hands and feet, the weighty and cramping chains, which strangle, which

burn to the bone, and yet are never consumed ? Alas, my mother ! why hast thou borne me to be a son of sorrow, a child of wrath, reserved for fiery indignation and everlasting lamentings? Why didst thou nurse upon thy knees, why didst thou nourish from thy breast, one born but to be consumed, to become food for the everlasting fire ? 8. He who is affected deeply with these thoughts has, without doubt, recovered spiritual sensibility — that twofold fear, accompanied by that twofold shame, constitute, as it were, the four yawnings of the child raised up. The three which remain refer to the voice of confession [of sin], and of him [who makes use of this] it cannot be said that he has neither voice nor feeling, provided that his confession comes from a humble, simple, and faithful heart. Confess humbly, purely, and faithfully, therefore, whatever gives you remorse of conscience, and you have fulfilled your duty in this respect. There are those who boast themselves in doing evil, and delight in the worst crimes (Prov. ii. 14), of whom the Prophet speaks when he says : They declare their sin as Sodom (Is. iii. 9). But I put these out of the question at present — they are people of the world ; and what

have we to do with them who are without ? 9. It happens to us, nevertheless, sometimes to hear men even who have professed the religious life, and wear its garb, recall their past bad actions, and boast of them most impudently — as, for example, of the bravery they have shown in duels, or the cleverness in a dispute of words, of of similar things, which the vanity, indeed, of the world estimates highly, but which are hurtful, pernicious, and even dangerous to the salvation of the soul. This is an indication of a worldly mind, and the habit of humility which such persons wear is not a proof of the renewing of their mind in holiness, but a screen which hides their former temper still persisted in. Some recall such things as if they grieved over and repented of them ; but as they still glory inwardly in them, they do not efface the fault of them, but merely deceive their own selves, for God is not mocked (Gal. vi. 7). They have not put off the old man, but merely covered it with the new. The old leaven is not acknowledged nor abandoned by such a confession as that ; but is, on the contrary, established the more, according to the saying of the Psalmist : My

bones grczv old: whilst I cried out all the day long (Ps. xxxi. 3). I am ashamed to recall the extreme effrontery of others who have not scrupled to recount with pride things for which they ought to weep, as that, even after they received the sacred habit, they cunningly overthrew someone, or over-reached some brother in a matter of business, or that they took revenge on one who had done them injury by word or deed— that is, they boldly rendered evil for evil, and railing for railing. 10. There is a kind of confession so much the more perilous, as it conceals vanity in a manner more subtle. I mean that in which we do not hesitate to reveal discreditable and shameful faults ; not because Digitized by Google 92 we are really humble, but that we maybe thought to be so. Now, to seek praise for humility is the reverse of humility, not the virtue itself.

The man who is truly humble wishes to be held in slight esteem, not to be proclaimed and praised as being humble. He rejoices to be contemned, and is proud only on this one point — that he despises praises. What can be more perverse and unworthy conduct than to make confession, which is the guardian of humility, contribute to the satisfaction of pride, and so wish to appear the better for the very reason that he seems to appear worse ? Oh, prodigy of boasting, to have no other means of being thought a saint than to be thought the wickedest of sinners ! But such a confession, having only the appearance, not the reality, of humility, not only does not deserve forgiveness, but even calls down anger. What did it profit Saul that, when chidden by Samuel, he confessed that he had sinned ( i Sam. xv. 30) ? No doubt that confession was itself criminal which did not blot out the crime confessed. Whenever did the Master of humility, whose natural desire assuredly is to give grace unto the humble, despise a really humble confession ? It would assuredly be a thing impossible that He should not be reconciled if the humility which the words express be manifested also in the heart. This is why I have

said that confession of sin should be humble. 11. It must also be made with simplicity. Let not a soul (if it be guilty) delight in making excuse for its intention (under the pretext, perhaps, that it is not known to men), nor to pare down and diminish a grave fault, nor to ascribe it to the advice of another person, since no one is obliged to act against his own will. The first of these is not a confession, but a defence ; nor does it appease, but rather provokes, the wrath of God. The second is a mark of ingratitude ; for the less a fault is regarded as being, the more is the glory diminished of him who forgives it. To this must be added that a benefit will be accorded so much less willingly, as it is known that he who receives it will be less thankful for it, as supposing it to be less necessary to him. That person renders himself unworthy of pardon who depreciates the value of the grace he hopes to receive, and this is what everyone does who endeavours to make light of his offence in the words which he uses [to confess it]. As for the third, the example of the first man may serve to dissuade us from it

