Sermons on the Song of Songs49 Sermon XLIX
Sermon XLIX
2. The King has brought me into His banqueting house. Of what is meant by the banqueting house I forbear to speak now, because I remember that I have treated of it before. (Sermon XXIII.) But if the term is to be understood of the Church, when the disciples, being filled with the Holy Spirit, were thought by the people to be full of new wine, then we must remember that St. Peter, answering on behalf of the Bride, as a friend of the Bridegroom, declared: These are not filled with wine, as ye suppose (Acts ii. 15). Notice that he denied, not that they were inebriated, but that they were inebriated in the manner, and from the cause, that the people supposed. Inebriate they were, yet not with wine, but with the Holy Spirit. And as if they had wished to testify to the people that they had been, in truth, brought into the King's banqueting house, St Peter, speaking still for them all, went on to say: This is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Does it not seem to you that the banqueting hall was that house in which the disciples were assembled, when suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind (Spiritus), and it filled all the house where they were sitting, and thus accomplished the prophecy of Joel? And was not each of them, going forth inebriated with the abundance of good things received in that house, and having, as it were, drunk deep of the rushing torrent of its pleasures, able to say with good reason: The King hath brought me into His banqueting house?
3. You also, if you shall enter into the House of prayer in solitude and collectedness of spirit, if your mind be thoughtful and free of worldly cares, and if standing in the Presence of God before some altar, you shall touch, as it were, the portal of heaven with the hand of holy aspiration and longing; if, having been brought among the choirs of the saints by the fervour of your devotion (for the prayer of the righteous soul can scale even the heights of heaven), you deplore before them, in deep humility, your spiritual troubles and miseries, you plead your necessities with frequent sighs and groans too deep for utterance, and entreat earnestly their compassion; if, I say, you act thus, I have full confidence in Him who said: Ask, and ye shall receive (Matt. vii. 7), and I believe that if you persevere in knocking earnestly at that door, it shall certainly be opened to you, and you shall not go away empty. And when you shall return to us full of grace and love, and are unable, in the fervency of your spirit, to conceal the gift which you have received, and which you will without jealousy impart to others; thus you will be, not merely acceptable to all, but perhaps even the object of their admiration, on account of 4. But if anyone, while in prayer, should obtain the grace to be drawn out of himself, as it were, and into the sphere of the Divine glory, from whence he returns after a time fired with an ardent love of God, inflamed with a burning zeal for righteousness, and also filled with extreme fervour in the pursuit of all spiritual occupations and studies, so that he can say: My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned (Ps. xxxix. 3), that soul will evidently have a not unfounded claim to say that he has been brought into the banqueting house, because out of the abundance of his charity he has begun to manifest and utter the effects of that inebriation which, unlike every other, is in the highest degree salutary and good. For there are two kinds of ecstasy in holy contemplation: one of the understanding, the other of the heart; one in the light of the understanding, the other in the fervour of the affections; the one a blaze of discernment, the other a rapture of devotion; and the glow of piety, the heart aflame with holy love, the access of sublime adoration, are all derived from the banqueting house of the King, equally with the clear vision of the eager spirit; and everyone, whosoever he may be, who rises from prayer endowed with the fulness of these priceless gifts, may say with truth, The King hath brought me into His banqueting house.
5. Then the Bride goes on to say: He set in order charity in me (Douay). This was absolutely necessary, because zeal without knowledge is insupportable. Where zeal is eager, there discretion, which is the rule of charity by order, is most of all indispensable. Without knowledge zeal is found to be always less useful and less effectual; and most often it is even very dangerous. The more fervent is zeal, the more eager the temper, the more profuse the charity; the more 6. He set in order charity in me. Oh that the Ix>rd Jesus would, of His grace, set in order in me somewhat of the charity which He has bestowed, so that I might have such care of all things which are His, and relate to Him, as to put before all other things, to the utmost of my power, the duties of the office entrusted to me, yet so as, though these be put first, I may have a reserve of interest and sympathy for matters which are beyond my especial charge, for it is not always the case that those things should be the most loved which have to be the first cared for, for though they come before others in the care they require, they are frequently far behind them in usefulness, and therefore also in the approval and affection they command- Thus it is frequently the case that the thing which, according to a command binding on us, is preferred to another, should, by the dictate of reason, come after it and that which in the judgment of truth is of the greater importance, the order of charity, requires to be adopted with the greatest caution. Has there not, for example, been laid upon me by authority the care of you all? Now, whatsoever I might 1 Such is the reading of all the MSS. and of the earliest editions. Later ones read: * Dei judicio? etc., and Horst, *proinde quod Veritas judicat prirponitur% k jiuiiciof etc.
