Expositions on the Book of Psalms 99
99.1 Psalm XCIX PL 36, 1271
1. Beloved brethren, it ought already to be known to you, as sons of the Church, and well instructed in the school of Christ through all the books of our ancient fathers, who wrote the words of God and the great things of God, that their wish was to consult for our good, who were to live at this period, believers in Christ; who, at a seasonable time came unto us, the first time, in humility; at the second, destined to come in exaltation.…For thus it is said in the Psalms: “Truth shall flourish out of the earth: and righteousness hath looked down from heaven.” Now, therefore, our whole design is, when we hear a Psalm, a Prophet, or the Law, all of which was written before our Lord Jesus Christ came in the flesh, to see Christ there, to understand Christ there. Attend therefore, beloved, to this Psalm, with me, and let us herein seek Christ; certainly He will appear to those who seek Him, who at first appeared to those who sought Him not; and He will not desert those who long for Him, who redeemed those who neglected Him. Behold, the Psalm beginneth concerning Him: of Him it is said:—
Psalmum, fratres, cum cantaretur, audistis; brevis est, nec obscurus: quasi securitatem dederim, ne laborem timeatis. Videamus tamen attentius, et quanto liberius, tanto diligentius, quid sibi velint ea ipsa quae aperte sonant, ut quantum Dominus donare dignatur, spiritualiter intelligantur. Vox Dei quolibet organo sonans, tamen vox Dei; neque enim delectat aures ejus, nisi vox ejus: nam et nos cum loquimur, tunc eum delectamus, cum ipse de nobis loquitur.
99.2 PL 36, 1271
2. “The Lord is King, be the people angry” (ver. 1). For our Lord Jesus Christ began to reign, began to be preached, after He arose from the dead and ascended into heaven, after He had filled His disciples with the confidence of the Holy Spirit, that they should not fear death, which He had already killed in Himself. Our Lord Christ began then to be preached, that they who wished for salvation might believe in Him; and the peoples who worshipped idols were angry. They who worshipped what they had made were angry, because He by whom they were made was declared. He announced, in fact, through His disciples, Himself, who wished them to be converted unto Him by whom they were made, and to be turned away from those things which they had made themselves. They were angry with their Lord in behalf of their idols, they who even if they were angry with their slave on their idol’s account, were to be condemned. For their slave was better than their idol: for God made their slave, the carpenter made their idol. They were so angry in their idol’s behalf, that they feared not to be angry with their Lord. But the words, “be they angry,” are a prediction, not a command; for in a prophecy it is that this is said, “The Lord is King, be the people angry.” Some good resulteth even from the enraged people: let them be angry, and in their anger let the Martyrs be crowned.…Ye heard when Jeremiah was being read before the reading of the Apostle, if ye listened; ye saw therein the times in which we now live. He said, “The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, let them perish from the earth, and from under the heaven.” He said not, The gods that have not made the heavens and earth, let them perish from the heaven and from the earth; because they never were in heaven: but what did he say? “Let them perish from the earth, and from under the heaven.” As if, while the word earth was repeated, the repetition of the word heaven were wanting (because they never were in heaven): he repeateth the earth twice, since it is under heaven. “Let them perish from the earth, and from under the heaven,” from their temples. Consider if this be not now taking place; if in a great measure it hath not already happened: for what, or how much, hath remained? The idols remained rather in the hearts of the pagans, than in the niches of the temples.
[«vers. 1.] Psalmus in confessione:» sic inscribitur, hic est titulus ejus, «Psalmus in confessione.» Pauci versus sunt, magnarum rerum gravidi: pariant semina in cordibus vestris, ut paretur horreum messi dominicae. Psalmus iste in confessione hoc nobis jubet, ad hoc nos hortatur, ut jubilemus Deo. Nec hortatur velut aliquem unum angulum terrae, aut unam aliquam habitationem congregationemve hominum; sed quia ubique novit se seminasse benedictionem, undique exigit jubilationem.
99.3 PL 36, 1271
3. “He who sitteth between the cherubims:” thou dost understand, “He is King: let the earth be stirred up.”…The Cherubim is the seat of God, as the Scripture showeth us, a certain exalted heavenly throne, which we see not; but the Word of God knoweth it, knoweth it as His own seat: and the Word of God and the Spirit of God hath Itself revealed to the servants of God where God sitteth. Not that God doth sit, as doth man; but thou, if thou dost wish that God sit in thee, if thou wilt be good, shalt be the seat of God; for thus is it written, “The soul of the righteous is the seat of wisdom.” For a throne is in our language called a seat. For some, conversant with the Hebrew tongue, have interpreted cherubim in the Latin language (for it is a Hebrew term) by the words, fulness of knowledge. Therefore, because God surpasseth all knowledge, He is said to sit above the fulness of knowledge. Let there be therefore in thee fulness of knowledge, and even thou shalt be the throne of God.…He knoweth all things: for our hairs are numbered before God. But the fulness of knowledge which He willed man to know is different from this; the knowledge which He willed thee to have, pertaineth to the law of God. And who can, thou mayest perhaps say unto me, perfectly know the Law, so that he may have within himself the fulness of the knowledge of the Law, and be able to be the seat of God? Be not disturbed; it is briefly told thee what thou hast, if thou dost wish to have the fulness of knowledge, and to become the throne of God: for the Apostle saith, “Love is the fulfilling of the Law.” What followeth then? Thou hast lost the whole of thine excuse. Ask thine heart; see whether it hath love. If there be love there, there is the fulfilment of the Law there also; already God dwelleth in thee, thou hast become the throne of God. “Be the people angry;” what can the angry people do against him who hath become the throne of God? Thou givest heed unto them who rage against thee: Who is it that sitteth within thee, thou givest not heed. Thou art become a heaven, and fearest thou the earth? For the Scripture saith in another passage, that the Lord our God doth declare, “The heaven is My throne.” If therefore even thou by having the fulness of knowledge, and by having love, hast been made the throne of God, thou hast become a heaven. For this heaven which we look up to with these eyes of ours, is not very precious before God. Holy souls are the heaven of God; the minds of the Angels, and all the minds of His servants, are the heaven of God.
