Sermons on the Song of Songs

therefore, who descended is also He who ascended ; for no one can ascend into heaven but He who descended from heaven, who is one and the same Lord, both Bridegroom and the Head, as also Bride and the Body. Nor is it in vain that this celestial Man has appeared upon earth, since He has made many denizens of earth similar to Himself, and citizens of heaven, as it is said by the Apostle : As is the Man who is heavenly, such are they also who are made like unto Him, and therefore heavenly ( i Cor. xv. 48). A beginning is, then, already made by living on the earth in the manner ©f those who live in heaven, when, after the example of that heavenly and blessed creation, she who comes from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, is, nevertheless, attached with chaste love to her heavenly Spouse ; and, although not yet united to Him by outward sight, is yet betrothed to Him by faith, according to the promise of God speaking by the prophet : / will betroth thee unto Me in mercies : I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness (Hosea ii. 19, 20). Therefore, she strives to be more and more conformed to the pattern which

came from heaven : learning to be modest and temperate, chaste and holy, patient and compassionate, meek and humble of heart. And it is by these virtues that she endeavours, far removed as she is, to please Him upon whom the angels desire to look, so that, by sharing the same desire with which they are fired, she may approve herself as being a fellow-citizen with the saints, and of the household of God, that she may show herself His beloved and His Bride. 8. I think that every soul which is such as I have described is not only heavenly because of its origin, but may be not unfitly said to be itself heaven, because of its resemblance to heaven, which is thus brought about. And it is then that such a soul plainly shows that its origin is from heaven, because its conversation is in heaven. A holy soul is, then, a heaven, having understanding for a sun, faith for a moon9 and for stars countless virtues. Or we may say that its sun is zeal for righteousness or fervent charity, and its moon is continence.

For as the brightness of the moon is said to be wholly from the sun, so there is no merit in continence without charity or justice. Hence the Wise man says : How beautiful is a generation which joins continence to charity (Wisdom iv. i).1 As for the stars of this sky, I do not regret having called the virtues by this name when I consider the fitness of the similitude. For as the stars shine by night, and in the day are unseen, so true virtue, which often in prosperity is not apparent, shines out brightly in time of adversity. It is a matter of prudence to hide it in the one case, but in the other it is of necessity rendered visible. A virtue is, then, as a star, and a man of many virtues as a heaven of such stars, unless, perhaps, that which the Lord has spoken by the Prophet, Heaven is My Throne (Is. lxvi. 1), is to be here. — Ed.

Digitized by Google 173 understood of this visible heaven which rolls around us, and not rather in the sense which the Scripture elsewhere expresses more plainly : The soul of the righteous is the throne of wisdom.1 But whoso has learned from the teaching of the Saviour that God is a Spirit, and is to be worshipped in the spirit (John iv. 24), will not hesitate to believe that His throne is spiritual. I should confidently affirm this, and not less with regard to the spirit of a righteous man than of the angels.

Most of all I am confirmed in that opinion by that faithful promise of the Son of God : / and My Father will come to him (that is, to a righteous man), a?id make our abode with him (John xiv. 23). The Psalmist also seems to me to have spoken of no other heaven than this in the words : Thou divellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel (Ps. xxi. 4, Vulg. and Douay). And again, the Apostle speaks unmistakably : That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith (Eph. iii. 17). 9. And it is not wonderful that the Lord Jesus should dwell in this, as in heaven, since not only, as in the case of other living beings, did He speak the word and it came into existence, but He has striven in order to acquire it ; He has died to redeem it. Therefore, having after many sufferings and efforts made it His own according to His wish, He says : This is My rest for ever : here will / dwell, for I have desired it (Ps. cxxxii. 14). Blessed is that soul to whom it is said : 4 Come, Mine elect one, and upon thee will I place My Throne. Why art thou so heavy, O my soul, and why

art thou disquieted within me ?' Dost thou think that not within thee canst thou find a place for the Lord ? What place is there, in truth, in us that is fit for the presence of a glory so great, or sufficient to receive so high a Majesty ? Would that I were worthy even to offer adoration in the place where His Feet have stood ! Who will grant unto me the grace to be able to follow closely in the footsteps of some holy soul which He has chosen for His habitation ? Yet if He shall deign only to pour into my soul the unction of His mercy, and to expand it, as a curtain is extended when anointed, then I may be able to say : / have run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou didst enlarge my heart (Ps. cxix. 32, Vulg. and Douay). Perhaps I shall be able to show in my soul, if not an upper chamber sufficiently large for Him to sit with His disciples, at least a pillow where He may lay His Head. At least, I may from afar look up to those blessed oneSj of whom it is said : I will dwell in them, and walk in them (2 Cor. vi. t6). 10. O how broad

the confines of that soul and how commanding its merits, which is found worthy to receive in itself that Divine Presence ; and not only worthy to receive it, but capable of so doing !

V., for November I, n. 5 ; and in Sermon XXV., 6. Others of the Fathers, as St. Augustine (Ettarr. in Ps. xlvi. 9, and Serrtion CC, n. 1) and St. Gregory the Great (29 Moral., c. 15 ; and Horn. 38, in Evang.), quote it as Scripture. But it is apparently not found in the Vulgate. Compare Ps. xxxvii. 30, and Prov. x. 31. —Ed. Digitized by Google 174 What, again, ;»hall I say of that soul, which affords, as it were, spacious avenues in which the grace of God may move without constraint ?

Assuredly, it is not tunnelled with the windings of worldly interests and secular cares, nor occupied with luxuries and sensual pleasures ; nor with curiosity about the affairs of others ; nor is it filled with tumid pride, nor the desire to rule. For it is essential in the first place that a soul should be free from all things like this, that it may become a heaven, and be the dwelling-place of God. For otherwise how would it be able to contemplate God in peace, or even to see Him as He is? Again, it must be free from all hatred, all jealousy, and all bitterness, for into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter (Wisd. i. 4). Then it is necessary that it should grow in breadth and volume that it may be capable of receiving God. Now, the growth and extension of the soul is charity, according to the saying of the Apostle: Be ye enlarged in charity (2 Cor. vi. 13). For although the soul, being of a spiritual nature, does not admit of material extension, nevertheless grace confers upon it what is denied by nature. It ha£ growth and is extended, but in a spiritual manner ; it increases, not in substance, but in power and in glory ; it grows even into a temple

holy to the Lord ; and attains unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Ephes. iv. 13). Thus the amplitude of a soul is estimated by the measure of the charity which it possesses ; so that, for example, the soul which has much charity is great, and that which possesses little, is itself little; while that which has none at all, is simply nothing, as St. Paul declares, If I have not charity^ I am nothing (1 Cor. xiii. 2). If a soul has begun to have ever so little charity, so that at least it is careful to love those who love it, and to salute the brethren, and those who offer salutation, then I should say that that soul is something, however little, since it has at least the charity of society, which consists in the natural interchange of courtesy given and received. But as our Lord inquires, What does it more than others? (Matt. v. 47). And I should regard a soul as being not of liberal, or even of moderate dimensions, but as being plainly narrow, small, and petty, which had no more charity than this strictly limited amount. 11. If, however, it progresses and grows greater, so as to overpass the limits of a love so

petty and so narrow, let it, in the full liberty of the Spirit, reach the broad confines of a charity and kindness which is wholly free and gratuitous ; insomuch as out of the largeheartedness of its good-will, to extend its kindly cares to all men, and to love all and everyone as it loves its own self. And then the reproach could not be addressed to it : i What doest thou more than is of obligation ?' in face of a charity so capacious. The charity, I repeat, which embraces all persons, even those with whom it _has no bond of social relation, which is not allured by any hope of personal advantage, nor repelled by any feeling of dislike, which again is constrained by no obligation, except indeed by that of which it is said : Digitized by Google *75 Owe no man anything, but to love one another (Rom. xiii. 8) ; that is indeed great But if in addition to this you take by violence the realm of charity, and, like a pious invader, occupy it even to its farthest bounds, then you will regard the bowels of charity as not to be shut up even to enemies ; you will do good even to those who hate you, you will pray for those who

despitefully use you and persecute you, and strive to be peaceful even with those who are haters of peace ; then the breadth, and height, and beauty of your soul, will be as the breadth, and height, and beauty of heaven.

Then will be fulfilled in it that which is spoken : He stretcheth forth the heavens like a curtain (Ps. civ. 2); and in it He in whom greatness, immensity, and glory are equally without bound will deign not only to dwell, but to go to and fro at His pleasure in a heaven so extended and so fair. 12. You see, then, what are the heavens which the Church includes, without ceasing to be in her universality, as a vast heaven, extending from sea even to sea and from the River unto the world's end. Consider also as a consequence, to what you can, in this respect, compare it ; provided that you have not forgotten what was said a little while ago with regard to * the heaven of heaven, and the heavens of heavens ' (n. 9). Our mother [the Church], though she be here below in a place of exile, has, even while she is performing her pilgrimage, heavens of her own, spiritual men, illustrious in their faith and by their life, pure in faith, unshaken in hope, of wide charity, of deep and lofty contemplation. And these heavens let fall the rain of the word of salvation, thunder by their rebukes, lighten by their wonderful works (miraculis). They declare the glory of God ; they

are spread, like a curtain, over all the earth ; they show in themselves the law of life and conduct written as by the Finger of God, to give the knowledge of salvation unto their people ; they also teach the Gospel of peace, because they are the * curtains of Solomon.' 13. We must discern also upon these curtains the likenesses of things heavenly, which were described above when we spoke of the ornaments of the Bridegroom (n. 3). We must discern similarly the Queen standing on His right hand, decked with ornaments similar, if not equal, to His (Ps. xlv. 9). For although she has no little splendour and beauty for her portion, in the righteousness of the Saints, both in the place of her pilgrimage and in the day of her power, yet there is a difference between His crown of virtues and the consummation of the glory of the blessed. Yet I may say that the Bride is perfect and blessed, though it be in part. For in part she is as the tents of Kedar. Yet she is beautiful, whether in that part which is already blessed and reigns in heaven ; or in that, even while she is in the night of this world, she is adorned with men who are illustrious by their

wisdom and their virtues, even as the midnight sky is adorned with its stars. Wherefore the Prophet says : They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they Digitized by 176 that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever (Dan. xii. 3). 14. What humility is there here, and yet what sublimity ! It is to be at once the tents of Kedar, and the sanctuary of God ; at once a habitation on earth, and a palace in heaven ; a hut of clay, and a royal hall ; a body of death, and a temple of light ; an object of contempt to the proud, and yet the Bride of Christ. She is black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem ; and although labour and the sorrow of a prolonged exile have darkened her face, yet she is fair with the beauty of heaven, as the curtains of Solomon. If you are displeased with her blackness, yet you cannot but admire her beauty ; if you despise her as humble, yet look up to her as sublime.

