EVANGELICAL BEATITUDES. — Proclamations (Mt. 5:3–10) that begin the “sermon on the mount” (Mt. 5–7), addressed by Jesus to the “disciples” and to the multitude. In them the Master, in eight exclamatory sentences, sets forth the essential theme of the “Christian spirit opposed to the Jewish spirit” (F. Prat, p. 269), calling happy (“blessed”) and admitting into the Kingdom of God those whom the world is accustomed to reject; thus he offers a new, unheard-of solution to the eudemonistic problem. Although s. Augustine, followed by s. Thomas, A. Tostato, and a few others, discerned only 7 in them (by uniting the first and the last), and someone (by adding vv. 11–12) finds in them 9 (or so does the “Catechism” of the Russian Church edited by Filarete Drozdov, Petersburg 1823) or 10 (F. Delitzsch), s. Ambrose and the majority of exegetes correctly count 8 b. The b. are “the theme of all Jesus’ teaching” (M.-J. Lagrange, p. 80; cf. Bossuet, 1st day).
The declarative exclamation beginning with “blessed” (Hebr. ’afri, “beatitudes of...”) occurs in the Old Testament (Deut. 33:29; I Reg. 10:8; Job 5:17; Prov. 3:13, 18, and 6 other times; Eccle. 10:17; Is. 30:18; 32:20; 56:2; Dan. 12:12), especially in the Psalms (Ps. 1:1, and 25 other times). The Septuagint translates it as μοχάριος; hence μοχαρισμός (Rom. 4:6, 9; Gal. 4:15), “proclamation of happiness,” in praise of someone. Analogous b. occur in the New Testament: Mt. 11:6; 13:16; 16:17; 24:46; Lc. 11:28; 12:37 sqq. 43; 14:15; Io. 20:29; Iac. 1:12; I Ps. 3:14; 4:14; Apoc. 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14. To this day the Christians of the East call the b. “macarisms.” The Arabic Diatessaron interprets the initial adjective “blessed” adverbially: “long live!” (E. Preuschen, Tatiana Diatessaron aus dem Arabischen, Heidelberg 1926, p. 86 sqq.).
The b. have a messianic character: Jesus proclaims the “glad tidings” of the coming of the Kingdom of God (Mt. 4:17), understood as the realm above, listing the members who by right belong to II. The b. set forth the conditions for entering the Kingdom of God, considered in its twofold present and future, initial and terminal phase. They are necessary requirements for entering into the happiness of the Kingdom. Their exclusive character (B. Lanwer, p. 156; cf. 94, 99, 106) is clear from Lc. 6:24–26 and from other passages of the New Testament (Mt. 10:38; 16:24; Act. 14:22; Rom. 8:17 sqq.; I Cor. 1:26–28; II Tim. 3:12): the fortunate of this world will not enjoy their recompense (or “reward”) in heaven (Mt. 5:12; 6:1–2, 5; Lc. 6:23), since they have already received it here below. In the phase of laborious earthly formation, the Kingdom advances amid the conflict between its ideal of justice and the base reality of cynical injustice, to culminate thereafter in the order in which peace and happiness are assured. In laying the foundations of the Kingdom of the spirit, opposed to the prevailing kingdom of matter, Jesus includes within it the outcasts and the downtrodden of the world. The evangelical paradox reaches its climax here. Although the concepts are embryonically present in prophetic literature (cf. Is. 29:19; 35:4; 61:1) and in the Psalms, the b., taken as a whole, are of a uniquely original character, of such daring and power as to overturn humanity’s moral outlook. Reversing privileges (cf. Mt. 19:30; 20:16), the b. announce to those who hope for nothing from the world and live in abandonment to God the new order, the new morality, the new happiness. Beatitude is the effect of wisdom (Prov. 3:13; 8:34; A. Robert, in Revue biblique, 43 [1934], p. 61 sqq.).