[«vers. 2.] Jubilate» ergo «Domino», «universa terra.» Numquid modo vocem meam audit universa terra? Et tamen hanc vocem audivit universa terra. Jam jubilat Domino universa terra; et quae adhuc non jubilat, jubilabit. Pertendens enim benedictio, incipiente Ecclesia ab Jerusalem per omnes gentes , impietatem ubique prosternit, pietatem ubique construit: et mixti sunt boni malis, et mali per omnem terram, et boni per omnem terram. In malis murmurat omnis terra, in bonis jubilat omnis terra. Quid est ergo jubilare? Multum enim nos attentos facit ad hoc verbum et praesentis psalmi titulus, quia inscribitur, «In confessione.» Quid est, in confessione jubilare? Est alterius cujusdam psalmi sententia dicentis, «Beatus populus qui intelligit jubilationem» : profecto magnum aliquid est, quod intellectum beatos facit. Dominus ergo Deus noster beatificator hominum, det mihi intelligere quod dicam, det vobis intelligere quod auditis: «Beatus populus qui intelligit jubilationem.» Curramus ergo ad hanc beatitudinem, intelligamus jubilationem, non eam sine intellectu fundamus. Quid opus est jubilare et obtemperare huic psalmo dicenti, «Jubilate Deo, omnis terra,» et non intelligere jubilationem, ut vox nostra sola jubilet, et cor non jubilet? Sonus enim cordis, intellectus est.
99.4 PL 36, 1272
4. “The Lord is great in Sion, and high above all people” (ver. 2).…He whom I spoke to thee of as above the Cherubims, is great in Sion. Ask thou now, what is Sion? We know Sion to be the city of God. The city of Jerusalem is called Sion; and is so called according to a certain interpretation, for that Sion signifieth watching, that is, sight and contemplation; for to watch is to look forward to, or gaze upon, or strain the eyes to see. Now every soul is a Sion, if it trieth to see that light which is to be seen. For if it shall have gazed upon a light of its own, it is darkened; if upon His, it is enlightened. But, now that it is clear that Sion is the city of God; what is the city of God, but the Holy Church? For men who love one another, and who love their God who dwelleth in them, constitute a city unto God. Because a city is held together by some law; their very law is Love; and that very Love is God: for openly it is written, “God is Love.” He therefore who is full of Love, is full of God; and many, full of love, constitute a city full of God. That city of God is called Sion; the Church therefore is Sion. In it God is great.…
Quod nostis dicturus sum. Qui jubilat, non verba dicit, sed sonus quidam est laetitiae sine verbis: vox est enim animi diffusi laetitia, quantum potest, exprimentis affectum, non sensum comprehendentis. Gaudens homo in exsultatione sua, ex verbis quibusdam quae non possunt dici et intelligi, erumpit in vocem quamdam exsultationis sine verbis; ita ut appareat eum ipsa voce gaudere quidem, sed quasi repletum nimio gaudio, non posse verbis explicare quod gaudet: Animadvertite hoc in eis qui cantant etiam non honeste. Non enim talis erit jubilatio nostra, qualis illorum est; nos enim in justificatione jubilare debemus, illi autem jubilant in iniquitate: itaque nos in confessione, illi in confusione. Tamen ut hoc quod dico intelligatis, imo recordemini rem cognitam, maxime jubilant qui aliquid in agris operantur; copia fructuum jucundati vel messores, vel vendemiatores, vel aliquos fructus metentes, et in ipsa fecunditate terrae et feracitate gaudentes, exsultando cantant; et inter cantica quae verbis enuntiant, inserunt voces quasdam sine verbis in elatione exsultantis animi, et haec vocatur jubilatio. Si quis forte propterea non recognoscit, quia nunquam advertit, advertat de caetero. Atque utinam non inveniat quos advertat, ne Deus inveniat quos evertat. Sed tamen quia non quiescunt nasci spinae, in male exsultantibus advertamus jubilationem improbandam, et offeramus Deo jubilationem coronandam.
99.5 PL 36, 1272
5. Do ye imagine, brethren, that they whose instruments re-echoed yesterday, are not angry with our fastings? But let us not be angry with them, but let us fast for them. For the Lord our God who sitteth in us hath said, He hath Himself commanded us to pray for our enemies, to pray for them that persecute us: and as the Church doth this, the persecutors are almost extinct.…The drunken man doth not offend himself, but he offendeth the sober man. Show me a man who is at last happy in God, liveth gravely, sigheth for that everlasting peace which God hath promised him; and see that when he hath seen a man dancing to an instrument, he is more grieved for his madness, than for a man who is in a frenzy from a fever. If then we know their evils, considering that we also have been freed from those very evils, let us grieve for them; and if we grieve for them, let us pray for them; and that we may be heard, let us fast for them. For we do not keep our own fasts in their holidays. Different are the fasts which we celebrate through the days of the approaching Passover, through different seasons which are fixed for us in Christ: but through their holidays we fast for this reason, that when they are rejoicing, we may groan for them. For by their joy they excite our grief, and cause us to remember how wretched they are as yet. But since we see many freed thence, where we also have been, we ought not to despair even of them. And if they are still enraged, let us pray; and if still a particle of earth that hath remained behind be stirred up against us, let us continue in lamentation for them, that to them also God may grant understanding, and that with us they may hear those words, in which we are at this moment rejoicing.