Yet in this condition in which she is, how remarkable a proof of wisdom, of discretion, of fitness, is to be gathered from the fact that this abasement and this elevation, are each so tempered, according to time, in the Bride, that among all the changes and chances of this world, this loftiness raises her up in adversities, so that she does not fail ; and this humbleness represses the tendency to pride, so that even in prosperity she does not grow forgetful of her Lord. These two results are each of them most beautiful, but are exactly contrary to each other ; nevertheless, they both work together for good to the Bride, and are helpful to her salvation. 15. So much with regard to the comparison which the Bride makes between herself and the curtains of Solomon. Yet there remains still to be treated another sense, which I referred to at the beginning, and promised to explain, namely, that which refers the whole comparison to the blackness of the Bride only. This promise of another sermon, as well because this is already sufficiently long, as also that the prayer prevents, which, according to our custom, we offer to the praise and glory of the Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is God blessed for ever. Amen.

OF THE BLACKNESS, YET BEAUTY, OF THE BRIDE: AND IN WHAT YOU remember, I doubt not, what were 'the curtains of Solomon,' to which the beauty of the Bride was compared, and who was meant by Solomon, provided that the whole comparison is intended to be with the Bride's beauty. If, however, it be referred wholly to her blackness, as that of the tents of Kedar, then I have nothing more to say to you on the subject of those Digitized by Google curtains of Solomon, except that they were, perhaps, those of which that King was accustomed to make use as a tent or screen when he thought fit to live under canvas, and which (if that were the case) would no doubt be stained and blackened by their exposure every day to the rays of the sun and the violence of weather. Yet that was not uselessly done,1 but in order that the costly furniture which was within might be preserved unsoiled and beautiful In this point of view the Bride does not deny her blackness, but makes excuse for it; nor does she regard as blameworthy such a condition, which charity excuses, and which the judgment of the Truth does not disapprove. For does not an Apostle ask, Who is weak, and I am not weak f who is offended, and I burn noil (2 Cor. xi. 29). She takes upon her the blemish (novum) of compassion, in order to lighten or to cure the malady of passion in another ; she allows herself to gather blackness, on account of her zeal for whiteness, and obtains fairness and beauty as her reward. 2. The blackening of One renders many white and fair ; not that He is tinged with their faults, but that He is touched by their sufferings.

It is expedient, it was said, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not (John xi. 50). It is expedient that One, for the sake of all, should be blackened by the likeness of sinful flesh, and that the whole [human] race should not be condemned by the blackness of sin. Let the brightness and the image of the Divine Nature be obscured by the form of a servant, for the life of a servant. Let the radiance of eternal life gather blackness in the flesh, in order that the flesh may by it be purified. Let the Form that was fairer than all the sons of men be obscured in the darkness of the Passion, in order that the sons of men might see a great light and be enlightened by it ; let It be defiled upon the Cross ; let It grow pale2 in death ; let It have no form or comeliness, that the Divine Bridegroom may obtain for the Church His Bride to be altogether beautiful and glorious, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.

I recognise the curtain of Solomon — nay, rather, I embrace the monarch Solomon himself under his covering of black. He, too, has blackness, but it is of the skin alone ; it is an external blackness, not extending within ; for the King's daughter is all glorious within (Ps. xlv. 13). Within is the brightness of Divinity, the beauty of His virtues, the shining of His glory, [otherwise gratia^, and the white lustre of His innocence ; but the appearance of infirmity conceals all these, and renders Him open to scorn from the beholders ; His countenance is, as it were, hidden, and He is despised, since He is tempted in all ways like unto [His brethren], yet without sia I recognise the image and likeness of a defiled and blackened human recall to you the curtains with which Solomon used once to cover his pavilion. These were no doubt black, by their exposure every day to the rays of the sun, and the violence of weather. Yet that,* etc. 12 Digitized by i78 nature; I recognise those coats of skins,1 the coverings granted to our first parents, after they had sinned against God (Gen. iii. 21).

For He has accepted blackness for Himself in taking upon Him the form of a servant, in being made in the likeness of men, and in being found in fashion as a man (Phil. ii. 7). I recognise under the covering of goatskin, which is the symbol of sin, both the Hands which did no wrong, and the neck (Gen. xxvii. 16) through which thought of evil never passed ; and on that account no guile was found in His Mouth (Is. liii. 9). I know, O Jesus, that Thou art of mild nature, meek and humble of heart, of benign look and kindly spirit, and that Thou art indeed anointed with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows (Ps. xlv. 7). Whence, then, is it that Thou art rough and shaggy like Esau ? Wherefore is Thy Countenance wrinkled and blackened, and whence this shaggy growth of hair ? Mine, mine they are, and these Hands are rendered bristly with the likeness of me, a sinner.

I acknowledge as mine this shaggy growth, and in my flesh I behold God my Saviour. 3. Nevertheless, it was not Rebekah, but Mary, who invested Him in this garment of flesh ; and He who accepted the benediction [of His Father] was so much the worthier as she who bore Him was the more holy. Well is it for me that He is found in my likeness, since the benediction is reserved by Him for me, since it is for me that the heritage is claimed. It was, in fact, said to Him : Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for Thy possession (Ps. ii. 8). Thine inheritance, He says, Thy possession, I will give to Thee. How wilt Thou give it to Him if it be His ? And why dost Thou warn Him to ask for it ? or how can it be His if it be necessary that He should ask? It is, then, for me that He asks it ; and it is in order that He may undertake my cause that He puts on my nature Wherefore, says the Prophet, T/ie chastisement of our peace was upon Him ; and, The Lord hath laid on Htm the iniquity of us all (Is. liii. 5, 6). And the Apostle explains, In all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be merciful (Heb. ii. 17). So that His voice is truly the voice of Jacob, but the hands the hands of Esau (Gen. xxvii. 22). That which we hear from His Lips is His ; but what we see in Him, that comes from us. The words which He speaks, they are spirit, and they are life ; but the Form upon which the eye rests is subject to death, and is death. One thing is beheld, another believed. The senses declare that He is black ; but faith protests assuredly that He is fair as the lily (Cant. ii. 1 ), and altogether beautiful. He is, indeed, black, but only to the eyes of those void of understanding ; for in the judgdered * curtains ' throughout, in deference to A* V. and Douay V. Tents, though normally covered with curtains of the black fabric woven out of goats' hair, at all events, in historic times, were no doubt frequently covered with the skins themselves.

Both kinds of coverings were combined in the construction of the Tabernacle. See Exod. xxvi. 7-14.— Ed. Digitized by Google 179 merit of the faithful He is wholly beautiful ; black yet comely ; black in the opinion of Herod, but by the confession of the penitent Thief, as in the faith of the Centurion, beautiful altogether. 4. How beautiful the man who exclaimed, Truly this Man was the Son of God, had surely perceived. But into what he perceived it is for us to examine. For if the Centurion had considered only that which was apparent in the Man before him, on what ground could he have pronounced Him the Son of God, or beautiful ? What was there in Him to the eyes of the spectators, other than tortured and uncomely, when nailed upon the Cross with outstretched Hands, and between two malefactors, He was the subject of laughter to the malignant, of weeping to the faithful ? He alone was an object of laughter, who alone had the right to be the object of respect and of terror. Whence, then, did he learn the charm of the Crucified One ?

Whence did he know that the Man who was numbered with the transgressors was in truth the Son of God ? To reply to that question is not for me ; nor is there need, for the care of the Evangelist has not failed to supply the answer. These are his words : When the Centurion, who stood over against flim, saw that He so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said: Truly this Man was the Son of God (Mark xv. 39). Therefore, he believed at [the hearing of] the Voice; he recognised the Son of God by His Voice, not by His appearance.

Was he not, then, perhaps one of the sheep of Him who said, My sheep hear My voice (John x. 14) P1 5. By the hearing is discovered a truth which the sight was unable to reach ; appearance has deceived the eye, and the truth has entered by the ear. The eye declared Him weak, defiled, miserable, condemned to the most ignominious of deaths ; while the ear gained the knowledge that He was Son of God, that He was beautiful altogether ; but not the ear of the Jews, who were uncircumcised in [heart and] ears. It was not without reason that St Peter cut off the ear of the high priest's servant, as if to open an entrance for the truth, and that the truth should free him, that is, make him free. The centurion was a man uncircumcised, but not as to his ears, since he recognised the Lord, under so many marks of feebleness, and at the single voice of a dying Man. He did not despise that which he saw, because he believed that which he did not see. Nor did he believe because of what he saw, but, on the contrary, because, without doubt, of what he heard ; for faith cometh by hearing (Rom. x. 1 7). It would have been indeed

worthy of the truth that it should enter the soul by the eyes, which are its windows, and because sight is the worthier sense ; but that is reserved for us, O my soul, to the time when we shall see face to face. In the meantime, it is well that the remedy should enter where the disease entered, that life should follow death, and tread close upon its footsteps ; that Light should follow darkness, and * and I know Mine, and My [sheep] know Me.' The Colbertine MS. adds merely, * and My [sheep] know Me.' Digitized by that the venom of the serpent should be succeeded by the Truth, the remedy for it ; so that the eye, which was sick, might be cured, and, being cured, might calmly behold Him whom in its sickness it was unable to discern. The ear was the first portal by which death entered, let it now be the first inlet opened to life : and let the hearing, which took away the power of sight, now restore it ; for, unless we have believed [mysteries], we shall not comprehend them. Therefore, hearing has relation to the merit, and sight to the recompense [of belief]. Wherefore the Psalmist says : Thou wilt give to my hearing joy and gladness (Ps. li.

