Sermons on the Song of Songs54 Sermon LIV
Sermon LIV
1 Excepta stilo.
Google ANOTHER INTERPRETATION the angels, becoming as one of them. But hear what He Himself said: I came, not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give My life a ransom for many (Matt. xx. 28). Which, indeed, no angel was found to have done; so that by the devotion and fidelity of His services to men, He has surpassed all those who had come to serve them before. No minister has shown such self-devotion as He, who has given (ministravit) His Flesh for their food, His Blood for their cordial, His very life for their ransom. None, surely, is so good as He who, by the fervour of His spirit, by the ardour of His love, and the devotion of His goodness, has not only leaped upon the mountains, but leaped over the hills; that is to say, He has surpassed and overcome them by the earnest desire which He felt to save men; wherefore God, His God, has anointed Him with the oil of gladness above His fellows (Ps. xlv. 7). It is in this earnestness of His desire that He proceeds with great and rapid steps as a giant to run his course.' He overpassed Gabriel, and, according to that Archangers own testimony, was with the Virgin before him; for did he not say: Hail, thou that art full of grace, the Lord is with thee What? Thou findest Him now in the womb [of the Virgin], whom thou hast just left in heaven. How can that be? He has flown and foreflown on the wings of the winds. Thou art surpassed, O Archangel; the Lord has overleaped and anticipated thee.
2. Or, again, He * leaped upon the mountains' when He appeared formerly to the Fathers in the person of angels; which seems to agree more closely with the letter of the text. For it is not said leaping on to the mountains,' but 'in the mountains,' so that lie who causes and enables them to leap, leaps also in them; just as it is He who speaks in the prophets and acts in the righteous, when He enables the one to speak and the other to do good works. Add to this that some of them represented Him, so that whosoever of them spoke, he did so not as angel, but as the Lord. For example, that angel who spoke with Moses did not say « I am the Angel of the Lord,' but ' I am the Lord '; and repeated that frequently. He, therefore, leaped in the mountains—that is, in the angels, in whom He was wont both to speak and to manifest His Presence to men. He did this also upon men, but in the person of angels, not in His own Person; nor in His own Nature, but in that of one of His subject races. For he who leaps passes from one place to another, and this cannot be ascribed to God. Therefore He leaped in the mountains, that is, in the angels, who would do this in His own Person; and He leaped to, or upon, the hills, that is, upon the Patriarchs and Prophets, and other spiritual men who were on the earth. But also, He * leaped over* the hills, since He deigned to appear to, and to speak with, not only great men and spiritual men, but also to certain of the people, and even to some women, by the same ministry of angels. Or it may be 1 Luke i. 28, praroeniL This is the reading in the MSS., not pcrvenit, as in the printed editions. The early edition of Rouald also has pravenit. 1 Nan in monies scd * in montibus?
3. It is not, therefore, wonderful if those spirits, which are not, as it were, mountains of heaven, but hills of the lower air, upon which neither dew nor showers of rain fall, should remain always sterile and unfruitful; since the Author of grace and the Giver of blessings leaps or passes over these, and descends to the valleys, so as to pour forth rain from heaven upon the humble who are on the earth, and to make them to bring forth fruit with patience, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, and some an hundredfold (Matt. xiii. 8 and Luke viii. 15). He visits the earth and blesses it; He makes it to be very plenteous (Ps. lxv. 9). But it is the earth, not the air, that He has visited, because the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord (Ps. xxxiii. 5). It is declared also that God has worked salvation in the midst of the earth (Ps. lxxiv. 12): but does the Psalmist say also * in the midst of the air'? This [may be taken as against Origen, who, by a false and impudent theory, crucified the Lord of glory once again in the midst of the air for the sake of demons: whereas St. Paul, being conscious of this mystery, affirms that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more: death hath no more dominion over Him (Rom. vi. 9).
4. But He who has passed through the air has visited not only the earth, but also the heaven, as the Scripture declares: Thy mercy, 0 Lord, is in the heavens, and Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds (Ps. xxxvi. 5); that is to say, unto the heaven in which dwell the holy angels, whom the Bridegroom does not pass over, but leaps in them, so that He impresses in them, as it were, the prints of His Feet—mercy, that is, and truth—as to which Footprints of the Lord I remember that I have spoken at greater length in another sermon ANOTHER INTERPRETATION (Sermon VI.). But the abode of the demons is below the clouds, and removed from them, in the obscure and gloomy air that is lowest of all; and in them the Bridegroom does not make His beneficent power operative, but passes them wholly over, without leaving in them any trace of His Divine passage. For how can truth be found in the devil, of whom we find in the Gospels the declaration of the Truth Himself, that he abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him (John viii. 44)? Again, who can say that he is merciful, when the same Truth has testified of him likewise in the Gospel, that he was a murderer from the beginning? Now, such as the head of the family is, such are they of his house also. With great fitness and beauty, then, does the Church, singing of the Bridegroom, declare that He dwelleth on high, and humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth (Ps. cxiii. 5, 6), but makes no mention of those spirits of pride which are in the air, because God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace unto the humble (James iv. 6).