Each of the 8 b. is a rhythmic maxim (māšāl), consisting of praise, in the present tense (Lc. 6:21 in particular on the vōv), and a categorical promise which, although referring to the future (the first and the last have ἄστιν, which must have been absent in the primitive Aramaic form), confers a present right and certainty that, through faith and hope, transports the afflicted person into happiness (cf. Rom. 5:3–5; Hebr. 11:1). Each proposition consists of two stichs: an oxymoron, followed by an apodosis introduced by ὅτι (rather asseverative, like the Hebr. hī, with the “sense of γῆρ”), which is the factual explanation and justification of the protasis. Besides an indirect clarification of the subjects proclaimed blessed, the apodosis presents the recompense (properly speaking, this is not a reward) of joy and glory, based on the twofold law of retribution or “contrapasso” for the pleasures enjoyed and the sufferings endured: cf. Lc. 16:25 and II Cor. 4:17. Someone (F. Prat, pp. 270 and 273) distinguishes the b. into two series: the first 4 would embrace the Kingdom as present and future, the last 4 only as future. But all 8 b. are strictly parallel, founded upon the same ideal and directed toward the same goal, even while presenting different aspects of II. The subject is one, and the object is one, in all of them (“Unum autem praemium, quod est Regnum caelorum, pro his gradibus varie nominatum est”; s. Augustine, De serm. Domini in monte, I, 4). Each of the b. could be called complete as a program and implicitly includes the others. This explains why Lc. 6:20–22 reports only 4 b. of Mt. (the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 8th), following them with 4 curses which, reproducing them, interpret them by way of antithesis.
The 1st b. essentially contains the other 7, as is clear from the subject of the b. and from its object or term. It indicates in summary the entire itinerary from tribulation to the Kingdom. The interpretation, controversial in its particular applications, of the 1st b. therefore determines that of the others. “Blessed [are] the poor!” (Tertullian, Adv. Marc., IV, 14: “Beati mendici”) because they (οἱ πτωχοί) are the recipients of the εὐαγγέλιον of the Kingdom (Mt. 11:5; Lc. 4:18). Πτωχός corresponds in the Septuagint to the Hebr. ἀπὶ (34 times) or ἀπᾶν (4 times), more rarely (10 times) to ἐβήξῃn, which they also translate as πένης. Stronger than πένης (“poor,” unable to meet the necessities of life), πτωχός is the “indigent person,” oppressed by hardship within a society that despises and rejects him (cf. Mt. 11:28). In the Psalms (ὁν πτωχός = ἀπὶ 19 times), the ἀπήξῃn are opposed to the ἀπᾶν ἱν “wicked,” that is, to the rich and powerful who oppress them (Ps. 11:1–6); God promises these outcasts refuge and support (Ps. 9:13–19; 33:7; 34:10; Is. 57:15), and the Messiah will free them (Ps. 71:2–4, 12 sqq.) from the tyranny of the magnates, representatives and arbiters of legality, who trample them down: he will be their redeemer and avenger (gō’ēl: Is. 43:1; 44:22, etc.; Ps. 71:14). Jesus introduces into the Kingdom of happiness the broad mass of the wretched, exploited, and deluded by the shrewd and greedy minorities of the powerful (Is. 29:20 sqq.). Since the rich, militant slaves of triumphant matter, have fashioned for themselves a kingdom and happiness here below, Jesus chooses the forsaken (cf. Lc. 14:21), relegated to the margins of society, without means and without human assistance; he glorifies the poor person who suffers all the consequences of poverty: abuses, insults, deceptions. It is clearly a matter of actual poverty, the kind that frightens and scandalizes the worldly person; Lc. 6:24 adds the curse upon the rich: Jesus is hostile to the rich because he combats the world, whose splendor and power are opposed to the Kingdom of God (I Cor. 1:26–28) and will be annihilated (Io. 16:33; Apoc. 18:10–19). Jesus, who was exceedingly poor (Mt. 8:20; Lc. 9:58), glorifies and demands poverty (Mt. 19:21; Lc. 12:33; 18:22) in exchange for the Kingdom (Mt. 13:44, 46), since wealth, the fulcrum of earthly power, is both effect and cause of sin (Mt. 6:24; Lc. 16:9–13; cf. Eccli. 31:8–9). Mt. 5:3 (not Lc. 6:20) has the determi-
designation τῷ πνεύματι (“properly a locative”: G. Bonaccorsi, p. 3), “in spirit,” which in no way limits but rather intensifies the meaning of πτωχός; these are not people poor only “in spirit,” that is, metaphorically, but people inwardly crushed by hardship and suffering, as is clear from the consistent use of πνεῦμα (Hebr. rūah) in similar expressions (Is. 57, 15; 66, 2; Ps. 33, 19; with the same meaning of lēbh, “heart,” in Ps. 108, 16): it is poverty that is complete, piercing to the inmost depths of the soul (but St. Jerome interprets: “Adumxit «spiritu» ut humilitatem intelligens, non penurium”; and St. Augustine, together with the majority of the Fathers, thinks likewise). Whereas those who abound in material goods are excluded from salvation (Lc. 16, 25; 18, 25; Mt. 19, 21, 24), to the poor “belongs the kingdom of heaven (Mt.) or of God (Lc.)”: this is the only verb in the present tense, as in the final b., because the Kingdom already exists and is open to the elect. In the six intermediate b., the verb is in the future, because they announce particular realizations of the Kingdom after the life of trial; the seven subsequent b. are suggestive variations on the twofold theme of the first: tribulation and the Kingdom, the former leading to the latter.