8) ; because the recompense of faithful hearing is the Blessed Vision, and the merit [deserving] of that Blessed Vision is faithful hearing. Blessed are those who are pure in heart, saith Our Lord, for they shall see God (Matt. v. 8). And it is necessary that the eye which is to see God should be purified by faith, according to that which is written : Purifying their hearts by faith (Acts xv. 9). 6. In the meantime, then, and while [that] sight is not as yet prepared, let the sense of hearing be aroused, let it be exercised,1 and receive the truth. Happy is he to whom the Truth bears witness, saying : At the hearing of the ear he obeyed Me (Ps. xviii. 45). I shall be worthy to behold Him if before I have beheld 1 shall be found to have obeyed Him ; I shall behold with confidence Him who has received the sacrifice of my obedience. How blessed is the man who says : The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back (Is. 1. 5.). There you have a model of voluntary obedience, an example of perseverance. For he who does not contradict works voluntarily, and he who has not turned back perseveres. Both one and the

other are necessary, because God loveth a cheerful giver (2 Cor. ix. 7), and he that endureth unto the end shall be saved (Matt. x. 22). May the Lord deign to open mine ear also, may the word of truth enter into my heart, may He purify mine eyes, and prepare them for the joyful vision [of Himself], so that I too may say to Him : Thine ear has heard the preparation of my heart (Ps. x. 17), and that I may be enabled also, with all that are obedient to Him, to hear from His Mouth : Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you (John xv. 3). Not all who listen to His words are cleansed, but those only who obey them: Blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it (Luke xi. 28).

Such an hearing it is which He requires who gives command, saying, Hear, O Israel (Deut. vi. 3) ; such a hearing it is that he offers who says: Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth (1 Sam. iii. 9); such, again, it is that he promises who speaks thus : / will hear what God the Lord will speak (Ps. lxxxv. S). 7. But in order that you may know that the Holy Spirit observes this order in the spiritual advancement of the soul — that is to say, that He forms the practice of hearing before He makes the soul glad doubtful whether the text were * excitetur'* or 1 excrciteturf wrote them both down.

Digitized by Google with sight — notice what is said in a Psalm : Hearken, O daughter, and see (Ps. xlv. n, Vulg. and Douay). Why dost thou open thine eyes? Open rather thine ears. Dost thou greatly desire to see Christ ? It is necessary that you should first hear what He says, that you should hear what is said of Him, that you may say when you shall see Him : As we have heard, so have we seen (Ps. xlviii. 9). That brightness is without measure, and your vision is feeble ; you cannot attain unto it You may, perhaps, be able to hear His words ; to behold Him you are not able. When I had become a sinner I heard God calling in the garden, Adam, where art thou ? (Gen. iii. 9), but behold Him I did not. But the hearing, if it be pious, watchful, and faithful, brings back the sight. Faith shall purify the eye which impiety has rendered diseased ; and though disobedience had closed it fast, obedience shall open it again. Lastly, it is, as says the Psalmist, through Thy precepts I get understanding (Ps. cxix. 104) ; because the observance of the commandments of God restores the intelligence, which transgression has taken away. Consider that good man Isaac, how, when he was already very aged, his hearing retained its vigour beyond the other senses. The eyes of the Patriarch were obscured, his taste was led away, his hands were deceived, but not his ears.

What is there wonderful in his ear perceiving the truth, since faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God (Rom. x. 17), and the Word of God is truth ? The voice, he said, is Jacob's voice, and nothing was truer than this ; but, he went on, the hands are the hands of Esau (Gen. xxvii. 22) ; and nothing was more false. You are wrong ; the mere likeness of a hand has deceived you. Taste is not a reliable test of truth, though it discern that which is agreeable. Is it to know the truth to suppose that you are eating venison when, in truth, it is the flesh of a tame kid ? Much less is there dependence on the eye which sees nothing ; in it there is neither truth nor wisdom.

Woe unto those, says the Prophet, that are wise in their own eyes (Is. v. 21). It is not a good wisdom which is thus condemned. It is but the wisdom of this world which is foolishness with God (1 Cor. iii. 19). 8. The true wisdom is within, and is hidden (Job xxviii. 13), as holy Job knew. Why do you seek it without, and from the bodily senses ? Taste has its seat in the palate, but wisdom in the heart.

Do not seek for wisdom with the fleshly eye, for flesh and blood doth not reveal it, but the Spirit (Matt. xvi. 17). Nor is it found in the taste, for it is not found in the land of the living (Job xxviii. 13) ; nor in the touch of the hand, for Job says again : If my mouth has kissed my hand, this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge, for I should have denied the God that is above (xxxii. 27, 28). This, I consider, is the case when the gift of God — that is, wisdom — is attributed not to God, but to the merits of [human] actions. Isaac was a wise man ; nevertheless, his senses led him into error. Has hearing alone the truth ? It is because hearing perceives the word. Rightly was it forbidden to the woman in the Gospel, who had only carnal wisdom, Digitized by Google 182 to touch the Flesh of the Risen Word, because she trusted more to her eyes than to the Divine oracles — that is, to the carnal senses rather than to the Word of God , for she did not believe that He whom she saw dead was raised again,1 although He had Himself promised that this should be so.

Thus her eyes had no rest until they were satisfied by seeing, because she found no consolation in faith, nor in the promise given by God. Are not heaven and earth, and whatsoever is capable of being reached by the bodily eye, to pass away and perish before one jot or tittle out of all that God has spoken shall fail ? And yet she who was unwilling to be consoled by the Word of the Lord ceased to weep immediately upon the sight of Him, because she attached greater weight to the experience of her senses than to the certitude of faith. But that experience is deceptive. 9. We are thrown back, on that account, upon the surer cognition of faith, which comprehends that which sense is unable to reach, and which is not included in past experience. Touch Me not, says the Saviour — that is to say, Cease to rely upon this [carnal] sense, which is easily deceived ;2 rest upon My Word ; accustom yourselves to the exercise of faith. Faith cannot be deceived ; it does not feel the poverty which belongs to the senses, but comprehends things which are invisible — indeed, it passes beyond the boundaries even of human reason, of the course of nature, of the limits of experience. Why do you

ask of the eye that which it is not capable of knowing ? and why does the hand endeavour to examine that which is beyond its range ?

Whatever these two senses bring you information upon is of subordinate importance. But faith reveals to you truths respecting Me, from the greatness of which nothing can detract Learn to hold with firmer grasp, and to follow with greater confidence, that which it recommends to you. Touch Me not, for f am not yet ascended unto My Father (John xx. 17). As if it were only when He were ascended that He either could be, or desired to be, touched by her ! Yes, doubtless, He could be touched, but by the heart, not by the hand ; by prayers, not by the eyes ; by faith, and not by the bodily senses. ' Why/ He says, 4 do you wish to touch Me now, you who judge of the glory of My Resurrection only by the bodily senses ? Do you not remember that, even while I was yet mortal, the eyes of My disciples were not able to sustain for a moment the glory of My Body, though it were about to die ? (Matt. xvii. 6). I am still, indeed, in a certain relation to your senses, while I bear this form of a servant, which you are able to recognise through habit. But My glory is wonderful, and raised wholly above you, so that you cannot

in any wise attain unto it.' Defer, then, your judgment, suspend your belief, and do not trust at all to your senses for the determination of a matter so great, and which is reserved to faith. Faith will define it more worthily and more surely, inasmuch as faith comprehends it more fully, and, in its deep and mystical intelligence, apprehends the height and the depth, Digitized by Google the length and the breadth of that mystery. That which the eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man [even to imagine], faith bears in itself — concealed, as it were, by an impenetrable covering, and safely sealed. 10. That faculty, then, can alone touch Me worthily, which shall contemplate Me sitting at the Right Hand of My Father, no longer in humble guise, but in celestial glory; in My very Flesh, but in quite other semblance than aforetime. Why do you desire to touch It in Its disfigurement ? Wait till It be glorified, and you shall do so. For that which is now disfigured shall then be beautiful ; and disfigured it is, to touch and to sight, even to you, who are yourself disfigured, as relying rather upon your senses than upon faith. But take to yourself [spiritual] beauty, and

then the touch of Me will be possible to you ; for if you have faith, then you have this beauty also, and can touch Him who has it both more worthily and more happily.

Touch Him with the hand of faith, with the finger of earnest desire, with the clasp of devotion, with the fixed gaze of the intellect. But will He still be black, Him whom you touch thus ? By no means.

Thy Beloved is white and ruddy (Cant. v. 10). He is beautiful altogether, and is surrounded with the Roses of Sharon, with lilies of the valleys — that is, with the noble bands of Martyrs, and the choirs of Virgins. I who sit in the midst am akin to each, for I, too, am both Virgin and Martyr. How can I but belong to the white-robed choirs of Virgins, I who am a virgin, the Son of a Virgin, the Spouse of a virgin-bride? How, again, can I but have a place among the empurpled ranks of the Martyrs, I who am the cause and the strength of martyrdom, the pattern and the reward of Martyrs ? Be thou like this, and touch thus Him who is thus described,1 and then say : My Beloved is white and ruddy, the chief est among ten thousand. Thousands of thousands are with Him — ten thousand times ten thousand are around Him ; but there is none of all these to whom He can be compared. Do you fear lest you should fall into some error while seeking Him whom you love in the midst of a multitude so great ?