(Gen. iii. 2) ; for though he did not deny his fault, yet he did not obtain pardon for it ; and this, doubtless, was because he mixed up with it the fault of his wife. It is a form of excuse to inculpate another when you are yourself accused. Holy David teaches us that the desire to make excuses for yourself, when censured, is not only useless, but exceedingly harmful ; for he calls to make excuses for sins ' evil words 9 (Ps. cxl. 4, Vulg. and Douay), and entreats God not to incline His heart to them. Assuredly he was very right ; for a person sins against his own soul who excuses himself, repelling thereby from him the remedy of leniency, and with his own lips preventing the entrance of life. What perverseness can be greater than to take arms against his own salvation, and to transfix himself Digitized by Google 93 with his own tongue as with a sword ? He that is evil to himself, to whom will he be good (Ecclus. xiv. 5)? 12. Finally, confession must be made in faith — that is to say, it must be filled with hope, free from distrust of obtaining pardon of our offences, or of fear lest by making it you should be rather condemning

yourself than justifying. Judas, who betrayed our Lord, and Cain, who slew his brother, confessed their crime, but each despaired of God's mercy. The one said : / have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent Blood (Matt, xxvii. 4) ; the other : My iniquity is greater than that J may deserve pardon (Gen. iv. 13, Vulg.). Their confession was truthful ; but because it was made without faith, it profited them nothing. These three conditions of confession of sin, then, joined to the four formerly named of penitence for it, make up the number seven. 13. When you have thus been touched with heartfelt sorrow for your sins, when you have thus confessed them, and you thenceforth feel good assurance that the gift of life has been conferred upon you, you will be no less assured, I think, that the Name of Jesus is not empty nor fruitless, since He has been able and willing to perform such great works in your soul ; and that it was not in vain that He followed in person the staff which He had sent before. He has not come in vain, because He has not come empty.1 How, in fact, could He have been empty in Whom dwells the fulness of the Godhead ? (Col. i. 19 ; ii.

9). For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him (John iii. 34). So, also, He came in the fulness of time (Gal. iv. 4), as if to indicate that in every way He was full [of power].

Truly He was full, whom the Father hath anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows (Ps. xlv. 7) ; whom He hath anointed and sent into the world full of grace and truth (John i. 14). He has anointed Him, that He may anoint others ; and all those have been anointed by Him who have been found worthy to receive of His fulness. Therefore He saith : The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Ale, because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek ; He hath sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of tJu prison to them that are bound ; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord (Is. lxi. 1). He came, as you hear, to anoint with the oil of salvation our contritions, and to soothe our griefs ; therefore it was that He came filled with a Divine anointing — He came meek and lowly in heart, and full of an infinite pity for all those who call upon Him for aid. He knew well that it was to people crippled and helpless that He was coming down from heaven, and He showed Himself in that capacity which their need required. And that wise and foreseeing Physician, because He had many maladies to cure, provided Himself beforehand with many remedies. He brought with Him the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and ghostly strength, the Spirit of knowledge and true godliness, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord. 14. Do you see how many vials full of heavenly balms the Digitized by Google 94 Celestial Physician has prepared for the healing of the wounds of that unhappy man who fell among thieves ? Seven they are in number, seven suited, perhaps, to excite the seven yawnings of which we have spoken , for in each was the Spirit of life. From these He pours oil upon my wounds, and wine also, but in less quantity than the oil; for it was in accordance with my infirmities that mercy should be exalted above judgment, as oil rises in a vessel above wine.

He brought, therefore, five vessels of oil, but of wine two only ; for it is strength only and fear that are typified by wine ; the remaining five signify oil, because of its softness and healing qualities. In the spirit of strength it was that, like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine (Ps. lxxviii. 65), He descended into hell, shattered the gates of brass, and brake asunder the bars of iron ; that He bound the strong man, and delivered them who were subject to bondage.