7. If you say that it is difficult to rejoice more in the good work done by another, though it be great, than in a smaller good brought about by oneself, you will notice the more from this the excellence of the grace bestowed upon the Bride, and how it is not given to every soul to say: He has set in order charity in me Wherefore have the countenances of some among you fallen at this discourse? For those deep sighs are a sign of sorrow of soul and depression of conscience. It is because, when we compare ourselves with ourselves, we feel by our own experience our imperfection, and how rare a virtue it is not to envy the good of another, but, on the contrary, to rejoice in it, and to be the more willing to praise another's goodness in preference to our own the more we feel ourselves surpassed in virtue. There is still some light in us, brethren, when we feel thus about ourselves. Let us walk while we have the light, lest darkness come upon us (John xil 35). To walk is to make progress. The Apostle was making progress when he said: count not myself to have apprehended; and adds: This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and, reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark (Phil. iv. 13, 14). VVhat does he mean by this one thing? It is to say, There is one thing remaining to me which is at once a remedy, a hope, and a consolation. And what is that? It is the forgetting the past and pressing forward to fresh endeavours in the future. It is a great ground for confidence that even the great man who was a chosen vessel' did not regard himself as perfect, but earnestly desired to make a farther advance towards perfection. The danger, then, for us is that we should be surprised by the shadows of death when we are not in progress towards good, but are motionless and inert. And who is thus motionless except he who does not make any effort to advance? Take heed of this, and then, if you shall be surprised by death, you will be in a state of gradual amelioration (re/rigerio). You will say to God: Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; nevertheless, continues the Psalmist, all are written in Thy book (Ps. cxxxix. 16). Wherefore all Doubtless those who are found in earnest desire for progress in good, for there follows: * The days shall be formed, and none of 8. And how, you ask again, can I make any spiritual progress, seeing that I envy that of my brother? If you lament that you envy him, though you feel the envy, you do not consent to it. It is, so to speak, an illness to be cured, not an action to be condemned. Only you must not allow yourself to settle down into an habitual envy, meditating evil designs upon your bed, nursing, as it were, and fostering your disease, satisfying your evil feelings, persecuting the innocent, speaking evil of his good actions, impeding, perverting, and corrupting them. But that jealousy, if it be not yielded to, does not injure a soul which is in motion and stretching forward to better things, because, then, it is not he that does the wrong, but sin that dwelleth in him (Rom. vii. 20). Condemnation, therefore, is not for him who is far from giving his members as instruments unto iniquity; neither his tongue to detraction, nor any other part of his body to the injury or wrong of his neighbour in any way whatsoever; who, on the contrary, is ashamed to be of an evil disposition, who makes vigorous efforts to expel the deep-seated vice by confessing and bewailing it in prayer; and if he does not succeed in doing so, is on that account more gentle towards others and more humble in himself. Who is the wise man who would condemn a soul like this, which has learned from the Lord to be meek and lowly in heart (Matt. xi. 29)? God forbid that there should be found to come short of salvation anyone who is a follower of the Saviour, the Bridegroom of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is above all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
Of TWO KINDS OF CHARITY—NAMELY, THAT OF FEELING AND THAT OF ACTION—AND HOW THEY ARE CO-ORDINATED.