You will assuredly not hesitate in your choice ; you will easily distinguish Him who is chiefest among all those thousands, since He is more majestic than all, and you will say : He that is glorious in His apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength (Is. lxiii. 1). Then He will not be in that complexion blackened by trouble and hardship in which, up to that time, He had presented Himself before the eyes of His persecutors that they might despise and put Him to death, as also before the eyes of His friends that they might recognise Him when He was risen again. No, I repeat, He will then appear no longer in that sable garb, but in a robe of white, and with a beauty which surpasses not only that of the sons of men, but also that of angels. Why [He says] do you wish to touch Me when I am in a state so humble, in the form of a servant, and without form or comelitalis taliUrqtu tange; — Ed.

Digitized by Google ness? Touch Me rather when I shall be adorned with heavenly beauty, crowned with glory and honour — inspiring fear, indeed, by My Divine Majesty, but full of the winning serenity and gentleness which is Mine by nature. n. At this point we ought to notice the prudence of the Bride, and the marvellous profundity of her sayings, inasmuch as under the figure of the curtains of Solomon, that is, in the flesh, she has sought out God, and in death has discovered the Life, supreme glory and honour among unnumbered disgraces and shames, and under the dark and poor exterior of the Crucified One, the whiteness of innocence, and the splendour of all virtues ; just as under those tentcurtains, however black and despised, the ornaments and treasures of a great and rich king are hidden and preserved. Rightly, then, a person does not scorn the blackness of the curtains, who divines and reflects upon the beauty which they conceal. Therefore it is that some have despised the one because they did not know of the existence of the other ; for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory (i Cor. ii. 8). Herod knew it not, and therefore despised Him ; nor did the rulers of the Synagogue, since they reproached the gloom and infirmity of His Passion, saying : He saved others \ Himself He cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the Cross, that we may see and believe (Mark xv. 31, 22).

But the thief knew Him from the cross where he was hanging, though He was upon the Cross too, and acknowledged His innocence : This Man hath done nothing amiss.1 And then at the same time he declared his belief in His royal Majesty and Glory : Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom (Luke xxiii. 42). The Centurion knew Him, who cried out that He was the Son of God (Matt, xxvii. 54); and the Church knows Him now, and emulates His blackness in order to share in His glory and beauty.

She is not confounded at appearing black or being called black, as she says to her beloved : The reproaches of them that reproached Thee are fallen upon me (Ps. lxix. 9). For she is black as the curtains of Solomon, but without, and not within ; for my Solomon has no inward blackness. Also, she does not say, ' I am black as Solomon,' but ' as the curtains of Solomon because the blackness of Him who is truly the Peaceful is only on the surface. The blackness caused by sin is inward, and sin defiles the soul before it appears to the eyes of men. Thus it is out of the heart that proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, blasphemies, and it is these which defile a man (Matt xv. 19, 20) ; but that is not the case (God forbid !) with our Solomon. You will assuredly not find any such defilements in Him who is truly the Peaceful ; for it must absolutely be the case that He who taketh away the sins of the world is Himself without sin, that He may be found fit to bring peace to sinners, and have a right to claim for Himself justly the name of the Peaceful.

Digitized by Google 12. But there is also a blackness of repentance which gathers upon bne who makes lamentation for his sins. Perhaps He who is my Solomon will not abhor this in me, if I clothe myself with it of my own accord for my sins ; because a broken and contrite heart God does not despise (Ps. li. 17). There is also that of compassion, with which one is affected who condoles with some other who is afflicted, and it darkens you with the suffering of a brother. Our Peacemaker has without doubt considered that He ought not to reject this blackness of sympathy, since He has deigned Himself to be indued with it for us, and has borne our sins in His own Body on the Tree (1 Peter ii. 24). There is also the blackness of persecution, which is counted as a rich and exalted ornament, when it is endured for the sake of righteousness and truth. Wherefore it is said of the Apostles that they departed from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His Name (Acts v. 41) ; and again : Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness1 sake (Matt. v. 10). It is, I consider, principally in this blackness that the Church takes

glory to herself, and of all the dark coverings of the Bridegroom it is that which she imitates most willingly. Also, it is that which has been promised to her by the Saviour : If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you (John xv. 20). 13. On this account the Bride adds: Look not upon me because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me (i. 6), that is, Do not consider me as repulsive, because it is the violence of persecution which renders me less attractive, and less glorious according to the glory of the world. Why do you impute as a blemish to me the blackness which the heat of persecution, and not any fault in my behaviour, has caused ? Or perhaps she intends by ' the sun ' the warm zeal for righteousness with which she is fired and consumed against the ungodly, saying to God : The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up (Ps. lxix. 9); and again, My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten Thy words ; and again, Horror hath taken hold upon me, because of the ivicked that forsake Thy law (Ps. cxix. 139, 53) ; and again, Do I not hate them, O Lord, that hate Thee ? and am I not

grieved with them that rise up against Thee ? (Ps. cxxxix. 21). She observes with care also that saying of the Wise Man : Hast thou daughters ? show not thyself cheerful towards them (Ecclus. vii. 24) ; so that when they are slothful and luxurious, and backward in observance of rule, she shows towards them, not the serenity of satisfaction, but the troubled look of severity. Or, again, * to be blackened by the sun ' means, perhaps, to her to burn with ardent charity towards the brethren, to weep with them that weep, to be weak with the weak, to feel acutely when another is affected with scandal. Or it may be read thus : It is Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, for whose love I languish, whose beams have looked upon me. That languishing draws the colour from the countenance, and that paleness arises from the violence of the soul's desire ; wherefore also the Psalmist says : / remembered God, and Digitized by i86 was delighted, and was exercised, and my spirit swooned away (Ps. lxxvi. 4, Vulg. and Douay). Therefore the ardour of its desire, like a burning sun, makes pale the countenance, while the soul is making its pilgrimage here below, and sighing for the glorious vision of its Lord ; the repulse that

it receives makes it impatient, and the delay that it experiences gives it pain that is great according to the greatness of its love. Who is there among us who glows with a love so sacred, that the desire which he has to see Jesus Christ inspires him with distaste and scorn for all the varieties of glory, and all the joy, of this present life ; so that he says to God, with the Prophet, / have not desired the day of man. Thou knowest (Jer. xvii. 16, Douay), and also with holy David, My soul refused to be comforted (Ps. lxxvii. 2), that is, scorns to be flushed with the empty joy of present good. Or, lastly, *the sun hath discoloured me ' may mean, in comparison with His own splendour, because when I draw near to Him I find myself to be dusky, even black, and despise myself as disfigured and foul. But otherwise I am indeed beautiful ; and why do you call me black, when I yield in fairness only to the sun ?

But the words which follow seem to agree better with the former sense, for she adds : My mothers children were angry with me, which plainly signifies that she has suffered persecution ; but that shall be the subject of another discourse. For the present this, which we have received by the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ, Bridegroom of His Church, will suffice, and may it be to His glory, who is God blessed for ever. Amen.

OF THE COMPLAINT OF THE CHURCH AGAINST HER PERSECUTORS; THAT IS TO SAY, AGAINST THOSE WHO SOW DIVISION AMONGST Y mother's children [sons] were angry with me (i. 6). Annas and Caiaphas, and Judas Iscariot, were sons of the Synagogue; and these fought most cruelly and bitterly against the Church at her very beginning, though she was equally a daughter of the Synagogue, inasmuch as they hung upon the Cross Jesus, who united her members into one body. At that time, and by means of them, God fulfilled what He had predicted long before by His Prophet, saying : / will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered (Zech. xiii. 7). And perhaps in these words from the canticle of Hezekiah : My life is cut off, as by a weaver: whilst I was yet but beginning, He cut me off (Is. xxxviii. 12, Douay). It is, then, of these and others from that race who are known to have opposed themselves to the Christian name that we must consider it to have been said by Digitized by Google THE COMPLAINT OF THE CHURCH AGAINST HER PERSECUTORS 187 the Bride : The sons of my mother were angry with me. And it is with great propriety that she calls them ' sons of my mother,' not ' of

my father/ inasmuch as they had not God for their father, but were of their father the devil, and were murderers, as he was a murderer from the beginning (John viii. 44). Wherefore she does not say 'my brethren,' or 4 the sons of my father,' but 1 the sons of my mother were angry with me.' Otherwise, if she did not distinguish thus, it would seem that even the Apostle Paul was included in those of whom she complains, since he too at one time persecuted the Church of God (1 Cor. xv. 9) ; but he obtained mercy, because he did it ignorantly and in unbelief (1 Tim. i. 13), and made proof that he had God for his Father, and thus by father, as by mother, had to the Church the relation of a brother. 2. But remark that she names none in her accusation except the sons of her mother, and accuses them alone, as if they only were in fault. Yet how many things has she endured from strangers? According to the Psalmist, Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth ; and The plowers plowed upon my back (Ps. cxxix. 1-3). Why, then, do you accuse in particular the children of your mother, since you are well aware that you have been

very often persecuted by many others also ? Now, it is said, When thou sit test at meat with a ruler \ consider diligently what is before thee (Prov. xxiii. 1). Brethren, we are sitting at the table of Solomon, and who is a greater ruler, or richer, than he ? I do not speak of earthly riches, though Solomon abounded even in these ; but look upon the board which is before us, and see how it is loaded with heavenly dainties. Now, these that are set before us are spiritual and divine. And he continues : Consider diligently what is before thee, knowing that it belurves thee to prepare the like} On that account I consider as diligently as I am able that which is provided for me in these words of the Bride ; and it is doubtless for my instruction that she speaks only of the persecution which she endured from those of her own house, and passes over in silence so many and severe sufferings which she has endured in every part of the world, from every nation which is under heaven, as is well known, from infidels, heretics, and schismatics. I know too well the prudence of the Bride to suppose that it is by chance or by forgetfulness that these are passed over

without mention. But without doubt she laments more particularly that which she feels more keenly, and thinks it needful for us to avoid with special care. What, then, is that ? Evidently it is domestic and intestine discord. That is plainly referred to in the Gospel by the mouth of the Saviour Himself, when He says : A man's enemies shall be they of his own household (Matt. x. 36). And by the Psalmist : Mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who did also eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me (Ps. xli. 9).