Quando ergo nos jubilamus? Quando laudamus quod dici non potest. Attendimus enim universam creaturam, terram et mare, et coelum, et omnia quae in eis sunt: attendimus singula habere origines et causas suas, seminum vim, nascendi ordinem, permanendi modum, intereundi decessum, currere volumina saeculorum sine ulla perturbatione, stellas volvi quodam modo ab oriente in occidentem, peragere cursus annorum, videmus dimensiones mensium, distentiones horarum; inque his omnibus nescio quid invisibile, quod spiritus vel anima dicitur, inesse omnibus animantibus ad appetendam voluptatem fugiendamque molestiam, ad conservandam incolumitatem suam vestigium quoddam unitatis; inesse etiam homini commune quiddam cum Angelis Dei; non cum pecoribus, sicut est vivere, audire, videre, et caetera, sed quod intelligat Deum, quod ad mentem proprie pertineat, quod sicut oculus albam et nigrum, ita aequitatem iniquitatemque discernat. In hac tota consideratione creaturae, quam nominare utcumque et percurrere potuimus, interroget se anima: Quis fecit haec omnia? quis creavit haec? quis in his teipsam? Quid sunt ista quae consideras? quid tu quae consideras? Quis ille qui fecit consideranda et considerantem? quis est iste? Dic illum; ut dicas illum, cogita illum. Potes enim aliquid cogitare, et forte non potes dicere; nullo modo autem poteris dicere quod non potueris cogitare. Ergo cogita illum priusquam dicas illum; ut cogites illum, accede ad illum. Quod enim vis bene videre, ut habeas quod loquaris, accedis ut inspicias, ne forte longe videndo fallaris. Sed ut oculis ista corpora, sic ille mente conspicitur, corde attenditur et videtur. Et ubi est cor unde ille videatur? «Beati,» ait, «mundi corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt» . Audio, credo, ut possum intelligo, corde videri Deum, nec posse nisi mundo corde conspici; sed audio aliam Scripturam: «Quis gloriabitur castum se habere cor? aut quis gloriabitur mundum se esse a peccato» ? Attendi ergo universam creaturam, quantum potui; corporalem animadverti in coelo et in terra, spiritualem autem in meipso qui loquor, qui membra vegeto, qui vocem intendo, qui linguam moveo, qui verba pronuntio, sensusque discerno. Et quando comprehendo me in me? Unde ergo possum quod supra me? Promittitur tamen cordi humano visio Dei, et indicitur quaedam operatio mundandi cordis; hoc dicitur ab Scriptura: Para unde videas quod amas, antequam videas. Audito enim Deo et nomine ejus, cui non dulce est quod audit, nisi impio multum remoto, multum longe facto? «Quoniam ecce,» inquit, «qui longe faciunt se abs te, peribunt;» sequitur, «Perdidisti omnem qui fornicatur abs te» . Nobis autem quid? Quia illi longe, et ideo in tenebris, et ita sauciatis oculis in tenebris, ut lumen non solum non desiderent, sed etiam perhorrescant; nobis in longinquo inventis quid dicitur? «Accedite ad eum, et illuminamini» . Ut autem accedas et illumineris, displiceant tibi tenebrae tuae; damna quod es, ut merearis esse quod non es. Es iniquus, esse debes justus: nunquam justitiam percepturus es, si adhuc tibi placet iniquitas. Contere illam in corde tuo, et munda; expelle illam de corde tuo, ubi vult habitare quem vis videre. Accedit ergo utcumque anima humana, interior homo recreatus ad imaginem Dei, quia creatus ad imaginem Dei; qui tanto erat longe factus, quanto ierat in dissimilitudinem. Non enim locorum intervallis acceditur ad Deum, aut receditur a Deo: dissimilis factus, longe recessisti; similis factus, proxime accedis. Vide quomodo nos vult accedere Dominus, faciens primo similes, ut accedamus. «Estote,» ait, «sicut Pater vester qui in coelis est, qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos et malos, et pluit super justos et injustos» . Disce diligere inimicum, si vis cavere inimicum. Inquantum autem in te charitas crescit, efficiens te et revocans te ad similitudinem Dei, pertendit usque ad inimicos; ut sis ei similis qui facit solem suum oriri, non super bonos tantum, sed super bonos et malos; et pluit, non super justos tantum, sed super justos et injustos. Quantum accedis ad similitudinem, tantum proficis in charitate, et tanto incipis sentire Deum. Et quem sentis? qui venit ad te, an ad quem tu redis? Nam ille nunquam discessit a te: recedit a te Deus, cum tu recedis a Deo. Praesentia sunt caecis omnia, sicut videntibus: uno loco stans caecus et videns, iisdem formis rerum uterque circumfunditur; ille est praesens rebus, ille absens: ex duobus uno loco stantibus, unus est praesens, alius absens; non rebus ipsis ad alterum accedentibus et ab altero recedentibus, sed propter dissimilitudinem oculorum suorum. Ille qui caecus dicitur, quia exstinctum est ibi quod contemperari solet luci cuncta vestienti, frustra est praesens rebus quas non videt; imo rectius absens quam praesens dicitur: ubi enim non est sensus ejus, recte dicitur absens; hoc est enim absentem esse, sensu abesse. Sic et Deus ubique praesens est, ubique totus. Sapientia ejus attingit a fine usque ad finem fortiter, et disponit omnia suaviter . Quod autem Deus Pater, hoc Verbum ejus et Sapientia ejus, lux de luce, Deus de Deo. Quid ergo optas videre? Non est a te longe quod vis videre. Apostolus dicit equidem non longe positum ab unoquoque nostrum: «in ipso enim vivimus et movemur et sumus» . Quanta ergo miseria est; longe esse ab eo qui ubique est?