Nevertheless, He descended also in the spirit of fear ; but it was to inspire fear, not to feel it. 15.. O Wisdom ! with what healing skill dost Thou re-establish the health of my soul by this wine and this oil, mingling strength with sweetness, and sweetness with strength. Strong Thou art on my behalf, yet towards me Thou art sweet. From one end of the world to the other Thy Almighty power extendest, and Thou dost dispose all things with sweetness, driving far away my enemy, and sustaining me when weak. Heal me, O Lord, and my healing shall be complete ; I will sing and give praises unto Thy Name, and say : Thy Name is as oil poured forth. Not as wine poured forth (for I do not desire that Thou shouldest enter into judgment with Thy servant), but as oil, because Thou crownest me with lovingkindness and tender mercies (Ps. ciii. 4). Yes, it is as oil, for oil rises above all other liquids with which it may be mixed, and thus is an apt type of that Name which is above every name. O Name, infinitely dear and sweet ! O Name, glorious beyond all words ; foreordained and fore-ennobled, and of supremest exaltation for all ages ! This is truly the oil which maketh glad the face of man, which anoints the head of him that fasteth, so that he regardeth not the oil of the sinner. This is the new Name which the Mouth of the Lord hath named (Is. lxii. 2, Vulg.); which was so named of the Angel before He was conceived in the womb (Luke ii. 21), Not only the Jew, but whosoever shall call upon this Name .shall be delivered (Joel ii. 32), wheresoever it is poured forth, far and wide. This Name the Father has bestowed upon the Son, the Bridegroom of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is above all, God blessed for ever. Amen. Digitized by Google 95

THAT IT IS NEEDFUL TO OBSERVE WITH CARE THE APPROACH AND THE DEPARTURE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT; AND OF THE ENVY OF DO you think that we have made sufficient advance in the sanctuary of God to venture to examine an admirable mystery? or, rather, to follow the Holy Spirit into the deeper recesses of truth, and to search out that which still remains unknown to us ? For that Spirit searcheth, not the hearts and reins of men only, but also the deep things of God ; and I follow Him with safety whithersoever He shall lead, whether it be into the heights1 or into the depths of our own nature. Only, may He guard our hearts and our intellects that we may not believe Him to be present when He, perhaps, shall be absent, and be led into error by following the impulses of our own mind or senses in the belief that they are from Him. For He comes and goes according to His own will ; nor is it easy for any to know whence He cometh or whither He goeth (John iii. 8). But it is possible to be ignorant upon those points without risk to our salvation ; but not to know when the Holy Spirit comes to us, or when He goes from

us, is manifestly full of peril. For when these comings of the Spirit, in His dealings with the soul, and His goings, are not sedulously observed, it follows that you do not ardently desire His coming when He is absent, nor give Him glory when He is present. Indeed, He retires from the soul for the very reason that He may be sought for the more eagerly again ; and how can He be sought for if He is not known to be absent ? And, again, when He deigns to return in order to console the soul, how shall He be received with the reverence due to His Majesty if His presence is not even perceived ? The soul, . then, which is unaware of His departure lies open to be seduced, and that which is not aware of his return will be unthankful for the honour done to it in His coming. 2. Once, when the prophet Elisha had learned that the departure from the earth of his master [Elijah] was about to take place, he made a certain request of him, and he obtained it, as you know, upon this condition only : that Elisha should behold him at the moment of his departure (2 Kings ii. 9, 10). This happened unto them in figure, and was

recorded on account of us. We are taught and warned by the prophet's example to be watchful and careful in the work of our salvation, which the Holy Spirit is incessantly carrying on in the depths of our souls with all the wonderful resource and sweetness of His Divine skill. Let that sacred and directing unction Digitized by Google * 96 which teaches all things never be taken away from us, if we do not wish to be deprived of a twofold gift. Never, when He comes to us, let Him find us unprepared ; but rather let Him find us with countenance uplifted, and hands spread out to receive an abundant benediction from God. What does the Lord require that we should be ?

Like unto men that wait for their Lord^ when He shall return from the wedding (Luke xii. 56) ; and assuredly He never returns with empty hands from the abundant delicacies of the table of heaven. It behoves us, then, to watch, and to watch without intermission, since we know not when the Holy Spirit may come, or when He may again depart. He cometh and goeth ; and the soul which, while it has the advantage of His presence, is able to stand upright, cannot fail to fall when deserted by him ; yet it shall not be so cast down as to be injured, for the Lord upholdeth it with His Hand. These two conditions do not cease to occur alternately in all those who are spiritual ; or, rather, the Spirit visits those who are spiritual at daybreak, and suddenly puts them to proof [by His departure], in order that He may train and build them up in goodness. The just man falleth seven times and riseth up again (Prov. xxiv. 16), yet if he falls in the day it is to be understood that he sees that he falls, and, knowing that he has fallen, seeks the Hand of Him who is able to raise him up, saying, O Lord, in Thy favour Thou gavest strength to my beauty. Thou turnedst away Thy Face from me and I became troubled (Ps. xxix. 8, Vulg. and Douay). 3. To doubt respecting the truth is another danger, which it is necessary to endure when the breathing of the Spirit is not granted to us ; and still another is that of embracing erroneous opinions, but this latter is easily avoided by keeping in mind our ignorance, so as to say also : Be it indeed that I have erred> mine error remaineth 7i'ith myself (Job xix. 4). That is the declaration of holy Job : recognise it. Ignorance is the worst of mothers, and she has two daughters as evil — falsehood and doubt ; the one the more miserable, the other the more pitiable ; the former more hurtful, the latter more full of discomfort.