And again, It was not an enemy that reproached me : then I could have borne it : neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself an addition of the LXX., which appears to be quite alone in this reading. — Ed.

Digitized by Google against me; then I would have hid myself from him. But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance : we took sweet counsel together (Ps. lv. 12-14). That is to say, What you who are my companion at table and chamber make me suffer I feel more keenly, and endure with greater reluctance. You know whose complaint this is, and of whom it is made. 3. Recognise, then, that the Bride complains of 1 the sons of my mother ' with the same wounded feelings, and in the same spirit, when she says that they * were angry with me.' So she speaks in another place : My loiters and my friends stand aloof from my sore : and my kinsmen stand afar off (Ps. xxxviii. n). Keep far away from you always, I entreat, this evil which is so greatly to be hated and detested; you, who have experienced, and experience daily, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity (Ps. exxxiii. 1); and if in unity, then assuredly not in a habit of scandal. For otherwise, instead of being good and pleasant, it is of all things the worst and most deplorable. Woe to that man who is the cause that the sweet bond

of unity is broken ! Whosoever it is shall assuredly bear the penalty. May it be mine rather to die than to hear any one among you crying out with good reason : The sons of my mother were angry with me. Are not you all sons of one community, and, as it were, of one mother, and, therefore, brethren one of the other ? What is there coming from without, which should be able to trouble or distress you if all is well with you within, if you rejoice in brotherly love? Who is he that will harm you, it is said, if ye be followers of that which is good ( 1 Pet. iii. 13) ? Wherefore do ye covet earnestly the best gifts (1 Cor. xii. 31), and you shall prove yourselves to be followers of the good. Now, the best gift of all is charity ; there is assuredly no other to be compared with that, which the heavenly Bridegroom of a new Bride took occasion so often to inculcate, once saying, indeed : By this shall all men knoiu that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another ; and again, A new commandment J give you, that ye love one another ; and, This is My commandment, that ye love one

another (John xiii. 34, 35 ; xv. 12) ; also praying that they might be one, as He and the Father are One (xvii. 11). See also if St. Paul himself, who invites you to seek the best gifts, does not place charity above all the others ; both when he says that it is greater than faith and than hope, and far above knowledge; as also when, after having enumerated many and wonderful gifts of grace, he leads us at length to a more excellent way, and explains that this is no other than the gift of charity. Lastly, what can we regard as comparable to a virtue which is preferred to martyrdom itself, and to faith, which removes mountains (1 Cor. xii. 31 ; xiii. 2, 3)? This, then, is what I say to you : Let peace be yours and come from you ; then no danger which may seem to threaten you from without will appal you, for it will have no power to injure you. And, on the contrary, nothing that seems to allure you from outside will have any attraction for you if (which may God forbid!) the seeds of discord have begun their growth within you.

Digitized by Google THE COMPLAINT OF THE CHURCH AGAINST HER PERSECUTORS 189 4. Therefore, dear brethren, let there be peace among you ; do not harm or give pain to each other by word, by action, or even by any sign, for fear lest any one among you, being embittered and preoccupied by his own weakness of spirit, and by the persecution he endures, should be driven to appeal to God to come to his aid against those who injure or distress him, and it should come to pass that he break forth into that grave complaint: The children of my mother were angry with me. For in thus sinning against your brother, you sin against Christ, who has said : T/iat which you have done to the least of My brethren, you have done to Me (Matt. xxv. 40, 45). Nor is it enough merely to abstain from graver offences — for example, from open insult or abuse ; but also from secret and envenomed whispers against any. No, I repeat, it is not sufficient to guard our lips against these and other faults of a similar kind ; even slight injuries to others ought to be avoided, if, indeed, we can call any fault slight which is done with the intent of injuring a brother, since, according to the word of our Saviour, if any is angry with his brother without a cause, for this alone he shall be in danger of the judgment (Matt. v. 22).

And rightly so, for that which you think a little thing, and for that reason do it with too little hesitation, the person against whom it is done views in quite a different light — as a man who looks upon the surface of things, and judges of them according to their appearance, is prepared to think a mote to be a beam, and a single spark a blazing fire. For that charity, which believes all things, is not in the hearts of all. But the spirit of man, and the thoughts of his heart, are disposed rather to suspect evil than to believe good ; especially when the Rule of silence neither permits you, whose conduct is in question, to excuse yourself, nor him who suspects you, to declare the wound which his sense of right feels, that it may be cured. Thus he burns inly, even unto death, and groans within himself, being wholly occupied with anger and irritation, and unable to occupy his mind with any other subject than the injury he has sustained. He cannot pray, he cannot read, nor meditate upon any holy or spiritual subject ; and while this soul, for which Christ died, is thus going on the way which leads to death, being cut off from the influence of the life-giving Spirit,

and deprived of His benefits, what is the condition, I ask you, of your mind ? What pleasure can you take in prayer, or work, or any occupation that you may have in the meantime, you against whom Christ cries out in anxiety for your brother whose heart you have made sad ? The Son of My mother, He says, is fighting against Me, and he who partakes at My table of its sweet sustenance has filled Me with bitterness. 5. If you say that [your brother] ought not to trouble himself so deeply for so slight a cause, I reply that the slighter the cause of offence is, the easier it is for you to abstain from giving it. However, I know not how you can call any cause whatsoever slight (as I have said) that is more than the occasion of anger, since even this, as you have learned from the lips of the Judge Himself, renders the offender Digitized by 190 liable to the judgment. Do you call that a light thing at which Christ is offended, and for which you are to be brought to judgment, since // is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the living God t (Heb. x. 31). When, then, you have received an injury, as maybe the case

sometimes (for it is a difficult thing to prevent this from happening in communities such as this), do not, after the manner of those in the world, hasten to strike back your brother again with a hostile response. Do not ever venture to retort, under the pretext of reply, with cutting and ironical words, and thus pierce deeply a soul for which Christ deigned to be crucified ; do not make surly answer, nor grumble under your breath, nor take a sneering air, nor laugh mockingly, nor knit your brows, as if in wrath or threatening. Let your anger die away where it is born — do not permit it even to show itself, for it brings death with it, and it may slay some soul — that you may be able to say with the Psalmist : / was troubled, and I spoke not (Ps. lxxvi. 5, Douay). 6. I have understood that there are some who interpret these words in a more mysterious manner, and regard them as having been spoken of the devil and his angels, who were also sons of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is our mother, from which they have fallen, and who do not cease to make war upon their sister — that is, the Church. Again, if anyone should take these words in

a good signification, and as referring to spiritually-minded men who are in the Church, and who strike with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, against carnal brethren wounding them for their salvation, and bringing them by this warfare to a love for spiritual things, against this explanation I should not contend. Would that the Just One would reprove me in mercy, would correct me, striking that He may cure, slaying that He may give life, so that I, too, may dare to say : / live : yet not I, but Christ liveth in me (Gal. ii. 20).

Agree, it is said, with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him ; lest he deliver thee to the judge, and the judge to the officer (Matt. v. 25). A good adversary with whom, if I shall live in peace, there shall be no ground for the judge to speak against me, or deliver me to the torturer. For my part, I do not regret it if it has ever been my lot to make any among you sorry after this fashion, for you have been made sorry unto salvation. I do not know that I have ever done that without great sorrow to myself, according to that which is said : A woman, when she is in travail, hath sorroiv (John xvi. 21). But God forbid that I should keep in memory that sorrow now that I have fruit of my pain, inasmuch as I see Christ formed in you who are my offspring. I know not how it is, but I have even more tender sentiments towards those who have been, after and by means of my loving corrections, enabled to rise above some weakness or failing than towards those who have been strong from the beginning, and have had no need of such means of remedy. 7. It is, then, in this sense

that the Church, or the soul that loves God, is enabled to say that 'the sun hath altered her colour* — Digitized by Google THE COMPLAINT OF THE CHURCH AGAINST HER PERSECUTORS 191 namely, in sending forth and arming certain men of the children of her mother to carry on against her a war for her salvation ; to make her a captive to the faith and love of Him, after having pierced her with many of those arrows of which it is written : The arrows of the Mighty are sharp (Ps. cxx. 4) ; and again : Thine arro7vs stick fast in me (Ps. xxxviii. 2). That is why the Psalmist goes on to say : There is no soundness in my flesh. But as for the soul, it is thus rendered more healthy and more strong, and says : The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matt. xxvi. 41); and with the Apostle: When I am weak, then am I strong (2 Cor. xii. 10). Do you see how the weakness of the flesh strengthens the spirit, and increases its powers, while, on the contrary, the strength of the flesh is a cause of weakness to the spirit ? What wonder is it that you should be made stronger by the weakness of your

enemy ? Unless, perhaps, you should, with excessive foolishness, regard that which is for ever lusting against the spirit (Gal. v. 17) as your friend. See, then, if the prayer was not wise and well founded which was made by that holy man who asked of God : Pierce Thou my flesh with Thy fear (Ps. cxix. 120, Douay).