A 70U are perhaps expecting, my brethren, that I should go on to treat of the words next following in the Canticle, as the A words of the preceding verse were completed in the last Sermon. But I have another object; and there are still some fragments that remain, as it were, of our banquet yesterday, which I had collected that nothing might be lost, and which I mean to set before you now. They will perish if not given to any for food; while, if I keep them for my own use alone, I shall myself perish. I am most unwilling to deprive you of those spiritual dainties, your hunger for which I know so well, especially as they are out of the basket of
1. Introduxit me rex in cellam vinariam, ordinavit in me charitatem. Ut quidem propositi capituli videtur sonare littera, habito pro votis dulci admodum familiarique colloquio cum dilecto, illo abeunte sponsa regreditur ad adolescentulas, aspectu ita ipsius affatuque refecta atque accensa, quatenus ebriae similis appareret. Et quasi illis stupentibus novitatem, et quaerentibus causam, respondit mirum minime esse, si vino aestuaret, quae in cellam vinariam introisset. Et secundum litteram ita. Secundum spiritum quoque non negat ebriam, sed amore, non vino, nisi quod amor vinum est. Introduxit me rex in cellam vinariam. Quando praesens est sponsus, et sponsa ad ipsum sermonem dirigit; tunc sponsus dicitur aut dilectus, aut, quem diligit anima mea, inquit; loquens vero de ipso adolescentulis, regem nominat. Utquid hoc? Propterea credo, quia et sponsae amanti atque dilectae conveniat uti familiarius, quod ad se est, amoris nominibus, et adolescentulis tanquam disciplina indigentibus opus sit reverendo premi vocabulo majestatis.
2. Introduxit me rex in cellam vinariam. Quaenam ista sit cella vinaria, praetereo dicere, quia dixisse me recolo. Tamen si ad Ecclesiam referatur sermo, cum repleti Spiritu sancto discipuli musto ebrii a populo putarentur; tunc tanquam amicus sponsi pro sponsa stans Petrus in medio eorum: Non, inquit, sicut vos aestimatis, hi ebrii sunt. Attende interim, quod non omnino ebrios, sed ebrios sicut ab illis aestimati sunt, denegavit. Erant enim ebrii, sed Spiritu sancto, non musto. Et quasi testificarentur ad plebem, revera se in cellam fuisse vinariam introductos, rursum Petrus pro omnibus: Sed hoc est, ait, quod dictum est per prophetam Joel: Et erit in novissimis diebus, dicit Dominus; effundam de Spiritu meo super omnem carnem, et prophetabunt filii vestri et filiae: juvenes vestri visiones videbunt, et senes vestri somnia somniabunt. An non tibi cella videtur fuisse vinaria illa domus, in qua erant discipuli pariter congregati, cum factus est repente de coelo sonus, tanquam advenientis spiritus vehementis, et replevit totam domum, ubi erant sedentes, adimplevitque prophetiam Joel! Et nonne unusquisque illorum exiens inebriatus ab ubertate domus illius, et torrente voluptatis tantae potatus, dicere merito quibat: Quoniam introduxit me rex in cellam vinariam?
3. Sed et tu quoque, si collecto tuo spiritu, mente sobria et vacua curis, orationis domum solus introeas, et stans coram Deo ad unum aliquod de altaribus, coeli januam tangas sancti desiderii manu, et praesentatus choris sanctorum, tua penetrante devotione (siquidem oratio justi penetrat coelos) in ipsorum praesentia miserandus deplores miserias et calamitates quas pateris; crebris suspiriis et gemitibus inenarrabilibus prodas necessitatem, flagites pietatem; si, inquam, hoc egeris, confido in eo qui dixit; Petite, et accipietis, quia, si perseveraveris pulsans, non exibis vacuus. Verum cum te nobis reddideris plenum gratia et charitate, nec poteris spiritu fervens dissimulare munus acceptum, quod sine invidia communicabis; erisque omnibus in gratia, quae data est tibi, non modo gratus, sed fortassis etiam admirandus; poteris et ipse veraciter protestari, quia introduxit me rex in cellam vinariam; tantum cautus esto, non in te, sed in Domino gloriari. Nec omne donum, quamvis spirituale, prodire dixerim de cella vinaria, cum sint et aliae penes sponsum cellae vel apothecae, diversa in se recondita habentes dona atque charismata, secundum divitias gloriae ejus: de quibus cellis memini me alibi latius disputasse. Nonne haec condita sunt, inquit, apud me, et signata in thesauris meis? Ergo pro diversitate cellarum, divisiones gratiarum sunt, et unicuique manifestatur Spiritus ad utilitatem. Et quanquam alii quidem detur sermo sapientiae, alii autem sermo scientiae, alii vero prophetia, alii gratia curationum, alii genera linguarum, alii interpretatio sermonum, aliaque aliis his similia, non tamen quis horum pro hujusmodi dicere poterit, quod introductus fuerit in cellam vinariam. Ex aliis quippe cellis sive thesauris ista sumuntur.