When the Spirit speaks, both the one and the other of these give place ; and not only to truth, but to assured truth. For that is the very Spirit of truth, to whom falsehood is absolutely contrary.

And He is also the Spirit of wisdom, since He is the very Light of eternal life ; and reaching everywhere, because of His purity, He suffers neither obscurity nor the uncertainty of doubt. When that Spirit does not speak, there is great need to beware, if not of unhappy doubt, assuredly of harbouring that which is completely false. There is a great difference between being in a state of uncertainty whether to think this or that, and rashly affirming as true that of which you are ignorant. Either, then, let the Holy Spirit always speak, though that, indeed, does not at all depend upon our will; or when it pleases Him to be silent, let His silence at least have a significance to us, and point out to us this one fact ; lest, falsely supposing that He goes before us, we should follow in place of Him Digitized by Google 97 our own error, with a false and dangerous confidence. And if He holds our spirit in suspense, let it, at all events, not be left to fall into falsehood. There are those who doubtfully advance a statement which is untrue, yet these do not lie ; and there are others who affirm for truth that of which they know nothing, and these do lie. For the one

class do not affirm that which is not the case, but that which they believe to be the case, and they speak truthfully, even though that which they believe be not true ; whereas the other class declare themselves certain of a thing of which they are not certain, and these oo not speak truthfully, even though the thing which they assert should be true. 4. Having said thus much by way of caution to those who have no experience in such things, I shall now follow the Spirit, who is, as I have a good trust, leading me on ; yet observing, as far as I can, the same rule of caution of which I have spoken, and endeavouring to practise myself that which I have urged upon others, that it may not be said of me too, Thou that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself (Rom. ii. 21)? The distinction is carefully to be observed between things which are manifest and others which are doubtful ; and as the one class are not to be brought into doubt, so the other are not rashly to be affirmed. Which, indeed, is to be hoped for from the authoritative guidance (magisterid) of the Spirit ; for our own care and pains will not suffice to obtain it What man is

there who knows, for example, whether the judgment, of which I spoke in a former sermon (the third before this, if I recollect rightly1), as pronounced by the Lord between men, was preceded by a judgment pronounced in the heavens ?2 5. A thought which occurs to my mind is this : Do you suppose that Lucifer, son of the morning, who lifted himself up by a presumptuous pride, that he, too, envied the human race this outpouring of the oil of Divine grace before he was cast forth into outer darkness ; and that in his indignation and jealousy he murmured in a manner to himself, saying, ' To what purpose is this waste ?' I do not assert that the Spirit says this, but neither would I assert the contrary ; I simply do not know. It may have been the case (nor does it seem incredible) that, being filled with wisdom and raised to a high degree of glory, he may have foreseen the creation of men, and that some of them would attain to an equal degree of glory with that he then held.

But if he foresaw this he saw, without doubt, that [it would come to pass] in God the Word; and in his malice he envied men, and, scorning to have them as companions, determined to render them subject to himself. 'They are,' he said, 1 weaker than I, and inferior by nature ; it is not fitting that they should be fellow-citizens with me, and equals in glory/ Perhaps that ascension which he presumed (as in n. 5), are read here in a parenthesis ; and the first printed edition also has them. 7 Digitized by Google 98 to attempt to make, and the seating himself, signifying mastery, of which he said, / will ascend above the heights of the clouds ; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation^ in the sides of the north (Is. xiv. 13, 14), was intended that he might obtain some kind of resemblance to the Most High, and that as God, sitting upon the Cherubin, governs the whole race of angels, so he might sit upon a lofty seat and thence govern the whole human race. But God forbid ! He has meditated iniquity upon his bed, and iniquity has deceived itself. We recognise no other as our ruler than Him who created us.