That fear is the best of all arrows which pierces and slays the desires of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved alive. And does it not seem to you that he who keeps under his body and brings it into subjection (1 Cor. ix. 27) is himself aiding the Hand of Him who is carrying on the combat with it ? 8. There is yet one other arrow : it is the Word of God, which is living, powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb. iv. 12), of which the Saviour says : / came not to send peace, but a stvord (Matt. x. 34). There is still another, a chosen arrow : it is the love of Christ, which not only pierced the soul of Mary, but transfixed it from side to side, so that it left no part of that virgin heart empty of this love, but she loved with all her heart, all her soul, and all her strength, and was full of grace. Or perhaps it may be thus, that it transpierced her, in order to penetrate even to us, and that we might all receive of that fulness ; that she might be the mother of charity, of which God, who is Love, is the Father; that she might bring forth and might set her tabernacle in the Sun, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which says : / will give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation to the ends of the earth (Is. xlix. 6). For this was fullfiled by means of Mary, who brought forth and rendered visible in the flesh Him who was invisible, and whom she had conceived, but not of the flesh, nor with the flesh.

As for her, she received through all her being a wound of Love, deep, sweet, and wide. How happy should I consider myself if I could only feel myself touched with the point of the weapon which gave that wound, and if my soul, being touched with that light wound of love, might be able to say : / am wounded with love (ii. 5). Oh that I might be not only in that manner wounded, but also stricken to the entire extermination of that colour and warmth of the flesh, which war against the soul !

Digitized by 192 9. If the daughters of this world remark disdainfully upon such a soul as this, calling it pallid and bloodless, does it not seem to you that it might fitly reply : Look not upon nu because I am blacky because the sun hath looked upon me ? And if it bears in mind that it has reached its present state through the exhortations or chidings of some servants of God, who were jealous over it with a godly jealousy, may it not therefore go on to say, and truly : My mother s children were angry with me f The sense, then, of these words, according to what has been said, will be, that the Church, or any pious soul, speaks them, not by way of grief or complaint, but in a feeling of joy, of thankfulness, and even of a sacred pride ; that for the Name of Christ, and for His Love, she has been deemed worthy to be swarthy and dusk, and to be reproached with it for His sake ; and this honour the Church attributes, not to her own merit, but to the grace and mercy which have prevented and followed her to bring this about For who can believe without a preacher ? and how shall they preach, except they be sent? (Rom. x. 14, 15). She mentions that her mothers children have been angry with her, not in a spirit of anger, but rather of gratitude. On that account she adds : They made me the keeper of the vineyards. For this saying, if examined as to its spiritual sense, does not, in my opinion, appear to breathe any feeling of complaint or bitterness, but rather of satisfaction. But before we take in hand to explain that passage (which is a sacred one), let us endeavour, by our accustomed prayers, to call to our aid that Holy Spirit, who searches the deep things of God, or certainly the Only Begotten Son, who is in the Bosom of the Father, Jesus Christ Our Lord, the Bridegroom of the Church, who is above all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

THAT THE FAITHFUL PEOPLE, OR THE SOULS OF THE ELECT, ARE *~T^HEY made me the keeper of the vineyards. Who did this? Are they your adversaries, of whom you spoke last ? Listen and understand, if she does not confess that she has been entrusted with this charge by those very persons at whose hands she suffered. Nor is this strange, if the purpose of correction was the motive of the attack. For who does not know that opposition is frequently offered to many persons with a friendly intention, and with excellent results ? How many do we know of daily who are led on to a higher standard and to a far stricter mode of living by the pious rebukes of their superiors ? Let us therefore show, if we are

Digitized by Google THE FAITHFUL PEOPLE, OR THE SOULS OF THE ELECT 1 93 able, how a contest against the Church may be carried on by her children in a spirit of hostility, and yet how the harm which they inflict may be for her good ; for there is nothing more agreeable than that those who intend to do harm should do good even against their will.

The former interpretation given of the words covers either sense, because the Church has never been without those who have been well disposed towards her, or without others who have been ill disposed ; and each of these classes of people have attacked her, though from precisely opposite motives; yet each kind of attacks have been to her profit In fact, she is able so to glory in having profited by the trials which she has endured at the hand of her rivals, that for one vineyard, which they have seemed to have taken away from her, she rejoices in having been set over many. This, she says, is the benefit that they have done in contending against me and my vineyard, those, I mean, who say, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof (Vs. cxxxvii. 7), namely, that instead of one, I can number many vineyards as mine. It is that she says in effect, when she continues, My own vineyard I have not kept, as if she would explain the reason why she is no longer the keeper of one vineyard, but of many ; and that is, indeed, the literal sense of the words. 2. But if we follow it simply, and are contented with the most obvious meaning which occurs to us, we shall

consider that the Holy Scripture intends to speak here of those earthly and material vineyards, which, as we see daily, receive from the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth the elements from which they pour forth wine, in which is excess and riot (luxuria) ; and thus we draw out no sense befitting and worthy, I do not say of the Bride of the Lord merely, but of any modest and retiring matron, from the words of the Scripture. For what sort of fitness is there in married women to undertake the custody of vineyards ? And even if that were otherwise, what reason have we for supposing that the Church was ever destined to such an office? Does God take a particular care of earthly vineyards ? But if we interpret in a spiritual manner, and understand by the vineyards Churches, that is, faithful nations, according to the thought of the Prophet, when he says, The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel (Is. v. 7), then we shall, perhaps, begin to perceive how it is by no means unworthy of the Bride to become keeper of the vineyards. 3. Furthermore, I think that we shall find in this a veritable prerogative, and one of no small value, if anyone takes the

trouble to consider carefully how greatly she has extended her bounds in vineyards of this kind in every part of the world since the day when she was attacked in Jerusalem, and driven forth by the children of her mother, with those who were of that her new plantation, I mean the multitude of them who believed, of whom we read that they were of one heart and of one soul (Acts iv. 32). And it is that vineyard which she here confesses that she had not kept, but that did not turn to her discredit ; for that was not in the persecution so torn up thence 13 Digitized by 194 that it could not be planted elsewhere, and let out to other husbandmen, who should render up its fruits in their seasons. No, indeed, it did not perish ; it was but planted in other grounds, where it grew and waxed great, as the Lord gave it His blessing. And now lift up your eyes and see if the hills are not covered with the shadaiv of it, and the boughs thereof like the goodly cedars ; if it has not sent out her boughs unto t/ie sea, and her branches unto the river (Ps. lxxx. 10, n).

Nor is that wonderful, for it is God's husbandry, it is God's building (i Cor. iii. 9). It is He who makes it fertile, who extends it, who trains and who prunes it, so that it may bring forth more fruit When has the care and labour of Him, whose Right Hand planted it, ever been wanting to it ? Assuredly that vine, which is the Lord Himself, of which the Apostles are the branches, and the Father the Husbandman (John xv. 1, 2, 5), cannot be neglected. In faith it is planted, and rooted in charity ; the soil in which it grows is stirred with the hoe of discipline, manured with the tears of penitents, watered with the exhortations of preachers ; and thus it gives wine in abundance, wine which makes glad, but does not inebriate ; wine vhich is full of sweetness, void of impurity. This wine not only renders glad the heart of man, but of it the angels drink with joy ; for they rejoice in the penitence and conversion of sinners, they thirst for the salvation of men. The tears of penitents are to them a wine which has the odour of life, the savour of grace, the taste of forgiveness, the joy fulness of reconciliation, the wholesomeness of returning innocence, the sweetness

of a conscience rendered peaceful. 4. Then, again, from this single vine, which the violence of a cruel persecution seemed to have destroyed, how many shoots have been planted and have flourished in every part of the world ? And over all these the Bride has been set as guardian, that she might not sorrow, because her first vineyard she did not keep. Be consoled, O daughter of Sion ; if blindness in part has happened unto Israel, what hast thou lost by this ? Reverence in silence the mystery ; do not lament it as a loss. Rather make broad thy bosom, and gather in the fulness of the Gentiles. Say to the cities of Judah : // was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you : but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles (Acts xiii. 46). The offer was made by God to Moses, that if he would give up a people which had quickly turned aside out of the way of God's commandments, and abandon it to the Divine vengeance, that he himself should become a great nation ; but he refused. Wherefore ? Because he felt for that people an exceeding love, which held him in close

attachment to them ; and because he did not seek to advance his own interests but the honour of God, nor cared for that which should profit himself, but for that which should be to the good of many. That was his great desire. 5. For my part I think that in this was a secret design of Providence, and that this gift, so great and so excellent, was reserved to the Bride, so that she, and not Moses, should be developed into a Digitized by Google THE FAITHFUL PEOPLE, OR THE SOULS OF THE ELECT 1 95 great nation. For it was not expedient that a friend of the Bridegroom should prematurely snatch from the Bride her benediction.

Therefore it was not Moses, but the new-made Bride to whom it was said : Go ye into all the world, and preach tlie Gospel to every creature (Mark xvi. 15) ; it was she, I say, who was sent forth [to grow] into a great nation. For can any nation be greater than all the world ?

And all the world easily yielded to her who offered grace and brought with her peace. That grace was far different to the Law. In how strong a contrast did the sweetness of the one and the austerity of the other present themselves to every conscience ? Who could look with the same eye upon her who condemned and her who consoled, her who punished and her who forgave, her who struck with revenging hand and her who embraced with gentle arms P1 It was not possible to receive with the same ardour the darkness and the light, war and peace, judgment and mercy, the shadow and the reality, the rod of punishment and the heritage of reward, the restraining bridle and the joy-giving kiss. Heavy were the hands of Moses, as Aaron and Hur experienced (Exod. xvii. 12) ; heavy was the yoke of the Law, as the Apostles themselves bore witness when they declared that neither their fathers nor they were able to bear it (Acts xv. 10) ; in truth, a heavy yoke ; and the reward to be earned by bearing it was but a paltry one, for it did not extend beyond the earth. It was for these reasons that Moses was not sent forth [to grow] into a great nation.