99.6 PL 36, 1274
6. All these very people, over whom Thou art great in Sion, “Let them confess unto Thy Name, which is great” (ver. 3). Thy Name was little when they were enraged: it hath become great; let them now confess. In what sense do we say, that the Name of Christ was little, before it was spread abroad to so great an extent? Because His report is meant by His Name. His Name was small; already it hath become great. What nation is there that hath not heard of the Name of Christ? Therefore let now the people confess unto Thy Name, which is great, who before were enraged with Thy little Name. Wherefore shall they confess? Because it is “wonderful and holy.” Thy very Name is wonderful and holy. He is so preached as crucified, so preached as humbled, so preached as judged, that He may come exalted, that He may come living, that He may come to judge in power. He spareth at present the people who blaspheme Him, because “the long-suffering of God leadeth to repentance.” For He who now spareth, will not always spare: nor will He, who is now being preached that He may be feared, fail to come to judge. He will come, my brethren, He will come: let us fear Him, and let us live so that we may be found on His right hand. For He will come, and will judge, so as to place some on the left hand, some on the right. And He doth not act in an uncertain manner, so as to err perchance betwixt men, so that he who should be set on the right hand, be set on the left; or that he who ought to stand on the left, by a mistake of God should stand on the right: He cannot err, so as to place the evil where He ought to set the good; nor to place the good, where He should have set the evil. If He cannot err, we err, if we fear not; but if we have feared in this life, we shall not then have what to fear for. “For the King’s honour loveth judgment.”…
Esto ergo similis pietate, et diligens cogitatione: quoniam invisibilia ejus per ea quae facta sunt intellecta conspiciuntur ; ea quae facta sunt intuere, mirare, quaere auctorem. Si dissimilis sis, repelleris; si similis, exsultabis. Et cum accedere coeperis similis, et persentiscere Deum, quantum in te charitas crescit, quia et charitas Deus est , senties quiddam quod dicebas, et non dicebas. Ante enim quam sentires, dicere te putabas Deum: incipis sentire, et ibi sentis dici non posse quod sentis. Cum autem ibi didiceris dici non posse quod sentis, tacebis, non laudabis? Ergo mutus eris in laudibus Dei, et gratiarum actionem non reddes ei qui voluit se notum tibi facere? Laudabas, cum quaereres; silebis, cum inveneris? Nullo pacto; non eris ingratus. Debetur honor, debetur reverentia, debetur magna laudatio. Attende te qui sis, terra et cinis: vide quis meruerit, quid videre; vide quis, quid, homo Deum. Agnosco non meritum hominis, sed misericordiam Dei. Lauda ergo miserantem. Quomodo, inquis, laudabo? Modicum ipsum quod sentire possum ex parte in aenigmate per speculum , jam explicare non possum. Audi ergo Psalmum: «Jubilate Domino, omnis terra.» Intellexisti jubilationem omnis terrae, si jubilas Domino. Domino jubila; noli jubilationem tuam in alias atque alias res dividere. Postremo caetera dici possunt utcumque. ille solus est ineffabilis, qui dixit, et facta sunt omnia. Dixit, et facti sumus: sed nos eum dicere non possumus . Verbum ejus quo dicti sumus, Filius ejus est: ut a nobis utcumque infirmis diceretur, factus est infirmus. Jubilationem pro verbo possumus dicere, verbum pro verbo non possumus. «Jubilate» ergo «Domino, omnis terra.»
99.7 PL 36, 1275
7. “Thou hast prepared equity; Thou hast wrought judgment and righteousness in Jacob.” For we too ought to have judgment, we ought to have righteousness; but He worketh in us judgment and righteousness, who created us in whom He might work them. How ought we too to have judgment and righteousness? Thou hast judgment, when thou dost distinguish evil from good: and righteousness when thou followest the good, and turnest aside from the evil. By distinguishing them, thou hast judgment; by doing, thou hast righteousness. “Eschew evil,” he saith, “and do good; seek peace, and ensue it.” Thou shouldest first have judgment, then righteousness. What judgment? That thou mayest first judge what is evil, and what is good. And what righteousness? That thou mayest shun evil, and do good. But this thou wilt not gain from thyself; see what he hath said, “Thou hast wrought judgment and righteousness in Jacob.”
«Servite Domino in jucunditate.» Omnis servitus amaritudine plena est: omnes conditione servili obligati et serviunt, et murmurant. Nolite timere illius Domini servitutem: non erit ibi gemitus, non murmur, non indignatio; nemo se petit inde venalem, quia dulce est quod redempti omnes sumus. Magna felicitas, fratres, esse in ista domo magna servum, etsi cum compedibus. Noli timere, serve compedite, confitere Domino: meritis tuis attribue compedes tuas; confitere in compedibus, si vis ut in ornamenta vertantur. Non frustra, nec sine exauditione dictum est, «Intret in conspectum tuum gemitus compeditorum» . «Servite Domino in jucunditate.» Libera servitus est apud Dominum; libera servitus, ubi non necessitas, sed charitas servit. «Vos,» inquit, «in libertatem vocati estis, fratres: tantum ne libertatem in occasionem carnis detis; sed per charitatem spiritus servite invicem» . Servum te charitas faciat quia liberum te veritas fecit. «Si manseritis,» inquit, «in verbo meo, vere discipuli mei estis; et cognoscetis veritatem, et veritas liberabit vos» . Simul es et servus et liber: servus, quia factus es; liber, quia amaris a Deo a quo factus es: imo etiam inde liber, quia amas eum a quo factus es. Noli servire cum murmure; non enim id agunt murmura tua, ut non servias, sed ut malus servus servias. Servus es Domini, libertus es Domini; non te sic quaeras manumitti, ut recedas de domo manumissoris tui.