5. The Church sees Him, then, leaping in the mountains, and passing over the hills, according to the imprecation of David: * Let the Lord visit all the mountains which are in their circuit’—that is, in the circuit of Gilboa—' but Gilboa let Him not visit.' For there are mountains which the Lord visits, on this side and on that of Gilboa, by which is signified the devil; above there are angels, below there are men. To him, when he fell from heaven, was assigned as punishment an abode in that region of the air (Eph. ii. 2) midway between heaven and earth, that he might see and be envious, and be tortured with the envy which he feels. And this the Scripture describes when it says: The wicked shall see it, and be grieved: he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away (Ps. cxii. io). How unhappy must he be when he looks up to heaven and descries its mountains innumerable, all illuminated and shining with the Divine glory, all resounding with the praises of God, full and abounding with His glory and grace! How still more unhappy when he looks down upon the earth, and beholds there also many mountains of people, chosen and made the sons of God, who are established in the faith of lofty hope, of wide-extending charity; who are accomplished in virtues, rich in the fruits of good works; upon whom falls day by day the Divine benediction, as it were by the dew from heaven, or, so to speak, from the mystical touch of the Bridegroom's foot in His leaping! With how great grief and jealousy, must we suppose, does that spirit so greedily desirous of glory behold those glorious mountains in their perfect ring, while he and his followers are (as it were) regions rough, gloomy, unfruitful in any good thing, and every way to be despised; so that he who calumniated all that lived is himself become the opprobrium of men and of angels, according to 1 2 Sam. i. 21 This is not, however, a quotation, but a gloss or paraphrase; and the same remark applies to the citation of this verse on p. 326.—Ed. 4 Populo acquisitions.
6. And the cause of this is that the Bridegroom passes them over on account of their pride, leaping upon the mountains which are around, as the fountain which arises from the midst of Paradise, watering the whole earth, and filling with blessing every living thing. Blessed are those who deserve to drink sometimes, even though it be rarely, of the torrent of this delight, and in whom the water of wisdom and the fountain of life leaps forth from time to time, though it does not flow continuously, so that it becomes in them a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life (John iv. 14). And, indeed, the flowing of this river is perennial and abundant, making glad the city of God (Ps. xlvi. 4). May God vouchsafe, in His condescension, to send upon our mountains on earth some gushings of this stream sometimes, as it were by a kind of inundation, so that they, being sufficiently watered, may be able to distil upon us also, who are valleys, some little rills, though they be few and small, that we may not remain altogether dry and unfruitful. Only misery, and poverty, and biting famine is the lot of that region which is never moistened by plentiful flowings, or even little tricklings, from the fountain of wisdom, but is altogether passed by and passed over. ' They were destroyed/ it is said, * because they had no wisdom, and perished through their own foolishness ' (Baruch iii. 28).
7. Behold He cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. He leaps so as to overleap {trans Mat), because it is not His will to extend [His presence to all; nor is it the good pleasure of God [to do this in every case. Brethren, if, according to the wise saying of St. Paul, those things are written for our admonition (1 Cor. x. 11), let us observe the discretion and circumspection of the mystical bounds of the Bridegroom; let us remark how, as among the angels, so among us, He bounds spiritually upon the humble, and passes over the proud. For though the Lord be highest of all, yet hath He respect unto the lowly; but the proud He knoweth afar off (Ps. cxxxviii. 6). Of this, I say, let us take notice, so that we may be prepared for the saving bounds of the Bridegroom, lest, as He passes over the mountains of Gilboa, so He may pass over us also, if He shall have perceived that we are unworthy of His visitation. Why dost thou, who art but earth and ashes, indulge in pride? The Lord abhors the pride even of angels [who are proud], and passes them over on that account Therefore let the casting off of angels cause the correction of men; for it has been recorded for our admonition, let the evil even of the devil co-operate for good to me, and may I wash my hands in the blood of the ungodly. In what manner, do you inquire? As thus: A terrible and fearful malediction has been hurled against that proud one, the devil, the Prophet David speaking in the Spirit 1 This interpretation is a traditional Eastern one, and seems to be founded on the rendering of the LXX.: tipdictitv oi>toq ov iirXaoae ipiraiZctv avrtf. See Job xli. 5, and Baruch iii. 17.—En.