But thou, O holy Church, who art our mother, who hast the promise, not only of the life that now is, but of that which is to come (1 Tim. iv. 8), shalt obtain an easy and willing welcome from all, because of the double grace which thou bearest, that thy yoke is light and easy, and the realm of glory assured to thee is great and illustrious. If thou wert driven from a single city thou hast been welcomed by the whole world ; as well because thy promises are engaging as because thy commandments are not alarming or grievous. Why dost thou still mourn the loss of one vineyard, when it has been repaid to thee with so great usury ? As a recompense to thee because thou hast been abandoned, and hated, so that none passed through thee, it is said : I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations: thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings ; and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob (Is. lx. 15, 16). In such a sense as this, then, it is that the Bride speaks of herself as having been made keeper of the vineyards,

and having failed to keep her own. 6. I am accustomed, when occasion is given to me by these words, and understanding souls to be meant by vines, I am accustomed to blame myself for having undertaken the cure of souls when I am not sufficient to guard and keep my own soul. And if you approve of this interpretation, notice also, that we may go on to call faith the root of the vine ; the various virtues the branches ; good works the bunch or cluster of grapes which it bears ; and devotion the wine they Digitized by 196 yield. For as there can be no branch without the root, so without faith there is no virtue. For without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. xi. 6) ; nay, it will be perhaps impossible to be otherwise than displeasing to Him, since whatever is not of faith is sin (Rom. xiv. 23). It behoved those persons, then, who set me as keeper in their vineyards, to have considered previously whether I had kept my own. Yet, alas ! how long did that remain untilled and desert, and became a mere solitude! Upon it the vine had failed, and the vigorous shoots of the virtues had been dried up because its faith was sterile. There was,

indeed, faith, but it was dead. For how could it be otherwise than dead without good works ? And that, indeed, was the case with me during my life in the world. It is true that afterwards, when I was converted unto the Lord, I began to keep my vineyard better, by a very little, yet not as I ought to have done. And who is, in fact, capable of doing this ? Not such was the holy Psalmist, who said : Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain (Ps. cxxvii. 1). To what snares of him who shooteth his arrows from his lurking-places against the innocent do I remember that I was then exposed 1 How many times, O my vineyard, hast thou been robbed, and by unnumbered subtle devices, and that at the very time when I was endeavouring with increased vigilance and care to guard thee ! How many and how precious were the clusters of grapes — that is to say, the good works, which either were choked by anger, or borne away by feelings of pride, or trodden under foot and defiled by vainglory ! How great the ravages which carnal greediness, or lukewarmness of spirit, or weakness and timidity of disposition, or sudden temptation, have worked in my soul

! In such a state was I, and yet they set me as keeper of the vineyards, not considering what I had done, and was doing, with my own ; not listening to the accusations and warnings of that master in the spiritual life who said : If a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Church of God? (1 Tim. iii. 5). 7. I wonder at the rash boldness of very many people who do not gather anything from their own vineyards, unless it be briers and thorns, and yet do not fear to obtrude themselves as keepers even over the vineyards of the Lord. Robbers they are, and thieves, not faithful guardians, nor laborious vine-dressers. But let us not occupy ourselves longer with these. Woe to me also for the peril in which the vineyard of my soul is even now — indeed, even more now than heretofore, inasmuch as being engrossed with the care of many, it is impossible but that I should become less careful, less occupied in loving thoughtfulness for that one. No opportunity is given to me to surround it by a protecting hedge, or to dig out the [place for] the wine-press. Alas ! the enclosing wall of it is broken down, so that

all they who pass by pluck her grapes (Ps. lxxx. 12). It lies open and exposed on all sides to sadness, to wrath, to impatience.

Certain little foxes of pressing necessities, which are, so to speak, constantly gnawing, demolish and lay it waste ; it is overrun in all Digitized by Google THE FAITHFUL PEOPLE, OR THE SOULS OF THE ELECT 1 97 quarters with anxieties, suspicions, cares, and there is scarcely an hour that is free from the crowd of discordant applicants, from the trouble and care of business. I have no power to stop their coming, and no possibility of refusing to receive them ; and they do not leave me even the time to pray. What shower of tears that I could hope to pour forth would suffice to moisten and melt away the sterility of my soul? (Ps. xxxv. 12). I wished to say 'of my vineyard but I followed the words of the Psalm from habit, and the meaning is the same. Nor do I regret an error which draws my attention to the analogy between the two ; for the subject of the discourse is not the vineyard, but the soul. Therefore he is thinking of the soul when he speaks of the vineyard, and by the name and under the figure of the one, he deplores the sterility of the other. With what tears, then, can I water my vineyard, which is so barren ? All its branches

are dried up for want of moisture ; they lie on the ground, and bear no fruit, for want of the life-giving sap which should sustain them. O good Lord Jesus ! Thou knowest what bundles of these twigs [of dried and perished good works] the fire of contrition which burns in my heart consumes every day in the burnt-sacrifice which I offer to Thee ! Receive, I entreat, the sacrifice of a broken spirit ; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise (Ps. li. 17). 8. It is thus, then, that I apply, in my imperfect manner, the present passage to myself. But perfect will be everyone who is enabled in another sense to say, My own vineyard I have not kept ; namely, in that sense in which the Saviour says in the Gospel, He that loseth his life for My sake shall find it (Matt. x. 39). The person is evidently fit and worthy to be set as keeper over the vineyards, who is not prevented from, or even hindered in, the care of his own vineyard, by all the diligence and carefulness which he gives to watching over others committed to his charge ; while at the same time he seeks not the advancement of his own interests, or that which

is of advantage to himself, but that which is useful and beneficial to many. Without doubt, if the care of so many vineyards (that is, souls belonging to the circumcision) was confined to St. Peter, it was because he was ready to go both into prison, and to death (Luke xxii. 33), so little was he restrained by the love of his own vineyard, that is, of his soul, from the care of those intrusted to his charge. It was also on a similar ground that so great a space of vineyards among the nations was confided to St Paul ; because, so far from being too much engrossed in the care of his own, he was ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus (Acts xxii. 33). He said, in fact, None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself (xx. 24).

It was to form a right estimate of things, to regard nothing that belonged to him as to be preferred to his own self. 0. How many persons there are who have preferred even the meanest of things, a little money, to their salvation ! But St. Paul Digitized by 198 did not prefer to it even his life. / count not my life, he said, dearer than myself (pretiosiorem quam me, Vulg.) Do you, then, O Apostle, make a difference between yourself and your life ? (animam — soul ; Douay * life '). You are prudent in regarding yourself as of more value than anything that is yours. But in what sense is your life not yourself? I suppose that because St. Paul was then walking in the Spirit, and in mind consenting to the law of God, that it was good (Rom. vii. 16) ; he therefore regarded this, his mind, as the principal and supreme entity in himself, and thought it more proper to call it [himself], than to give that name to any other element whatsoever in his nature. As for the remainder, which is plainly of an inferior character, and to be attached to an inferior and commoner essence (which is the body), to which belongs, not only the function of life and sensibility,

but also of self preservation and self support ; the spiritual man, considering it, I say, an unworthy thing to give to this sensuous and carnal nature the name of himself, judged it more fitting to rank it in the class of things appertaining to him, than to call his entire personality by the name of it. When I speak of ' myself/ he says, understand that which is more excellent in me ; that in which also I stand by the grace of God, that is to say, my mind and my reason. When I speak of 'my life' or 'my soul,' understand that lower principle which animates my flesh and which participates in its concupiscence. That was ' me,' indeed, once, but it is so no longer ; inasmuch as I walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit (Rom. viii. 4). For / live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me (Gal. ii. 20). It is I, according to the spirit (mentem), but not I, according to the flesh. For what, if even now my soul shares in carnal desires ? It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me (Rom. vii. 17). And therefore it is I said that it was not indeed I, but that which is carnal

in me ; and that is no other than my [fleshly] soul (anima). For in truth the carnal affections make a portion of the soul, as does that life, which it communicates to the body.

This, then, is the life (or soul) which St. Paul held of little value in comparison with himself, prepared as he was, not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the Lord, and thus to lose his life, according to the Lord's precept (Matt. x. 39). 10. You also, if you abandon your own will ; if you perfectly renounce the pleasures of the body ; if you crucify the flesh, with its desires and lusts, and mortify your members which are upon the earth, you will show yourself to be an imitator of St. Paul, in that you do not regard your life as dearer than yourself ; you will show yourself also a disciple of Christ, by even losing it, unto salvation. And indeed you wili act more prudently by losing it in order to preserve it, than by so preserving it as to lose it. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it (Matt. xvi. 25). What do you say to this, you who are close observers of the quality of your provisions,1 but negligent of your own characters ? Hippocrates and his followers teach how Digitized by Google THE FAITHFUL PEOPLE, OR THE SOULS OF THE ELECT 1 99 to preserve [our] lives in this world ; but Christ and His disciples teach us how to lose them. Which of the two do you elect to follow as your master ? But that person makes it very clear which he has chosen whose discourse is all of his ailments, of this complaint in eyes or head, or that in chest or stomach. Each of them, without doubt, speaks what he has learned from the master he has preferred.

Have you read these minute symptoms in the Gospel, or in the Prophets, or in the writings of the Apostles ? Flesh and blood have certainly revealed to you this wisdom, not the Spirit of the Father ; for this wisdom is of the flesh. And hear what they who are our physicians think of it : The wisdom of the flesh, they say, is death (Rom. viii. 5, 7), and again, The wisdom of the flesh is enmity against God. Do you think that I ought to propose to you the opinion of Hippocrates or Galen, or, forsooth, that of the school of Epicurus ?