99.8 PL 36, 1275
8. “O magnify the Lord our God” (ver. 5). Magnify Him truly, magnify Him well. Let us praise Him, let us magnify Him who hath wrought the very righteousness which we have; who wrought it in us, Himself. For who but He who justified us, wrought righteousness in us? For of Christ it is said, “who justifieth the ungodly.”…“And fall down before His footstool: for He is holy.” What are we to fall down before? His footstool. What is under the feet is called a footstool, in Greek ὑποπόδιον, in Latin Scabellum or Suppedaneum. But consider, brethren, what he commandeth us to fall down before. In another passage of the Scriptures it is said, “The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool.” Doth he then bid us worship the earth, since in another passage it is said, that it is God’s footstool? How then shall we worship the earth, when the Scripture saith openly, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God”? Yet here it saith, “fall down before His footstool:” and, explaining to us what His footstool is, it saith, “The earth is My footstool.” I am in doubt; I fear to worship the earth, lest He who made the heaven and the earth condemn me; again, I fear not to worship the footstool of my Lord, because the Psalm biddeth me, “fall down before His footstool.” I ask, what is His footstool? and the Scripture telleth me, “the earth is My footstool.” In hesitation I turn unto Christ, since I am herein seeking Himself: and I discover how the earth may be worshipped without impiety, how His footstool may be worshipped without impiety. For He took upon Him earth from earth; because flesh is from earth, and He received flesh from the flesh of Mary. And because He walked here in very flesh, and gave that very flesh to us to eat for our salvation; and no one eateth that flesh, unless he hath first worshipped: we have found out in what sense such a footstool of our Lord’s may be worshipped, and not only that we sin not in worshipping it, but that we sin in not worshipping. But doth the flesh give life? Our Lord Himself, when He was speaking in praise of this same earth, said, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing.”…But when our Lord praised it, He was speaking of His own flesh, and He had said, “Except a man eat My flesh, he shall have no life in him.” Some disciples of His, about seventy, were offended, and said, “This is an hard saying, who can hear it?” And they went back, and walked no more with Him. It seemed unto them hard that He said, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, ye have no life in you:” they received it foolishly, they thought of it carnally, and imagined that the Lord would cut off parts from His body, and give unto them; and they said, “This is a hard saying.” It was they who were hard, not the saying; for unless they had been hard, and not meek, they would have said unto themselves, He saith not this without reason, but there must be some latent mystery herein. They would have remained with Him, softened, not hard: and would have learnt that from Him which they who remained, when the others departed, learnt. For when twelve disciples had remained with Him, on their departure, these remaining followers suggested to Him, as if in grief for the death of the former, that they were offended by His words, and turned back. But He instructed them, and saith unto them, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth, but the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I have spoken unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Understand spiritually what I have said; ye are not to eat this body which ye see; nor to drink that blood which they who will crucify Me shall pour forth. I have commended unto you a certain mystery; spiritually understood, it will quicken. Although it is needful that this be visibly celebrated, yet it must be spiritually understood.
«Servite Domino in jucunditate.» Plena erit illa et perfecta jucunditas, cum corruptibile hoc induerit incorruptionem, et mortale hoc induerit immortalitatem : tunc erit perfecta jucunditas, tunc illa perfecta jubilatio, tunc laus sine defectu, tunc amor sine scandalo, tunc fructus sine timore, tunc vita sine morte. Quid hic? nullumne gaudium? Si nullum gaudium, nulla jubilatio: quomodo, «Jubilate Domino, universa terra?» Est plane et hic gaudium; de spe futurae vitae gustatur hic unde ibi satiemur. Sed necesse est ut multa perferant frumenta inter zizania: sunt grana inter paleam , est lilium inter spinas. Quid enim audit Ecclesia? «Sicut lilium in medio spinarum, ita proxima mea in medio filiarum» . Non dictum est, In medio alienarum; sed, «in medio filiarum.» O Domine, quomodo consolaris, quomodo confortas, quomodo terres? Quid est quod dicis? «Sicut lilium in» «medio,» quarum «spinarum? Ita proxima mea in medio,» quarum «filiarum?» quas dicis spinas, ipsas filias? Respondet: Spinae sunt propter mores suos; filiae, propter sacramenta mea. Utinam ergo inter gemitus alienorum gemeretur; minus gemeretur. Ille est major gemitus, «Quoniam si inimicus exprobrasset mihi, sustinuissem utique; et si is qui oderat me, super me magna locutus fuisset, absconderem me utique ab eo.» Psalmi voces sunt: qui Litteras nostras novit, sequitur; qui non novit, discat, ut sequatur. «Si is qui oderat me, super me magna locutus fuisset, absconderem me utique ab eo: tu vero unanimis, dux meus et notus meus, qui simul mecum dulces capiebas cibos» . Quos dulces cibos nobiscum capiunt, qui nobiscum semper futuri non sunt? quos dulces cibos, nisi, «Gustate et videte quam dulcis est Dominus» ? Inter illos necesse est gemamus.