Another INTERPRETATION of Him under the type of Mount Gilboa, as was related above: ' Let the Lord visit all the mountains which are in his circuit; but Gilboa let Him not visit.' 8. When I read these words, and when, turning my eyes upon myself, I consider myself diligently, 1 find that I am infected with that very disease which the Lord regarded in an Angel with displeasure so great as to turn away altogether from him, at the same time that He deigned to honour with His visitation all the mountains which are around him, whether of Angels or of men; and I say to myself with fear and trembling: 'If it was thus done with an angel, what shall be done with regard to me, who am but earth and ashes?' It was in heaven that he indulged in pride; but I have done so upon a mere dunghill. Who does not find pride more bearable in the rich than in the poor? Woe unto me! if a spirit so powerful was punished with such severity because his heart was lifted up with pride, and if it availed him nothing that pride is recognised to be congenial to the powerful, what penalty must be exacted from me, who am poor and miserable, and yet am proud? But I receive already the chastisement; I am stricken already with many stripes. Not undeservedly has for days past that languor of soul, that mental slothfulness, that unaccustomed inertness of spirit stolen over me. I did run well; but, lo a stone of stumbling was in my path; I have stumbled against it, and fallen. Pride has been found in me, and the Lord has turned away in wrath from His servant. Hence is that barrenness of my soul and that defect in devotion which I experience. How is it that my heart is thus dried up? soured as it were milk, made like earth in which is no water? Its hardness has become so great that I am not able to shed tears. In the chanting of the Psalms I feel no interest, I do not care to read, I have no delight in prayer, I do not resort to my habitual meditations. Where is my former cheerfulness and delight of soul? my calm, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost? For the same reason I am slothful in manual labour, drowsy during vigils, hasty in anger, obstinate in hatred, more unguarded in speech, and self-indulgent at the table than was wont, unobservant and slow of heart during preaching. Alas! the Lord visits all the mountains which are around me, but to me He draws not near. Am not I that one of all these hills which the Bridegroom passes over? For of those around me I see one remarkable for abstinence, another for admirable patience, another for consummate humility and gentleness, another for much mercy and kindness; this man I behold spending long hours in contemplation, and that man knocking hard at the doors of heaven by the earnestness of his prayers; and there are others whom I see to excel in other virtues. I remark (I say) that all these are fervent, all devoted, all of one mind in Christ, all rich in grace and in heavenly gifts, as being, so to speak, in truth spiritual mountains which are visited by the Lord, and receive often in themselves the mystical bounds of the Bridegroom. But I, who find in myself none of all these things, what else can I suppose myself to be than one of the mountains of Gilboa, which the Saviour, who visits in His great goodness all the others, passes over in His wrath and indignation?
9. My dear children, this reflection takes away the vain glorification of self, attracts to us the gifts of grace, prepares us for the mystical bounds of the Bridegroom. These things I have, for your sakes, transferred to myself, and spoken as if they had taken place in my own person, that you might learn a lesson from them. Be ye then followers of me: I do not say in the exercise of virtues or the discipline of character, or the glory of holiness (for in all these respects I do not set myself up as worthy of imitation), but I would that you should follow me in not sparing yourselves, but on the contrary, accusing your own selves as often as you detect that grace is lessen-ing in you, that zeal is growing cold, and virtue languishing, as you see that I likewise accuse myself. To do this is to act as a man who watches exactly over himself, who examines with care his ways and his desires, and who in everything holds in suspicion the vice of arrogance, for fear that it should creep secretly into his heart. In truth, I have learned by my own experience that there is nothing so efficacious in deserving grace, in preserving it, or in recovering it if lost, as to be found at all times not high-minded before God, but filled with holy fear. Happy is the man that feareth a lusty (Prov. xxviii. 14). Fear, then, when favouring grace is with thee; fear when it has departed; fear also when at length it returns; this it is to fear alway. Let these three kinds of fear succeed each other in your soul, according as you are favoured by the presence of grace, or as it has retired grieved from you, or forgivingly returns. When it is present, let your fear be that you may not act and walk worthily of it; for this is the precept of the Apostle St. Paul: See that receive not the grace of God in vain (2 Cor. vi. 1); and to one of his disciples, Neglect not the gift that is in thee (1 Tim. iv. 14); while of himself he said: The grace (of God) which was bestowed upon me was not in vain (1 Cor. xv. 10). That great man, who knew the counsel of God, was well aware that to neglect the gifts of God, or not to use them to the purpose for which they were given, is to display great disregard, and even contempt, for the giver; and that he considered to be intolerable pride. Therefore it was that he both avoided this wrong-doing with the greatest care himself, and taught others to avoid it also. But there is still another den or hiding-place in which pride is wont to lurk, which I wish to discover to you; and this is the more perilous because it is very closely concealed; as says the Psalmist: He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den (Ps. x. 9). For if he is not able to hinder [a good action, he endeavours to tamper with the intention of it, suggesting and persuading you to attribute to yourself that which is the effect of grace. And do not be under any mistake about this kind of pride; it is oven far worse than the former. For what can be more hateful than language of this kind, which has been used by some: Our mighty ANOTHER INTERPRETATION hand, and not the Lord, hath done all these things (Deut. xxxii. 27, Douay).