The second b. (“Blessed are the meek,” οἱ πραξις) of the Vulgate, placed third in most Greek manuscripts, substantially reproduces the first. Once the proclamation “blessed” is removed, it is a quotation from Ps. 36, 11. In the Septuagint, πραξις translates “ἀνί (46 times) and ἀνάω (7 times)”; the distinction between πτωχός and πραξις, as between “ἀνί and ἀνάω,” is minimal in biblical language, in which these terms generally bear an ethical-religious meaning of modesty and patience, ready to endure injustices without reacting, trusting in God. The “meek” (F. Prat translates “the humble”) are the wretched whom no one takes into account, resigned to their humiliating and bitter fate. Innocent and harmless by necessity, like children—for overt or covert violence is the prerogative of the masters of the world—these men, who can hope for nothing except from God, “will take possession of the land” promised to Abraham (Gen. 15, 7-8, 18; Deut. 4, 38) and to the people of Israel (Ex. 3, 8, 17). This “land,” filled with delights (“milk and honey”: Ex. 13, 5; 33, 3), represents the messianic Kingdom.
The third b. concerns the “afflicted” (οἱ πενθοῦντες; Lc. 6, 21 οἱ κλαίοντες, “those who weep”), bowed down by sorrow (by repentance: St. John Chrysostom: PG 57, 225 ff.), not merely by mourning for the death of their loved ones, as St. Augustine thought (PL 34, 1232). Jesus glorifies suffering for its salutary effects: it redeems through expiation, purifies through detachment, and liberates by freeing one from the world. The sadness amid the laughter of the world’s pleasure-seekers, shunned and hated by Jews and pagans, will be transformed into joy (Io. 16, 20-22; II Cor. 7, 10; I Pt. 2, 19; Apoc. 7, 17; 21, 4). The Messiah comes to console the afflicted (Is. 61, 2 “ἀνάω,” Septuagint τοὺς πενθοῦντας; cf. Is. 25, 8). As the condition of eternal happiness, the cross of Christ brings even now “peace and joy” (cf. Mt. 10, 38; 16, 24; Lc. 9, 23; 14, 27; I Cor. 1, 17 ff.; Gal. 6, 14).
The fourth b. exalts “those who hunger and thirst,” that is, the needy tormented by want; the object added by Mt. 5, 6 (omitted by Lc. 6, 21), “justice,” deepens and enriches, but does not alter the concept: at the root of the suffering of the afflicted believer lies the ardent, though unexpressed, aspiration to the moral order which the wicked, the exclusive possessors of the means of bodily existence, disrupt. Debilitating physical deprivation is intensified by inward anguish. “They will be satisfied”: compensation was assured (Ier. 31, 25) in the messianic kingdom to all who had suffered (Is. 49, 10; 55, 1-2 “without money”; cf. Eccl. 51, 33; Apoc. 22, 17). The expression is spiritually evocative, since in the Bible “hunger and thirst” often indicate the desire for superterrestrial goods (Is. 56, 1; Ier. 31, 25; Am. 8, 11; Ps. 41, 2-3; 106, 9), which God will fully satisfy.
The subject of the fifth b. is “the merciful” (οἱ ἐλεήμοις). Ἐλεήμοις is used in the New Testament only of Jesus in Hebr. 2, 17; the Septuagint uses this term to render the twofold divine attribute hammān and rāhām (Vulg. misericors et miserator) in Ex. 34, 6; Ps. 110, 4, etc. Whoever, like God, forgives the wrongs received; whoever imitates Jesus by “having compassion” (Hebr. 2, 17; Col. 3, 12) on the wretched, sharing and alleviating their physical and moral sufferings (not merely through almsgiving, as St. Gregory Nazianzen and St. Leo the Great understand it), “will obtain mercy” from God by entering the Kingdom. Literally, an equation is expressed between the service rendered and the recompense; in reality, however, God’s gift immeasurably surpasses human merit (II Cor. 4, 17).