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9. “Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among such as call upon His Name: these called upon the Lord, and He heard them” (ver. 6). “He spake unto them out of the cloudy pillar” (ver. 7).…Of Moses it is not there stated that he was a priest. But if he was not this, what was he? Could he be anything greater than a priest? This Psalm declareth that he also was himself a priest: “Moses and Aaron among His priests.” They therefore were the Lord’s priests. Samuel is read of later in the Book of Kings: this Samuel is in David’s times; for he anointed the holy David. Samuel from his infancy grew up in the temple.…He mentioneth these: and by these desireth us to understand all the saints. Yet why hath he here named those? Because we said that we ought here to understand Christ. Attend, holy brethren. He said above, “O magnify the Lord our God: and fall down before His footstool, for He is holy:” praising some one, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ; whose footstool is to be worshipped, because He assumed flesh, in which He was to appear before the human race; and wishing to show unto us that the ancient fathers also had preached of Him, because our Lord Jesus Christ is Himself the True Priest, he mentioned these, because God spake unto them out of the cloudy pillar. What meaneth, “out of the cloudy pillar”? He was speaking figuratively. For if He spoke in some cloud, those obscure words predicted some one unknown, yet to be manifest. This unknown one is no longer unknown; for He is known by us, our Lord Jesus Christ.…He who first spoke out of the cloudy pillar, hath in Person spoken unto us in His footstool; that is, on earth, when He had assumed the flesh, for which reason we worship His footstool, for He is holy. He Himself used to speak out of the cloud, which was not then understood: He hath spoken in His own footstool, and the words of His cloud have been understood. “They kept His testimonies, and the law that He gave them.”…“Thou heardest them,” he saith, “O Lord our God: Thou wast forgiving to them, O God” (ver. 8). God is not said to be forgiving toward anything but sins: when He pardoneth sins, then He forgiveth. And what had He in them to punish, so that He was forgiving in pardoning them? He was forgiving in pardoning their sins, He was also forgiving in punishing them. For what followeth? “And punishedst all their own affections.” Even in punishing them Thou wast forgiving toward them: for not in remitting, but also in punishing their sins, hast Thou been forgiving. Consider, my brethren, what he hath taught us here: attend. God is angry with him whom, when he sinneth, He scourgeth not: for unto him to whom He is truly forgiving, He not only remitteth sins, that they may not injure him in a future life; but also chasteneth him, that he delight not in continual sin.
Sed quo se separaturus est christianus, ut non gemat inter falsos fratres? Quo iturus est? quid facturus? Solitudines petat? Sequuntur scandala. Separaturus est se qui bene proficit, ut nullum omnino hominem patiatur? Quid si et ipsum, antequam proficeret, nemo vellet pati? Si ergo, quia proficit, nullum hominem vult pati, eo ipso quo non vult aliquem hominem pati, convincitur quod non profecerit. Intendat Charitas vestra: «Sustinentes invicem,» ait Apostolus, «in dilectione, satagentes servare unitatem spiritus in vinculo pacis» . «Sustinentes invicem:» non habes quod in te alius sustineat? Miror si non est: sed ecce non sit; eo robustior es ad caeteros sustinendos, quo jam non habes quod in te alii sustineant. Non sustineris, sustine caeteros. Non possum, inquis. Ergo habes quod et in te alii sustineant. «Sustinentes invicem in dilectione.» Tu deseris res humanas, et segregas te, ut nemo te videat; cui proderis? Tu ad hoc pervenisses, si nullus tibi profuisset? An quia veloces pedes tibi videris habuisse ad transeundum, praecisurus es pontem? Exhortor omnes, vox Dei omnes hortatur: «Sustinentes invicem in dilectione.»
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10. Come, my brethren; if we ask how these were punished, the Lord will aid me to tell you. Let us consider these three persons, Moses, Aaron, and Samuel: and how they were punished, since he said, “Thou hast punished all their own affections:” meaning those affections of theirs, which the Lord knew in their hearts, which men knew not. For they were living in the midst of the people of God, without complaint from man. But what do we say? That perhaps the early life of Moses was sinful; for he fled from Egypt, after slaying a man. The early life of Aaron also was such as would displease God; for he allowed a maddened and infatuated people to make an idol to worship; and an idol was made for God’s people to worship. What sin did Samuel, who was given up when an infant to the temple? He passed all his life amid the holy sacraments of God: from childhood the servant of God. Nothing was ever said of Samuel, nothing by men. Perhaps God knew of somewhat there to chasten; since even what seemeth perfect unto men, unto that Perfection is still imperfect. Artists show many of their works to the unskilful; and when the unskilful have pronounced them perfect, the artists polish them still further, as they know what is still wanting to them, so that men wonder at things they had imagined already perfect having received so much additional polish. This happeneth in buildings, and in paintings, and in embroidery, and almost in every species of art. At first they judge it to be already in a manner perfect, so that their eyes desire nothing further: but the judgment of the inexperienced eye is one, and that of the rule of art another. Thus also these Saints were living before the eyes of God, as if faultless, as if perfect, as if Angels: but He who punished all their own affections, knew what was wanting in them. But He punished them not in anger, but in mercy: He punished them that He might perfect what He had begun, not to condemn what He had cast away. God therefore punished all their affections. How did He punish Samuel? where is this punishment?…What was said unto Moses was a type, not a punishment. What punishment is death to an old man? What punishment was it, not to enter into that land, into which unworthy men entered? But what is said of Aaron? He also died an old man: his sons succeeded him in the priesthood: his son afterwards ruled in the priesthood: how did He punish Aaron also? Samuel also died a holy old man, leaving his sons as his successors. I seek for the punishment inflicted upon them, and according to men I find it not: but according to what I know the servants of God suffer every day, they were day by day punished. Read ye, and see the punishments, and ye also who are advanced bear the punishments. Every day they suffered from the obstinate people, every day they suffered from the ungodly livers; and were compelled to live among those whose lives they daily censured. This was their punishment. He unto whom it is small hath not advanced far; for the ungodliness of others tormenteth thee in proportion as thou hast departed far from thine own.…