The Lord, not the devil, shall judge the whole world. He shall be our God for ever and ever, and shall eternally rule over us. 6. Therefore, as even in heaven he conceived sullen anger, so in Paradise he brought forth iniquity, the offspring of malice, the mother of miseries and of death ; and of all these the first parent was pride. For, although through the envy of the devil came death into the world (Wisd. ii. 24), yet of every sin pride is the beginning (Ecclus. x. 13). But what has it profited him ? None the less art Thou in us, O Lord, and upon us is Thy Name invoked ; none the less does the people whom Thou hast gathered, the Church of Thy redeemed, thankfully say, Thy Name is as oil poured forth. When I am cast forth [for my sin], this oil [of consolation] Thou dost pour around and upon me, since even in Thy anger Thou didst remember mercy.

Yet Satan received dominion over all the sons of pride ; he has become prince of the darkness of this world, so that even pride should strive in favour of the kingdom of the humble, and whilst his temporal and proud dominion exists, should establish many humble persons in a sovereignty exalted and eternal Joyful will be the judgment to see that proud persecutor of those who are humble preparing for them, without knowing it, everlasting crowns, and while he attacks all, succumbing to the efforts of all. For the Lord shall judge the peoples everywhere and for ever : He shall save the children of the poor, and shall cast down him who treats them wrongfully. Everywhere and always He will protect His own ; He will put to flight the persecutors, nor suffer the rod of sinners to come into the lot of the righteous, lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity (Ps. cxxv. 3). There shall come even a time when He shall destroy the bow, and break the weapons, and the shields He shall burn in the fire (Ps. xlv. 10, Vulg. and Douay). As for thee, unhappy one, thou settest a seat for thyself in the north, a place of cloud and cold ; and lo ! the poor are raised out of

the dust, and the needy out of the dunghill, that they may sit with princes, and occupy a throne of glory, whilst thou shalt lament to see those words accomplished : The poor and needy shall praise Thy Name (Ps. lxxiv. 21). 7. Thanks be to Thee, O Father of orphans and Judge of the helpless, a mountain fat and fertile has communicated to us its warmth ; the heavens have dropped dew from the presence of the God of Sinai, a saving oil is poured forth, a Name is spread abroad, a Name which the enemy envied for us and for himself ; it is spread abroad, I say, Digitized by Google 99 even into the hearts and into the mouths of children, and in the mouths of babes and sucklings is perfected praise. These things the sinner shall behold in useless anger ; and as his wrath shall be implacable, so the fire shall be inextinguishable which is prepared for him and for his angels. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall perform this. How great is the love, O my God, the object of my deepest affection (amor mens), wherewith Thou dost love me ! Everywhere Thou hast been mindful of me; everywhere earnestly desiring the salvation of one poor and needy, and that in opposition

not only to proud men, but also to proud and rebellious angels ! In heaven and on earth Thou, O Lord, dost judge those who do me harm, and repulse those who take arms to attack me. Everywhere Thou dost help and assist me ; and Thou art ever at my side, O Lord, that I may not be overwhelmed. These blessings I will celebrate in praises unto the Lord as long as I live ; I will praise my God while I have my being. These are His wonders ; these the mighty works which He hath done. This, the first and greatest of His judgments, it is which the [B.] Virgin Mary, conscious of His secret works, has revealed unto me in the words : He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away (Luke i- 52» 53)- Tne second also, which you have already heard, is similar to the first : That they which see not might see : and that they which see might be made blind (John ix. 39). In these two judgments let the poor be comforted, and let him say : I remembered Thy judgments of old, O Lord ;

and have comforted myself (Vs. cxix. 52). 8. But let us return to ourselves, and let us examine our ways.

And that we may be enabled to do this in truth, let us invoke the Spirit of Truth ; let us recall Him from that height of heaven whither He has led us [in thought], so that He may guide us thither to go ourselves ; for without Him we can do nothing. We need not fear that He will disdain to condescend to us, since, on the contrary, He would have reason to be indignant with us if we should endeavour to accomplish even the least spiritual work without His assistance. He is not a Spirit which departs and does not return ; He leads, and continues to lead us on from glory to glory as being the Spirit of the Lord. Sometimes He draws us to Himself, and into the sphere of His own Light; sometimes, accommodating Himself to our capacities, He enlightens our darkness, so that whether He is above us, or whether He is in us, we should be always in the light, and walk as children of light. We have passed out of types and shadows ; we have reached the region of moral truths. Our faith has been built up, let our life and conduct be ruled and directed ; and as the understanding has been trained, let the actions be prescribed by it. Since a good understanding have all they that do the commandments of God (Ps. cxi. 10), let our acts and our understanding also be directed to the praise and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is above all, God blessed for ever. Amen. Digitized by Google IOO