The sixth b. is addressed to the “pure in heart” (οἱ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ), to those who are upright and “inwardly” free from sin, in opposition to the formal, external legality on which the leaders of the people rely (Mt. 23, 25-28); in addition to chastity, what is inculcated here is the actual innocence of life, sincere conformity to every moral obligation. Already Ps. 23, 4 (cf. 50, 12) requires “a pure heart” of anyone who wishes to live beside God, and Ps. 73, 1 affirms that God’s favorites are the “pure in heart” (bāré lēbhāh); “heart” here is a way of expressing that ethical reality is possessed and lived, not merely apparent or verbal. The object of the b.: “they will see God”; this is the supreme happiness promised to “the upright” and “the innocent” (Ps. 11, 7; 17, 15; cf. 15, 11), who are the “pure in heart.” This “vision of God” characterizes the Kingdom founded by Jesus (Io. 14, 6-11; 19-23) and will culminate in eternal glory (I Cor. 13, 12; I Io. 3, 2; Apoc. 22, 4).
The seventh b. glorifies the “peacemakers” (οἱ εἰρηνοποιοί). Εἰρηνοποιούς (hapax in biblical Greek) corresponds etymologically to pacifex; it denotes one who loves “peace” (in the broad Semitic sense, including “security” and “salvation”) and radiates it around himself. Since peace is the fruit of justice (Is. 33, 17; Bar. 5, 4), the “peaceful man,” who is the truly just man, opposes injustice (Prov. 14, 10 LXX). The messianic Kingdom is the kingdom of complete peace (Is. 9, 6-7; 11, 6-9; 24, 10; Ex. 34, 25). Christ inaugurated peace and is “our peace” (Eph. 2, 14-15; Col. 1, 20 εἰρηνοποιήσας); he brought the gospel of peace to the world (Eph. 6, 15). The prerogative of these meek soldiers of the “prince of peace” is this: “they will be called” (and truly will be so, according to the Semitic conception that identifies the name with the individual reality) “sons of God.” God is indeed the “God of peace” (Rom. 15, 33; 16, 20; I Cor. 14, 33; II Cor. 13, 11; etc.), and whoever is a “son of peace” (Lc. 10, 6) resembles him and belongs to him. In the age to come the elect will be “sons of God” (Lc. 20, 36); already now they enjoy divine sonship, because God’s ἀγάπη is in their hearts (Rom. 5, 2b. 5; 8, 14; I Io. 3, 1; 4, 8, 16), and after Jesus’ teaching εἰρήνη cannot be conceived without ἀγάπη.
The final b. returns to the first (St. Bernard: PL 183, 135), with an accentuated character of “inclusio” that makes the group of the b. a rhythmic stanza in its own right. “Those persecuted for justice” (“justice” in biblical language is the most general term denoting moral perfection: virtue, religion, goodness of life) are all those who estrange themselves from the world in order to attain the life and light of God; since the world does not recognize them as its own, it hates them, as it hates Christ (Mt. 10, 16-22; 24, 9; Io. 15, 18-25; 16, 2; I Io. 3, 13). The following two verses, which take up this b. by applying it in the second person, and then the entire Sermon on the Mount, the whole of evangelical doctrine and history, the experience and preaching of the Apostles, up to the Apocalypse, are the development of this b., which summarizes (like the first) the entire eightfold series of the b. Earthly reality is terrifying; but for its victims the highest and most radiant vindication is prepared: the Kingdom of God.
The ascetical theology of the b. has nourished Christian souls in every age, spurring them to detachment from the world, renunciation, and mortification, on the basis of faith, hope, and charity. Various Fathers «i have endeavored to derive from the b. a systematic synthesis of asceticism.