Separabo me, inquit aliquis, cum paucis bonis; cum illis mihi bene erit. Nam nulli prodesse impium et crudele est. Non me hoc docuit Dominus meus. Non enim damnavit servum qui intervertit quod accepit, sed qui non erogavit. Intelligatur poena interversoris ex poena pigri. «Serve nequam et piger,» ait Dominus damnans: non ait, Intervertisti pecuniam meam; non ait, Dedi tibi, et non mihi quod dedi integrum reddidisti: Quia non crevit, quia non erogasti, inde, inquit, te puniam . Avarus est Deus salutis nostrae. Ergo separabo me, inquit, cum paucis bonis: quid mihi est rationem habere cum turbis? Bene: pauci ipsi boni, de quibus turbis sunt eliquati? Si tamen jam ipsi pauci, omnes boni: tamen bona cogitatio humana, laudabilis, esse cum talibus qui elegerunt vitam quietam; remoti a strepitu populari, a turbis inquietis, a magnis fluctibus saeculi, tanquam in portu sunt. Jam ergo ibi gaudium illud? jam ibi jubilatio illa quae promittitur? Nondum; sed adhuc gemitus, adhuc sollicitudo tentationum. Habet enim alicunde et portus aditum: si portus aditum ex nulla parte haberet, nulla in eum navis intraret; oportet ergo ut ex aliqua parte pateat: aliquando autem per eam partem qua patet, ventus irruit; et ubi scopuli non sunt, naves se invicem collisae confringunt. Ubi ergo securitas, si nec in portu? Et tamen utcumque feliciores in portu quam in pelago, fatendum est, concedendum est, verum est. Ament se, naves in portu bene sibi applicentur, non sibi collidantur: servetur ibi parilitas aequabilitatis, constantia charitatis; et quando forte ventus ex illa parte qua patet, irruerit, sit ibi cauta gubernatio.
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11. “O magnify the Lord our God!” (ver. 9). Again we magnify Him. He who is merciful even when He striketh, how is He to be praised, how is He to be magnified? Canst thou show this unto thy son, and cannot God? For thou art not good when thou dost caress thy son, and evil when thou strikest him. Both when thou dost caress him thou art a father, and when thou strikest him, thou art his father: thou dost caress him, that he may not faint; thou strikest him, that he may not perish. “O magnify the Lord our God, and worship Him upon His holy hill: for the Lord our God is holy.” As he said above, “O magnify the Lord our God and fall down before His footstool:” now we have understood what it is to worship His footstool: thus also but now after he had magnified the Lord our God, that no man might magnify Him apart from His hill, he hath also praised His hill. What is His hill? We read elsewhere concerning this hill, that a stone was cut from the hill without hands, and shattered all the kingdoms of the earth, and the stone itself increased. This is the vision of Daniel which I am relating. This stone which was cut from the hill without hands increased, and “became,” he saith, “a great mountain, and filled the whole face of the earth.” Let us worship on that great mountain, if we desire to be heard. Heretics do not worship on that mountain, because it hath filled the whole earth; they have stuck fast on part of it, and have lost the whole. If they acknowledge the Catholic Church, they will worship on this hill with us. For we already see how that stone that was cut from the mountain without hands hath increased, and how great tracts of earth it hath prevailed over, and unto what nations it hath extended. What is the mountain whence the stone was hewn without hands? The Jewish kingdom, in the first place; since they worshipped one God. Thence was hewn the stone, our Lord Jesus Christ.…That stone then was born of the mountain without hands: it increased, and by its increase broke all the kingdoms of the earth. It hath become a great mountain, and hath filled the whole face of the earth. This is the Catholic Church, in whose communion rejoice that ye are. But they who are not in her communion, since they worship and praise God apart from this same mountain, are not heard unto eternal life; although they may be heard unto certain temporal things. Let them not flatter themselves, because God heareth them in some things: for He heareth Pagans also in some things. Do not the Pagans cry unto God, and it raineth? Wherefore? Because He maketh His sun to rise over the good and the bad, and sendeth rain upon the just and the unjust. Boast not therefore, Pagan, that when thou criest unto God, God sendeth rain, for He sendeth rain upon the just and the unjust. He hath heard thee in temporal things: He heareth thee not in things eternal, unless thou hast worshipped in His holy hill. “Worship Him upon His holy hill: for the Lord our God is holy.”…
Nam quid dicturus est mihi quisquis talibus locis forte praeest, imo servit fratribus, in his quae monasteria dicuntur? quid dicturus est? Cautus ero, nullum malum admittam. Quomodo nullum malum admittes? Nullum hominem malum, nullum fratrem malum intrantem admissurus sum; cum paucis bonis bene mihi erit. Ubi cognoscis quem forte vis excludere? Ut cognoscatur malus, intus probandus est: quomodo ergo excludis intraturum, qui postea probandus est, et probari nisi intraverit non potest? Repelles omnes malos? Dicis enim, et nosti inspicere. Omnes nudis cordibus ad te veniunt? Qui intraturi sunt, ipsi se non noverunt; quanto minus tu? Multi enim sibi promiserunt quod impleturi essent illam vitam sanctam, in commune habentem omnia, ubi nemo dicit aliquid suum, quibus est una anima et cor unum in Deum : missi sunt in fornacem, et crepuerunt. Quomodo ergo cognoscis eum qui sibi ipse adhuc ignotus est? Excludes malos fratres a conventu bonorum? De corde tuo, quisquis ista dicis, omnes malas cogitationes, si potes, exclude: non intret in cor tuum vel suggestio mala. Non consentio, inquis. Sed intravit tamen, ut suggereret. Nam omnes munita corda habere volumus, ut nihil intret quod male suggeratur. Unde autem intret, quis novit? Et pugnamus quotidie in uno corde nostro; unus homo in corde suo cum turba luctatur. Suggerit avaritia, suggerit libido, suggerit voracitas, suggerit laetitia ista popularis; omnia suggerunt: ab omnibus se continet, omnibus respondet, et ab omnibus aversatur; difficile est ut non ab aliqua feriatur . Ubi ergo securitas? Hic nusquam; in ista vita nusquam, nisi in sola spe promissorum Dei. Ibi autem, cum illuc pervenerimus, perfecta securitas, cum clauduntur portae, et confirmantur vectes portarum Jerusalem : ibi vere plena jubilatio et magnum gaudium. Modo autem ne securus laudes quamlibet vitam; ante mortem ne laudes hominem quemquam .