OF THE TWO OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, OF WHICH THE ^T^HY Name is as oil poured forth. What is it which the Holy Spirit reveals to us in this text, as assuredly brought to pass in us ? It appears to me, in the first place, that it is the fact of His operation in us being twofold. There is one operation, by which He first establishes us inwardly in virtues, in order to our salvation ; and then the other, by which He adorns us outwardly with His gifts, to our profit and to the good of others. The former grace we receive for ourselves ; the latter for our neighbours. For example, faith, hope, and charity are given us for ourselves ; for without these we cannot be saved. But words of knowledge or of wisdom, the gift of healing the sick, of prophecy, and similar powers, in which we may be wanting without any detriment to our own salvation, these assuredly are bestowed upon us only that they may be used for the benefit, bodily and spiritual, of our fellow-creatures. And these two operations of the Spirit, which we experience either in ourselves, or in others, have names corresponding to the effects they produce ; let us name them, if you please, infusion and effusion. To

which of these two, then, have the words, Thy Name is as oil poured forth, reference ? Is it not to effusion ? For if He had desired rather to refer to infusion, He would have said 'inpoured,' instead of 'poured forth.,1 Besides, it is because of this fragrance poured forth upon her Bosom that the Bride says, Thy Name is as oil poured forth, ascribing that fragrance to the Name of her Spouse, as it were oil poured upon it. And whosoever feels himself endued with a gift of outward graces, which he is able in turn to pour forth upon others, is also enabled to say to the Lord : Thy Name is as oil poured forth. 2. But here we must take good heed of two dangers: that of giving to others what is meant for ourselves, and of keeping for ourselves what is given to us for others. You certainly are retaining for yourself that which belongs to your neighbour, if, for example, being not only full of virtues, but also outwardly adorned with the gifts of knowledge and of eloquence, fear perhaps, or sloth, or an ill-judged humility, restrains your good gift of speech, which might be of service to many people, in a useless, or, rather, blamable silence ; and thus * Besides, it

is of the fragrance exhaled outwardly by the Bosom of the Bride, not of her inward virtues, that this is spoken. Thy Name is as oil poured forth. Besides, it is because of this fragrance,' etc. ; but most MSS., and also the first printed edition omit it. It is true that it is found in the St. Evroul Codex, but that omits the following sentence : ' Besides, it is because,' etc. And in fact one or the other is superfluous.

Digitized by Google IOI you are evil spoken of, because you withhold corn from the people (Prov. xi. 26). On the contrary, you dissipate and lose that which is your own if, before you have received a complete inpouring from God, and while you are, so to speak, but half filled, you hasten to pour yourself forth, and thus violate the law not to plough with the firstling of thy cow, or to shear the firstling of thy sheep (Deut. xv. 19).

You defraud yourself both of life and of salvation when, without rightfulness of intention, but puffed up by a wind of vain glory, or infected by the poison of worldly cupidity, you thus impart yourself to another; indeed, what you thus communicate is but the mortal imposthume which is swelling within yourself. 3. If, then, you are wise, you will show yourself rather as a reservoir than as a canal. For a canal spreads abroad water as it receives it, but a reservoir waits until it is filled before overflowing, and thus communicates, without loss to itself, its superabundant water, knowing that there is blame to one who deteriorates that which he receives ; and that you may not regard my counsel as to be despised, hear a wiser than 1 : A fool uttereth all his mind, but a wise man keepeth it in till afterutards (Prov. xxix. 1 1 ). But in the Church at the present day we have many canals, few reservoirs. Those by whom the dew of heaven distils upon us are of charity so great that they desire to pour it forth before they are themselves filled with it ; they are more prepared to speak than to hear, are quick to teach that which they have not learned, and long to preside over