4. Sed si quis orando obtineat mente excedere in id divini arcani, unde mox redeat divino amore vehementissime flagrans, et aestuans justitiae zelo, nec non et in cunctis spiritualibus studiis atque officiis pernimium fervens, ita ut possit dicere: Concaluit cor meum intra me, et in meditationibus meis exardescit ignis: is plane, cum ex charitatis abundantia bonam et salutarem vini laetitiae ructare crapulam coeperit, in cellam non immerito perhibebitur vinariam introisse. Cum enim duo sint beatae contemplationis excessus, in intellectu unus, et alter in affectu; unus in lumine, alter in fervore; unus in agnitione, alter in devotione: pius sane affectus, et pectus amore calens, et sanctae devotionis infusio, etiam et vehemens spiritus repletus zelo, non plane aliunde, quam e cella vinaria reportantur: et cuicunque cum horum copia surgere ab oratione donatur, potest in veritate loqui, quia introduxit me rex in cellam vinariam.
5. Sequitur: Ordinavit in me charitatem. Omnino necessarie. Importabilis siquidem absque scientia est zelus. Ubi ergo vehemens aemulatio, ibi maxime discretio est necessaria, quae est ordinatio charitatis. Semper quidem zelus absque scientia minus efficax, minusque utilis invenitur; plerumque autem et perniciosus valde sentitur. Quo igitur zelus fervidior, ac vehementior spiritus, profusiorque charitas; eo vigilantiori opus scientia est, quae zelum supprimat, spiritum temperet, ordinet charitatem. Proinde sane, ne tanquam nimia et importabilis pro impetu spiritus, quem e cella videtur vinaria reportasse, praesertim ab adolescentulis sponsa timeatur; jungit quod discretionis est etiam se pariter accepisse, id est ordinem charitatis. Discretio quippe omni virtuti ordinem ponit; ordo modum tribuit et decorem, etiam et perpetuitatem. Denique ait: Ordinatione tua perseverat dies; diem virtutem appellans. Est ergo discretio non tam virtus, quam quaedam moderatrix et auriga virtutum, ordinatrixque affectuum, et morum doctrix. Tolle hanc, et virtus vitium erit, ipsaque affectio naturalis in perturbationem magis convertetur, exterminiumque naturae. Ordinavit in me charitatem. Factum est autem hoc, cum in Ecclesia quosdam quidem dedit apostolos, quosdam autem prophetas, alios vero evangelistas, alios pastores et doctores ad consummationem sanctorum. Oportet autem ut hos una omnes charitas liget, et contemperet in unitatem corporis Christi: quod minime omnino facere poterit, si ipsa non fuerit ordinata. Nam si suo quisque feratur impetu secundum spiritum quem accepit, et ad quaeque volet indifferenter, prout afficitur, et non rationis judicio convolarit; dum sibi assignato officio nemo contentus erit, sed omnes omnia indiscreta administratione pariter attentabunt, non plane unitas erit, sed magis confusio.