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, and I speak to the disciples of Jesus Christ. If I had brought before you teaching other than His, I should have done very wrongly. Epicurus strives for the pleasure of the body, Hippocrates for its health ; but my Master bids us to contemn both the one object and the other. Hippocrates uses all his efforts to sustain the life of the soul in the body ; Epicurus seeks out, and teaches others to seek out, whatever can afford pleasure and delight during this life ; but the Saviour warns us to lose this life [so that we may gain it]. 11. What other advice have you ever heard in the school of Jesus Christ than this which was just now repeated : He that loveth his life shall lose it (John xii. 25) ? Shall lose it, He says, whether by laying it down as a martyr, or by afflicting it as a penitent. Although to mortify the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit is a kind of martyrdom, and it is done with a spiritual weapon which does not, indeed, excite so much horror as that with which the limbs of the body are cut and carved, but is not less painful, since its action continues much longer. ,

Do you see how, by this saying of the Master, the wisdom of the flesh is condemned — that wisdom, I mean, which either ministers to the desire for bodily pleasure, or which cares for the good health of the body beyond what is needful ? To show us that the true wisdom does not expend itself upon pleasures, a wise man teaches (Job xxviii. 13, Douay) that it is not even found in the land of them who live in delights. While he who has found it cries : I have loved it [wisdom] more than health and beauty (Wisd. vii. 10). But if above health and beauty, how much more above pleasure and shameful enjoyment ? But even though a man has severed himself from \ pleasures, what does this profit if he expends his cares and thoughts every day in investigating differences of constitution, or in devising variations in the cooking of food ? ' Beans,' gravely reflects such a person as this, 'produce wind; cheese is heavy upon the stomach ; milk causes headache ; the chest will not bear the drinking of water ; cabbages nourish melancholy ; leeks inflame the bile ; fishes from ponds, or from stagnant and muddy water, do not at all agree with Digitized by 200 my constitution.' What then

? Is there nothing to be found in the rivers, in the fields, in the gardens, in the cellars, which you can eat? and that it is not your business to make a study of constitutions, but to obey your rule. Have consideration, I entreat, first for your own quiet, then for the labour of those who minister to your wants ; do not increase the charges upon the house — have some regard to conscience.

To conscience, I say, not your own, but his who, sitting opposite you, eats what is set before him, and murmurs at your unaccountable abstinence. For he is scandalized, either at your hateful superstition, or at what he perhaps thinks the hardhearted ness of him whose duty it is to make needful provision for you. Your brother, I repeat, is scandalized at your singularity ; he thinks you superstitious in that you require superfluities, or he accuses me of being unfeeling in that I do not seek out and provide the food necessary for you. It is to no purpose that some people flatter themselves that they have precedent in their favour by the example of St. Paul, who bade his disciple drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities (i Tim. v. 23). They ought to notice, in the first place, that it was not to himself that the Apostle gave that direction ; and, in the next, that the disciple did not make this request on his own behalf. Then, it was not to a monk that this direction was given, but to a Bishop, whose life was of great importance to the nascent and still tender Church. This was Timothy.

Give me another Timothy, and I will feed him even upon gold if you wish it, and give him precious cordial to drink. But it is you who make these dispensations, for your own self, and that through tenderness for your own feelings. That dispensation of yours, granted to yourself, is, I confess, a matter for suspicion to me, and I strongly suspect that carnal prudence is deceiving you under the cover and by the name of discretion. And I desire, at least, to admonish you if you allege the authority of the Apostle for drinking wine, that you do not overlook the limitation which he adds of * a little.1 And so enough of that subject. Let us return to the Bride, and let us learn from her not to keep our vineyards merely for our own good,1 especially we who seem to have been made keepers of the vineyards of Jesus Christ our Lord, the Bridegroom of the Church, who is above all, God blessed for ever. Amen. Horst and others read : * Proprias utiliter nos eustodireS Digitized by Google 20I

THE EXCELLENCY OF THE VISION OF GOD. HOW AT THE PRESENT TIME THE DELIGHT IN THE DIVINE PRESENCE FELT BY HOLY MEN VARIES ACCORDING TO THE VARYING DESIRES OF THEIR SOUL. **T^ELL me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest, J where Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon (i. 7). The Word, who is the Bridegroom, frequently appears to zealous souls, and not under one appearance only. Why is that ? Doubtless, because we are not yet able to see Him as He is (1 John iii. 2). Also, that vision which we shall have of Him in Heaven is abiding, because the Form in which we shall then behold Him shall always abide. For He is, and He receives no change or alteration from anything which is, or has been, or shall be. Take away the Past and the Future, and where, then, is any place for change or vicissitude ? Everything which, passing from the condition of that which has been, does not cease to tend towards the condition of that which shall be, passes through the point of beings but it is not. For how can we say that a thing is which never remains in the same state ? Thus, that alone truly is which is neither cut off from its past, nor blotted out from its future, but alone remains without change. Because He [/>., God] has not been, therefore He is from all eternity ; and because He will not be, therefore He is to all eternity. On this account, therefore, He is the veritable Existence, Uncreated, Illimitable, Unchangeable.

When, then, He who is thus, or, rather, is not thus or thus,1 is beheld as He is, that vision, as I have said, endures, since it is not mingled with, or altered by, any change. He, then, is that one and the same denarius which, as we read in the Gospel, is given to all (Matt. xx. 9) who behold Him thus, because He is presented to them only in this appearance. For as that which He appears is unchangeable in Itself, so It is present without change to those who behold It ; and those who behold It neither desire, nor are capable of beholding, anything more delightful or more to be desired When, then, can the eagerness of their gaze be satiated, the sweetness in which they delight be withdrawn, or the truth be exhausted — in one word, when can eternity come to an end ? For if both the will to behold, and the full ability of beholding, be equally enlarged to all eternity, what can be wanting to complete felicity? What, I ask, remains to be experienced, or even to be wished for, by those whose desire is always to behold Him, and in whom that desire is being eternally satisfied ? 2. But such a Beatific Vision is not for the present life, but is reserved for the final state of existence ; to those, at least, who are able to say : We know that when He shall appear we shall be like Digitized by Google 202 Him : for we shall see Him as He is (i John iii. 2). Even in the present life He appears to whom He wills ; but in the manner that He wills, not as He is. There is no man, however wise or holy, there is no prophet, who is able, or ever was able, to see Him, in this mortal body, as He is;1 yet those who shall be found worthy shall do so when their body shall be immortal. Therefore He is indeed seen, but in the manner that seems good unto Him, and not as He is. For though you have seen that great luminary (I mean that Sun, which you behold every day), you have never seen it as it really is, but only as it lights up other things; for example, the air, or a wall, or a mountain. Nor would you be able to behold it even in a certain degree, if the light of your body, that is, the eye, did not resemble in some degree the light of heaven in its inborn clearness and serenity.

For no other member of the body is capable of taking cognizance of light, on account of the essential unlikeness between it and them.

Nor is the eye itself, when it is troubled, capable of receiving the light, and that is because it has lost its resemblance to light Thus as the eye which is disturbed and confused cannot behold the sun, which is peaceful, because of its unlikeness to it, so it beholds the sun when clear and untroubled, on account of a certain similarity between the two. If the eye enjoyed an equal degree of purity with the object on which it gazes, it would behold that object without being dazzled, and as it is, because of the full similarity existing between them. So also he that is enlightened by that Sun of Righteousness, which lightens every man that comes into the world, is able to behold Him in the degree that he is enlightened by Him, and as being like Him in some degree ; but still, as he is not perfectly like Him, he is not able to see Him as He is. Wherefore the Psalmist says : They looked unto Him and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed (Ps. xxxiv. 5). Thus it is in truth ; provided that we are enlightened as far as we have need, so that with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. iii. 18). 3. It is therefore necessary not to approach Him rashly and irreverently, but with respect and awe, lest the irreverent observer of His Majesty be crushed and destroyed by His glory. He is not to be approached by a change of places, but by an increase of excellences ; and those not bodily, but spiritual, since the Spirit of the Lord is our guide to Him. I say that it is by the Spirit of the Lord that we draw near to Him, and not by [the power ofj our own spirit, although it is in our own spirit that this takes place. Thus the more pure and virtuous a spirit is, the nearer it is to God, and to have attained absolute purity and virtue is to have come into the very Presence of God. For to be in His Presence is to see Him as He is ; and to do this is nothing else than to be as He is, and so not to be dazzled and confounded by being unlike Him. But that, as I have said, will be only in Heaven. regard to Moses, Sermon XXXIII., ». 6, and Sermon XXXIV., n, I.

Digitized by Google But in the present sphere of existence what are that great variety of forms, and that vast number of different species among created things, but, as it were, rays from the Sun of the Divine Nature, showing indeed that He from Whom they derive their being truly exists, but not explaining in full what He is ? Therefore you discern somewhat concerning Him, but Himself you do not discern. But when you behold something relating to Him, though without beholding Him, you are assured, nevertheless, of the fact of His existence, and that ought to lead you to seek for Him. Nor will grace be wanting to him who seeks, while he who neglects to seek will not have the excuse of ignorance. Now, this mode of beholding is common to all rational creatures. For it is easy, as we are taught by the Apostle, for all those who have the use of reason clearly to see the invisible things of God, as they are understood by the things which are made (Rom. i. 20). 4. It was, without doubt, in another manner that God deigned formerly to manifest Himself to the Patriarchs, granting to them a frequent and familiar communion with His Presence, although even to them He was not visible as He is, but as He deigned to make Himself known. Nor was it in one manner only that He was made known to all ; but, as the Apostle declares, at sundry times and in divers manners (Heb. i. 1), though in Himself He is one, as He declared to Israel, The Lord Thy God is one Lord (Deut. vi. 4). Nor was that manifestation common to all; yet it was made from without, by appearances visible to the senses, or words heard by the ears. But there was still another manner in which God was discerned, differing from those, inasmuch as it was inward : when God deigned of His own accord to make Himself known to a soul that sought for Him, and lavished on that seeking the entire love and ardour of its affections.