others, while they do not as yet know how to govern themselves. For my part, I think there is no degree of piety more helpful to salvation than that of which the Wise Man speaks : Have pity on thy own soul, pleasing God, and contain thyself (Ecclus. xxx. 24, Vulg. and Douay). If I have but a little oil for my own anointing, why dost thou think that I ought to give it to thee and remain empty ? That is for my own need ; nor do I bring it forth publicly, except at the order of a Prophet. If any of those who have perhaps an opinion of me above anything which they behold in me, or who hear somewhat concerning me, shall press me too hard with their requests, they will be answered thus : Lest there be not enough for us and you, go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves (Luke xxv. 9). But charity, you reply, seeketh not her own ( 1 Cor. xiii. 5). And do you know for what reason she doth not ? It is because she is in want of nothing. For who seeks that which he already possesses ? Charity is never without those things which are hers ; that is, those which are necessary

for salvation ; and these she not only possesses, but possesses them in abundance. In these she desires to abound for herself, that she may abound for all others also ; she desires to have sufficient for herself, that she may be wanting in nothing for any others. In other words, she is imperfect if she is not full. 4. But you, my brother, whose own salvation is not yet sufficiently assured, who have as yet no charity, or a charity so light and weak, that it is like a reed, believing every spirit, and blown about with Digitized by Google 102 every wind of doctrine ; or, rather, whose charity is so great, that going even beyond the commandment, you love your neighbour more than yourself ; or again, who have so little, that going against the commandment, it dissolves under the influence of inclination, disappears under fear, is troubled by sadness, is reduced by avarice, narrowed by ambition, disquieted by suspicions, set aside by reproaches, racked by cares, puffed up by honours, and by envy made to pine away ; you, I say, who have such sentiments in matters which relate to yourself, by what folly do you desire, or consent, to busy yourself in those which relate to others ? Listen to the advice which a cautious

and watchful charity gives : Not that other men be eased, and ye burdened; but by an equality (2 Cor. viii. 13). Be not righteous over much (Eccles. vii. 16). It suffices that you should love your neighbour as yourself; that is the equality of which the Apostle speaks. David says : My soul shall praise Thee as with marrow and fatness: and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips (Ps. ixiii. 5), showing his desire first to be filled with the inpouring of grace, and then to begin to pour it forth : not merely to receive it, but to be filled with it, that he might give forth easily out of his fulness, and not gasp in the effort to do so out of an empty heart. In this he displayed caution, lest in doing good to others, he should do wrong to himself ; and yet [acted] with a pure motive, as imitating Him, of whose fulness we have all received. Do you also learn not to attempt to give forth except out of a full [heart and mind], nor to desire to be more liberal than God. Let the reservoir imitate its source, for that does not flow into a river, nor spread itself into a lake, until it is brimming over with its own

waters. The reservoir must not be ashamed not to be more profuse than its source. Lastly, even He who is the Fountain of life, who is full in Himself, and full of Himself, did He not begin by leaping forth [as it were a fountain] into the secret recesses of the Heavens, which were nearest to Him, and filled them all with His bounty ; and then, at length, when He had filled those loftier and more secret regions, burst forth upon the earth, and multiplying His mercy by a gratuitous and superabundant overflowing of it, brought salvation both to men and beasts ? First He filled those inner regions ; and, then, thus bursting forth, as it were, with the multitude of His mercies, He visited the earth and made it glad (inebriavif) ; He enriched it and made it fruitful with every kind of good. Therefore do thou do likewise. Be thou first filled, then pour forth with care and judgment of thy fulness. The charity which is liberal, yet prudent, usually wastes not, but increases. My son, says Solomon, squander not; and an Apostle declares, Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip (Heb. ii. 1). What then? art thou

more holy than Paul ? or wiser than Solomon ? Furthermore, be it far from me to grow rich by thy impoverishment. For if to thyself thou art evil, to whom shalt thou be good ? Assist me, if thou art able, of thy abundance ; but if otherwise, be sparing for thy own good.

Digitized by Google 5. But now listen while I state how great things are necessary for our own salvation, and what they are ; how great and manifold is the infusion of grace, which we need, before we presume to give forth to others. I shall try to put them before you as briefly as I can. For the sun (hora) is mounting high in the heavens, and presses me to reach the end of my discourse. The Physician draws near to the wounded man; the Divine Spirit to our soul. For what soul is there which does not feel itself wounded by the sword of the devil, even after the wound of original sin was healed by the saving medicine of Baptism? When, then, the Spirit draws near to that soul which says, My wounds sfink and are corrupt because of my foolishness (Ps. xxxviii. 5), what is it that it is needful He should first do ? Before all things, the ulcerous tumour which may have grown in and over the wound, and hinders its cure, must be removed.