St. Ambrose (Expositio Ev. sec. Luc., V, 62 ff.: PL 15, 1649-55) sets out the 4 b. of Lk. 6:20-26 as degrees «per quos ab ultimis ad superiora possumus ascendere» and connects them with the 4 cardinal virtues, as he also does the 8 b. of Mt. 5:3-10 (where each virtue is divided into two branches), discerning in them a ladder that rises from initial misery to eternal glory (in this he finds the difference between the 1st and the 8th b.: beginners and those who possess the vision of God). St. Chromatius of Aquileia (PL 20, 331-37) derives from each of the b. a corresponding virtue to be practiced. St. Leo the Great (Hom. 95, De gra-
dibus ascensionis ad beatitudinem: PL 54, 460-66) sees in the b. 8 moral stages («gradus felicissimae ascensionis») leading to eternal rest «in tranquillissima Dei pace», or rather 8 aspects of Christian perfection. Among the Greeks, St. Gregory of Nyssa, in his 8 homilies on the b. (PG 44, 1194-1302), gives them an ethical-ascetical application, insisting on their two active and contemplative aspects. St. John Chrysostom (PG 57, 323-39) sees in the b. the Christian virtues, expounding the stages of each one: the 1st b. imposes humility, the principle of all perfection; the afflicted are the penitents; then develops the hunger for justice or holiness, through which every good is realized in relation to God and neighbor.
In the Middle Ages, the parenetic interpretation of the b. continued to develop, becoming enriched with applications—sometimes founded on allegorism—to Christian, clerical, or monastic life. St. Bernard, in the Sermo I in festo omnium sanctorum (PL 183, 453-62; cf. the references in De conversione ad clericos, 7-22: PL 182, 841-56, and in Sermo II in Circumcisione Domini: PL 183, 135), sees in the 8 b. as many virtues, arranged in a gradation that is not hierarchical but rather chronological, in relation to the ascetical experience of monks: voluntary paupertatis vilitas is a remedy for pride; gentleness or obedience is a remedy for rebellion against sin; the 3rd b. concerns «contritio spiritus et assiduitas lacrymarum»; the 4th, the desire for perfection; the 5th, almsgiving; the 6th, the struggle against concupiscence and sin through the use of the twofold «remedium» of prayer and confession; the 7th, fraternal charity; and the 8th, the martyrium realized in the cloister. Dante (Purg. XII, 110: pauperes sp. = humble; 15, 38; 17, 68 ff.; 19, 50; 23, 5-6; 27, 8) applies the b. to the virtues by which the elect set out toward their heavenly reward. Ludolf of Saxony (Vita Christi, part 1, chap. 33, Venice 1566, pp. 155-62), St. Bernardino of Siena (9 Advent sermons on the b.: Opera, III, ibid. 1745, pp. 18-68), like all preachers and ascetical writers down to the present day, explain the 8 b. as «the fundamental principles of Christian morality», «the general maxims of Christian morality and perfection» (M. Meechler, Méditations sur la vie de N.S. Jésus-Christ, translated from the German, I, Paris 1892, pp. 425 and 427).
St. Augustine devised a theological-mystical system, grafting it onto the common ethical-ascetical interpretation. From the number «seven» (the last b. is identified with the first), the Bishop of Hippo deduces that the b. are the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit (Is. 11:2-3), but in reverse order, from the 1st, which coincides with fear of God, to the last («the peacemakers»), which contains wisdom (De serm. Dom. in monte, I, 3-4: PL 34, 1234; and more briefly in Sermo 347: PL 38, 1524 ff., and De doctr. chr., II, 7: PL 34, 39). He concludes his work De serm. Dom. in monte (II, 2: PL 34, 1308) by recalling the equation: 7 b. = 7 «operations» of the Holy Spirit. The parallelism between the «spirit of Jahweh» and the redemption of the oppressed may be grounded, more appropriately, on Is. 42:1 (48:6); 61:1; Ex. 37:14.
St. Augustine, moreover, was well acquainted with and adopted the purely moral-ascetical explanation of the b. (Sermo 53: Epist. 130, 3-5; De sermone Domini in monte, I, 1-2, where he sees humility in the 1st b., charity in the 2nd, etc.). It is also found in the new Sermo (already listed by Possidius), discovered in Vienna and published by G. Morin (1922), in a thirteenth-century manuscript; here the b. are insistently described as eight.