12. Hinc autem falluntur homines, ut vel non suscipiant meliorem vitam, vel temere aggrediantur; quia et cum laudare volunt, sic laudant, ut non ibi dicant mala quae mixta sunt; et qui vituperare volunt, tam invido animo et perverso vituperant, ut claudant oculos adversus bona, et sola mala quae ibi vel sunt vel putantur, exaggerent. Inde fit ut unaquaeque professio male laudata, id est non caute laudata, cum invitaverit homines laude sua, inveniant illi qui illuc veniunt, aliquos quales ibi esse non credebant; et offensi a malis, resiliant a bonis. Fratres, disciplinam istam ad vitam vestram conferte, et sic audite ut vivatis. Laudatur, ut generaliter dicam, Ecclesia Dei: magni homines Christiani, soli Christiani, magna Catholica; diligunt se omnes, impendunt sibi quisque quod possunt, orationibus, jejuniis, hymnis vacatur per totum orbem terrarum, una consensione pacis laudatur Deus. Audit forte qui nescit tacitum esse de commixtis malis, venit laude invitatus, invenit commixtos malos, qui non illi praedicti sunt antequam veniret; offenditur a falsis christianis, refugit a veris christianis. Rursus odiosi, maledici, irruunt in vituperationem: Quales Christiani? qui Christiani? Avari, feneratores. Nonne ipsi sunt qui theatra et amphitheatra implent per ludos et per alia spectacula, qui implent ecclesias per dies festos? Ebriosi, voraces, invidi, insectatores alterutrum. Sunt tales, sed non soli tales. Et iste vituperator caeco animo tacet bonos; et ille laudator incauto animo tacet malos. Si autem sic laudatur in hoc tempore Ecclesia Dei, quomodo laudant Scripturae Dei, ecce quomodo nunc dixi, «Sicut lilium in medio spinarum, sic proxima mea in medio filiarum:» audit homo, considerat, placet illi lilium, intrat, adhaeret lilio, tolerat spinas; merebitur esse in laude et in osculis sponsi, qui dicit, «Sicut lilium in medio spinarum, sic proxima mea in medio filiarum.» Ita et in clericis. Laudatores clericorum intendunt ibi bonos ministros, fideles dispensatores, omnium toleratores, viscera sua impendentes his quos volunt proficere, non quaerentes quae sua sunt, sed quae Jesu Christi. Laudant haec, obliviscuntur quia mixti sunt malis. Rursus qui reprehendunt avaritiam clericorum, improbitates clericorum, lites clericorum, appetentes res alienas, ebriosos, voraces, jactant. Et tu invide vituperas, et tu incaute laudas: tu qui laudas, dic mixtos malos; tu qui vituperas, vide ibi et bonos. Sic et in illa vita communi fratrum, quae est in monasterio: Magni viri, sancti, quotidie in hymnis, in orationibus, in laudibus Dei, inde vivunt, cum lectione illis res est; laborant manibus suis, inde se transigunt; non avare aliquid petunt, quidquid eis infertur a piis fratribus, cum sufficientia et cum charitate utuntur; nemo sibi usurpat aliquid quod alter non habeat; omnes se diligunt, omnes invicem se sustinent. Laudasti, laudasti: qui nescit quid interius agatur, qui nescit quomodo illo vento intrante etiam naves se in portu collidunt, intrat quasi securitatem sperans, neminem quem toleret habiturus; invenit ibi fratres malos, qui mali inveniri non possent, nisi admitterentur (et necesse est ut primo tolerentur, ne forte corrigantur; nec excludi facile possunt, nisi prius fuerint tolerati): et fit ipse intolerandae impatientiae. Quis me huc quaerebat? Ego putabam quia charitas est hic. Et paucorum hominum molestia irritatus, dum non perseveraverit implere quod vovit, fit desertor tam sancti propositi, et reus voti non redditi. Jamvero cum inde exierit, fit et ipse vituperator et maledicus: et dicit ea sola quae quasi se pati non potuisse asseverat; et aliquando vera. Sed vera malorum toleranda sunt propter societatem bonorum. Dicit illi Scriptura: «Vae his qui perdiderunt sustinentiam» . Et quod est amplius, ructat indignationis malum odorem, unde absterreat intraturos; quia ipse cum intrasset, perdurare non potuit. Quales illi? Invidi, litigatores, neminem sustinentes, avari; ille ibi illud fecit, et ille ibi illud fecit. O male, quare taces bonos? Quos tolerare non potuisti, jactas: qui te malum toleraverunt, taces.