The ulcer of inveterate evil custom must be cut away with the sharp blade of a sincere repentance. But this cannot be done without severe pain ; let that, then, be alleviated with the healing ointment of devotion, which is, in fact, the comfort caused by the hope of forgiveness. Of that hope is born the mastery which is acquired over our passions, and the victory over sin. For we find the Psalmist giving thanks, and saying : Thou hast loosed my bonds, J will offer to Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving (Ps. cxvi. 16). Then are applied the remedy of penitence, the apparatus1 of fasts, of vigils, or prayers, and of other exercises of the repentant. Let him be nourished in labour with the food of good works, that he fail not That good works are nourishment to the soul, you may learn from these words of the Lord Himself: My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me (John iv. 34). Therefore let works of piety accompany the labours of penitence which strengthen the soul. Alms, says Tobit, shall be a great confidence before the Most High God (Tob. iv. 12, Vulg. and Douay). Now, food arouses thirst, and drink is needed. To the nourishment of good works let there be added, therefore, the draught

of prayer, blending works well done in the stomach, as it were, of conscience, and rendering them acceptable to God. Prayer is as wine which maketh glad the heart of man ; it is the wine of the Holy Spirit, a draught of which brings not only the gladness [of heaven], but entire forgetfulness of the pleasures of earth (carnalium voluptatum). It moistens the dry soil of the conscience, it brings about the perfect absorption of the food of good actions, and distributes them into all the members of the soul ; strengthening faith, giving vigour to hope, rendering charity active and yet methodical, and shedding an admirable unction over the whole character. 6. When a sick man shall have partaken of food and of drink, what, then, remains for him to do but to repose, and in the quiet of contemplation to recover himself after the toils of busy life ? When he is thus in a holy slumber, he beholds God in a vision ; yet, as it were, in a glass and darkly, and not as yet face to face. Nevertheless, though it be true that he knows God rather by inference and Digitized by Google 104 surmise (eonjectati) than by distinct view, and beholds Him but as He passes by, and by a flash of glory

which disappears in a moment, yet that momentary and passing vision does not fail to arouse in him an ardent and burning love, and he says : With my soul have I desired Thee in the night ; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early (Is. xxvi. 9). Such a love is full of zeal ; it is worthy of a friend of the Bridegroom, and with that love a faithful and prudent servant, whom his Lord hath set over His household, ought to feel himself animated and glowing. It fills and warms the soul, it boils over and spreads itself fearlessly, it bursts forth in vehement waves, and it says : Who is weak, and I am not weak ? who is offended, and I burn not? (2 Cor. xi. 29). Let him who is possessed by that love preach, and bear fruit ; let him do marvels, let him even work miracles ; vanity will find no place in him who is wholly occupied by charity.

For charity, if only it be perfect, is the fulfilling of the law (Rom. xiii. 10), and the perfectness of the heart. In truth, God is charity (1 John iv. 16) ; and there is nothing which is able to fill and satisfy a creature made in the image of God, except God, who is Himself charity, and who alone is greater than that creature. It is very full of peril to promote [to ecclesiastical functions] one who has not yet attained this perfect charity, however great be the talents which, in other respects, he may appear to possess. Though he have all knowledge, though he have bestowed all his goods to feed the poor, though he even give his body to be burned — without charity, he is nothing. Behold with how many and great graces it behoves us to be previously filled, that we may venture to impart to others, so that we may bestow out of fulness, not out of poverty. In the first place, we ought to have repentance ; secondfy, devotion ; thirdly, a laborious penitence ; fourthly, works of piety ; fifthly, earnestness in prayer ; sixthly, the repose of contemplation ; and in the seventh place, the fulness of charity. All these things worketh in us one and the same Spirit, according to that operation which is called infusion; thus and so far may the other, which is called effusion, be exercised safely, and with pure intention to the praise and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

OF THE NATURE, MANNER, AND PROPERTIES OF THE ANGELICAL LOVE TOWARDS GOD, ACCORDING TO THE SEVERAL ORDERS OF ANGELS. THE loving Bride still continues to speak. She continues still to celebrate the praises of her Spouse, and to invite new graces from Him, while showing that those she has already received are not unfruitful. For hear what words she adds : Therefore do the virgins love Thee, As if she would say : ' Not in vain nor uselessly is Digitized by Google it, O my Spouse, that Thy Name is poured forth upon my bosom, nor is Thy Name without effect : for therefore do the virgins love Thee/ Wherefore do they love ? Because of this outpouring of His Name.