The Augustinian mystical theory is reproduced by St. Bede (In Matth. ev. expos. I. I: PL 94, 24-25), who, however, follows St. Ambrose for Lk. 6:20-26 (PL 92, 401-405), by St. Peter Damian (PL 144, 411-15), and by Hugh of St. Victor (PL 175, 763 ff.). St. Thomas gives them a more systematic arrangement. Given that the just person is under the motion of the Holy Spirit, which through its gifts (habitus) makes him disposed to follow its supernatural impulses (Summa theol., 1st-2nd, q. 68), the b. are the «acts» that result from them (loc. cit., q. 69, a. 1), specifically identical with those deriving from the infused moral virtues, but differing in the manner in which they are produced and in a higher degree of objective perfection. Then coordinating them with the goods pursued, the Angelic Doctor establishes the hierarchy of the «seven» b.: the first three oppose deceptive goods; the next two constitute the active life and prepare for true happiness; the last two form the contemplative life and «vel sunt ipsa beatitudo finalis, vel aliqua inchoatio eius, et ideo non ponuntur in beatitudinibus tanquam merita sed tanquam praemia» (loc. cit., q. 69, a. 3). He subordinates to the b. (op. cit., 2nd-2nd, q. 139, a. 2, ad 3) the 12 fruits (v.) of the Holy Spirit, which are more common virtuous «acts»: «plus requiritur ad rationem beatitudinis quam ad rationem fructus... Unde omnes beatitudines possunt dici fructus, sed non convertitur» (op. cit., 1st-2nd, q. 70, a. 2). The 8th b. summarizes all the preceding ones and does not correspond to any special gift (loc. cit., q. 69, a. 3, ad 5 and a. 4, ad 2). As for the parallelism between the b. and the gifts, St. Thomas adheres to St. Augustine’s theory (op. cit., 2nd-2nd, q. 19, a. 12), but rejects any exclusively concordist interpretation: the b. correspond to the 7 gifts «non singulae singulis, sed plures uni et una pluribus» (op. cit., 1st-2nd, q. 69, a. 3; 2nd-2nd, q. 121, a. 2 and q. 139, a. 2), if one considers not only the motives (motiva) of the b. (as St. Augustine does), but their object, according to the intimate «convenientia propriae rationis ad invicem» between the gifts and the b. (op. cit., 1st-2nd, q. 69, a. 3, ad 3). He also admits St. Ambrose’s moral interpretation (the 4 virtues) (op. cit., 1st-2nd, q. 69, a. 3, ad 6).
Similarly, St. Bonaventure places the gifts of the Holy Spirit at the root of the b.: the virtues dispose one to the active life, the gifts to the contemplative life, and the b. to the perfection of both (Brevilogium, p. V, chap. 6). This doctrine was transmitted in the treatises of Peraldus (Summa de virt. et vit., I, 5) and St. Antoninus (Summa theol., IV, tit. 7, chaps. 5-6), and down to our own day through E. Nieremberg, M. J. Scheeben, and B. Proget; some today prefer to omit it, holding that it «practically comes down to the exercise of certain more important virtues, considered from the particular point of view of initiation into true beatitude» (J. de Guibert). Leo XIII (Encyclical Divinum illud munus, 9 May 1897) makes the b. depend on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, «indices ac nuntiae beatitatis perpetuo mansurae» (Leonis XIII Acta, XVII, Rome 1898, p. 148).
S. Agostino (De Sermone Domini in monte, II, 11: PL 34, 1286), dopo aver spiegato il Pater aggiungeva: «mi sembra che il numero sette di queste domande corrisponda alle sette b., donde ebbe origine tutto il presente discorso» e alle singole b. riferisce per ordine le petizioni; l'artificio lo porta a unire le lacrime con il dono di scienza e il compimento della volontà di Dio, poi il dono di fortezza con il pane quotidiano. S. Pier Damiani lo imita (PL 144, 415). S. Tommaso constata che «Augustinus adoptat septem petitiones donis et beatitudinibus» e ne cita per esteso il testo (Sum. Theol., 2ª-2ª, q. 83 ad 9, ad 3), ma non insiste su tale accostamento.