6. Ordinavit in me charitatem. Utinam et in me Dominus Jesus tantillum ordinet charitatis quod dedit; ut sic mihi curae sint universa quae sunt ipsius, ut tamen quod mei potissimum propositi seu officii esse constiterit, ante omnia curem: sed sane ita id prius, ut tamen ad multa, quae mihi specialiter non attinent, afficiar amplius. Non enim semper quod prius curandum, id etiam diligendum amplius erit: cum saepe quod prius est ad sollicitudinem, minus sit ad utilitatem, ac per hoc minus esse oporteat et in affectu. Frequenter proinde quod pro injuncto praeponitur, de judicio posthabetur: et quod veritas judicat praeponendum, id charius amplectendum ordo postulat charitatis. Nonne, verbi gratia, ex injuncto incumbit mihi cura omnium vestrum? Jam quidquid huic forte praetulero operi, quo minus ipsi invigilem digne et utiliter pro viribus exsequendo; etsi ex charitate fortassis id facere videar, ordinis tamon ratio non consentit. Quod si ante omnia quidem, ut debeo, huic intendo curae, non autem magis ad majora gaudeo Dei lucra, quae per alterum fieri forte comperero, patet me ordinem charitatis ex parte tenere, ex parte nequaquam. Si vero me et ad id amplius, quod specialius incumbit, sollicitum, et nihilominus ad illud, quod majus est, magis affectum exhibeam; utrobique profecto invenior charitatis ordinem assecutus, et non est cur dicere non possim etiam ipse, quia ordinavit in me charitatem.
7. Si autem dicas difficile quemquam plus alieno gaudere magno bono, quam proprio parvo, advertes certe vel ex hoc excellentiam gratiae apud sponsam, et quoniam [ alias, quam] non cuilibet animae dicere sit, quia ordinavit in me charitatem. Quare facies deciderunt quorumdam vestrum modo ad hunc sermonem? Nam alta suspiria testantur tristitiam animorum, conscientiarumque dejectionem. Nimirum metientes nosmetipsos nobis, sentimus aliqui nostrum pro nostrae imperfectionis experientia, quam rara virtus sit alienae non invidere virtuti, nedum gaudere ad illam, nedum etiam tanto plus quam ad propriam quemque gratulari, quanto se perpenderit in virtute superatum. Adhuc modicum lumen in nobis est, fratres, quotquot de nobis ita sentimus. Ambulemus dum lucem habemus, ne tenebrae non comprehendant. Ambulare, proficere est. Ambulabat Apostolus, qui dicebat: Non arbitror me comprehendisse; et addit: Unum autem, quae retro sunt obliviscens, ad ea quae ante sunt, me extendo. Quid est, unum autem? Unum autem, inquit, quasi remansit mihi ad remedium, ad spem, ad consolationem. Quid illud? Quae retro sunt videlicet obliviscens, ad ea quae ante sunt me extendo. Magna fiducia! quod magnum electionis Vas perfectum abnuens, profectum fatetur. Ego non ambulantem, sed sedentem a mortis tenebris comprehendi periculum est. Et quis sedens, nisi qui non curat proficere? Id caveto: et si morte praeoccupatus fueris, in refrigerio eris. Dices Deo: Imperfectum meum viderunt oculi tui, et in libro tuo nihilominus, inquit, omnes scribentur. Qui omnes? Profecto qui in desiderio proficiendi inveniuntur. Sequitur enim: Dies formabuntur, et nemo in eis; subaudis: Peribit, Dies proficientes intellige, qui si morte praeoccupati fuerint, in eo quod eis deest perficiendi sunt. Formabuntur, et nemo in eis informis relinquetur.
8. Et quomodo, ais, ego proficere possum, qui fratri proficienti invideo? Si doles quod invides, sentis, sed non consentis. Passio est, quandoque sananda, non actio condemnanda. Tantum non illic resideas, iniquitatem meditans in cubili tuo, qualiter videlicet foveas morbum, satisfacias pesti, persequaris insontem, bene ab illo gesta calumniando, deprimendo, pervertendo, atque impediendo, gerenda. Alioquin non nocet ambulanti et extendenti se ad meliora, quod jam non ipse operatur, sed quod habitat in eo peccatum. Non est ergo damnatio illi, qui non dat membra sua arma iniquitati, non linquam ad detrahendum, non quidquam reliqui corporis ad laedendum nocendumve aliquo modo; magis autem confunditur sic se esse male affectum: et inolitum ex longo vitium confitendo, flendo, orando conatur expellere; et cum non praevalet, mitior inde ad omnes, atque apud se humilior invenitur. Quis sanum sapiens hominem damnet, qui a Domino didicit mitis esse et humilis corde? Absit ut inveniatur expers salutis imitator Salvatoris, sponsi Ecclesiae Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula! Amen.