Più che dall'astratta dottrina dei geni teologici, le b. hanno il loro integrale commento dalla vivente realizzazione dei santi. Squillo di lotta ideale, sfida dallo spirito inerme ma impavido lanciato alla materia signoreggiante, annunzio conclusivo del capovolgimento dei valori umani gridato dai Profeti per il «giorno di Jahweh», le b. inaugurano e spiegano «lo scandalo della croce» (I Cor. 1, 23). Invano i «benpensanti», aggrappati al secolo che passa, si sforzano, con ingegnose glosse, di edulcorare e di «adattare ai tempi» il Vangelo delle b. Solo lo sparuto gruppo degli oscuri eroi che seguono Gesù fino alla piena vittoria sul mondo assapora, in silenzioso amore e tormento, la perfetta letizia (Mt. 11, 25-30; Lc. 10, 21; 12, 32; Io. 16, 20-22, 32-33; II Cor. 4, 6-18; 5, 14-18; 6, 2-10 e cf. 7, 4-6: Paolo sperimenta in sé il divino paradosso, che non è di parole, delle b.).
pp. 321-43; id., La vie et l'enseignement de Jésus-Christ N.-S., I, Parigi 1930, pp. 171-97; id., Lumen Christi: La doctrine spirituelle du Nouveau Testament, ivi 1947, pp. 141-52; L. Fonck, Beati...! (Mt. 5, 1-12), in Verbum Domini, 2 (1922), pp. 321-27; G. Morin, Sermon inédit de s. Augustin sur les huit béatitudes, in Revue bénédictine, 34 (1922), pp. 1-13; A. Lemonnier, Le messianisme des béatitudes, in Revue des sciences phil. et théol., 11 (1922), pp. 373-89; M.-J. Lagrange, Ev. selon s. Matthieu, Parigi 1922 (8ª ed. 1948), pp. 80-87 (c Ev. selon s. Luc, ivi 1920 (7ª ed. 1948), pp. 183-91); L. Pirot, Béatitudes évangéliques, in DBs, I, coll. 927-39; F. Salvoni, Il significato della prima beatitudine, in La Scuola cattolica, 60 (1932, ivi), pp. 426-42, e 60 (1932, ivi), pp. 18-37; G. Bonaccorsi, Primi saggi di filologia neotestamentaria, Torino 1933, pp. 2-11, 510-12; B. Lanwer, Die Grundgedanken der Bergpredigt auf dem Hintergrunde des Alt. Test. und Spätjudentums, Hiltrup 1934, pp. 80-101, 218 sg.; R. Kleine, Die acht Seligheiten der Bergpredigt, Paderborn 1935; A. Rohner, Die acht Seligheiten, in Divus Thomas, (Frib.), 13 (1935), pp. 437-45; F. Prat, Jésus-Christ, 7ª ed., Parigi 1938 (16ª ed. 1947), pp. 267-77; Th. Soiron, Die Bergpredigt Jesu: Formgeschichtliche, exegetische und theologische Erklärung, Friburgo in Br. 1941, pp. 134-208; J. M. Bover, Beati qui esuriant et sitiunt iustitiam (Mt. 5, 6), in Estudios eclesiásticos, 16 (1942), pp. 9-26.
Acattolici: C. W. Votaw, op. cit., pp. (1-44) 14-22; O. Baumgarten, Bergpredigt und Kultur der Gegenwart, Tubinea 1921; K. Bornhäuser, Die Bergpredigt: Versuch einer zeitgemässen Auslegung, Gütersloh 1923, pp. 18-37; H. Windisch, Der Sinn der Bergpredigt: Ein Beitrag zum geschichtlichen Verständnis der Evangelien und zum Problem der richtigen Exegese, Lipsia 1929, 2ª ed. ivi 1937, pp. 8-10, 18, 63, 96-103, 143-86; J. Resewski, Die Mahnrinnen bei Mt. und Lh., ihr Verhältnis zueinander und ihr historischer Hintergrund, in Stadia theologica (Riga), 1 (1935), pp. 157-69.
Sui paralleli nel mondo antico: G. L. Dirichlet, De veterum macarimmi, Giessen 1914 - Sui paralleli giudaici: G. Friedländer, The Jewish sources of the Sermon on the mount, Londra 1911, pp. 11-28, 91, 166-81; H. L. Strack e P. Billerbeck, Kommentar zum N. T. aus Talmud und Midrasch, I, Monaco 1922, pp. 189-232; P. Fiebig, Jesu Bergpredigt, Rabbinische Texte zum Verständnis der Bergpredigt, Gottling 1924; G. Kittel, Die Bergpredigt und die Ethik des Judentums, in Zeitschrift für systematische Theologie, 2 (1924-25), pp. 555-94; C. G. Montefiore, Rabbinic literature and Gospel teaching, Londra 1930, pp. 1-35, 274; J. Isaac, Jésus et Israël, Parigi 1948, pp. 134-39. Insiste sulla dipendenza dal giudaismo precrutissimo la scuola scandinava: J. Pedersen, Israel, I, Copenhagen 1920 (v. trad. inglese 1926, pp. 263-335), e II, ivi 1934; S. Mowinckel, Psalmstudien, I (Avian und die individuellen Klagepsalmen) e II-VI, Oslo 1921-24; H. Birkeland, Ani und Anam in den Psalmen, ivi 1933; ai quali si associa A. Causse, Les pauvres d'Israël, Strasburgo 1922, e Du groupe ethnique à la communauté religieuse, Parigi 1937, pp. 243-76. Contro la «mania di trovare alle sentenze di Gesù paralleli e antecedenti rabbinici... in tema dal suono così poco giudaico, se non antigiudaico»: J. Bonairven, Les Juifs et Jésus, Parigi 1937, pp. 108-10, 158 (pp. 57-59; i travisamenti).
II. - Interpretazione etico-acetica, Cattolici: J.-B. Bossuet, Méditations sur l'Évangile, giorni 1-10; C. Gay, Les béatitudes évangéliques, Parigi 1880; H. Bolo, Les béatitudes évangéliques, ivi 1896; F. Lavallée, Béatitudes, Lione 1927; G. Semeria, Le b. evangeliche, Milano 1928; N. Ciriaci, Le b. del Vangelo, Napoli 1929; G. Perardi, La dottrina cattolica, parte 4ª (Virtù e peccati), II, Torino 1935, pp. 5-75; T. Kranich, Die acht Seligheiten und der moderne Mensch, Beuron 1937; A. Portaluppi, Commento alle b., Roma 1942; E. Prosperini, Le b. in famiglia (Conferenze alle modri), ivi 1942; Anon., En marge des béatitudes (Dialogue biblique), in Dieu vivant, fasc. III (1945), pp. 91-102. - Acattolici: A. Schmittthoner, Die Seligpreisungen unseres Herren praktisch ausgelegt, Tubinga 1908; J. Müller, Die Bergpredigt, verdentscht und vergegenwärtigt, 3ª ed., Monaco 1911 (6ª ed. 1920), pp. 38-99; H. Foston, The Beatitudes and the contrasts, Londra 1911; M. Devine, The religion of the Beatitudes: A study of Christ's teaching, ivi 1918; L. Cordier, Jesus und das Glück: Betrachtungen über die Seligpreisungen, Herborn 1923; J. Burr, The Crown of the character, Londra 1933; C.H.S. Matthews, The way to Happiness, ivi 1934; M. Wateyn-Williams, The Beatitudes in the modern world, ivi 1935; F. W. Borham, The heavenly Octave, ivi 1935; R. E. Roberts, The Happy heart: A study in the Beatitudes, ivi 1936; G. Vann, The divine pity: A study in the social implications of the Beatitudes, Nuova York 1946.
III. - Theological-mystical interpretation: A. Gardell, Béatitudes évangéliques, in DThC, II, cols. 515-17 (cf. IV, col. 1764); id., Beati pauperes..., in La vie spirituelle, December 1932, pp. 234-38; February 1933, pp. 204-26; April 1933, pp. 30-39; January 1934, pp. 20-32; F. Cayré, La contemplation augustinienne, Paris 1927, pp. 52-63; M.-D. Roland-Gosselin, Le sermon sur la montagne et la théologie thomiste, in Revue des sciences philos. et théol., 17 (1928), pp. 201-34; E. Gilson, Béatitudes dans l'Évangile, in La vie intellectuelle, 25 March 1933, pp. 357-69; M. J. Scheeben, Le meraviglie della grazia divina, Italian trans., Turin 1933, p. 250 ff.; D. Busy, Béatitudes, in DSp, I, cols. 1298-1310; B. Froget, L'abitazione dello Spirito Santo nelle anime giuste secondo la dottrina di s. Tommaso d'Amino, Italian trans., Turin 1937, pp. 428-33; R. Garrigou-Lagrange, La carità perfetta e le b., in Vita cristiana, 10 (1938), pp. 11-27; J. de Guibert, Leçons de théologie spirituelle, Toulouse 1946, p. 158 ff. (note). Antonino Romeo
BEATO (beatus), saint: V. SETTE FONDATORI.