10. If, then, you ought to fear while grace remains with you, what should you do when it has left you? Ought you not, then, much more to fear? Plainly that is the case, for, where grace fails you, you fail too. Listen to the words of Him who is the sovereign Giver of grace: Without Me, He says, ye can do nothing (John xv. 5). Fear, then, the withdrawal of grace, as the sure prelude of your speedy fall. Fear and tremble exceedingly because you feel that God's just anger is aroused against you, and that the powerful guardianship which hitherto has kept you safe has abandoned you. Do not hesitate to believe that your pride is the cause of this, even though you are conscious of no pride, and there is none apparent in your actions; for that which you do not know God knows, and it is He who is your Judge. And it is not he that commendeth himself that is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth (2 Cor. x. 18). Now, if the Lord deprives you of grace, is that a sign of His commendation? Or will He who giveth grace unto the humble (James iv. 6) take away from one who is humble that which He has already given? Therefore the taking away of grace is a proof of pride [in him from whom it is taken]. Though it must be added that sometimes grace is taken away or withheld, not on account of pride which is present at the time, but to prevent pride which would follow unless grace were taken away. Of this we have a clear example in the person of the Apostle [St. Paul], who endured reluctantly his thorn in the flesh, not because he was exalted above measure, but in order that he might not be so (2 Cor. xii. 7). But pride, whether existing in the present or to be apprehended in the future, will ever be a cause for the withdrawal of grace.
11. Again, if grace shall have returned with the regaining of God's favour, much more is there reason for fear lest a second fall should happen to us, according to that saying in the Gospel: Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee (John v. 14). You hear, then, that it is worse to fall again into sin than to sin the first time; let your fear, therefore, be greater in proportion as your danger increases. Happy are you if your heart be filled with this threefold fear, so that you fear when you have received grace, still more when that grace is lost, but most of all when it has been regained. Do this, and you will be as the waterpot at that marriage at Cana where Christ was a guest, filled to the very brim, containing, not two measures apiece, but three; and you will deserve the blessing of Christ, which shall turn the water [of your poor nature into the wine of gladness, until the time when your charity, being perfected, shall cast out all fear (1 John iv. 18).
12. I say, then, that thus it is that fear is typified by water, inasmuch as it tempers the heat of carnal desires. The fear of the Lord, saith the Scripture, is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. cxi. 10); and again: The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life (Prov. xiv. 27;
How IT IS POSSIBLE, THROUGH A TRUE PENITENCE, TO ESCAPE THE JUDGMENT OF GOD.
k his depends upon the preceding verse. The Bride now com-! pares to a roe or a young hart Him whom she had just described as advancing with rapid leaps. The comparison is an apt one, since those animals are swift of foot and agile in leaping. She speaks, then, of the Bridegroom, and the Bridegroom is the Word. And the Psalmist says of God that His Word runneth very swiftly (Ps. cxlvii. 15), which exactly agrees with this passage, in which the Bridegroom, who is the Word of God, is described as
1. Super eodem capitulo, quod hesterno sermone [ alias, die] versatum est, dicturus sum et alium intellectum quem hodierno servavi: vos probate, et eligite potiora. Non est opus superiora repetere quae excidisse non arbitror in tam brevi. Si quominus tamen, scripta sunt ut dicta sunt, et excepta stylo, sicut et sermones caeteri, ut facile recuperetur quod forte exciderit. Quapropter accipite alia. Ecce venit is, inquit, saliens in montibus, transiliens colles. Sponsum loquitur: qui profecto tunc in montibus saliit, cum missus a Patre ad evangelizandum pauperibus, Angelorum fungi non est dedignatus officio, factus magni consilii Angelus, qui Dominus erat. Per se descendit ad terras, qui alios delegare solebat: per se notum fecit Dominus salutare suum, per se in conspectu gentium revelavit justitiam suam. Cum itaque omnes, juxta Pauli sententiam, administratorii spiritus sint, missi in ministerium propter eos qui haereditatem capiunt salutis; qui erat super illos, factus est inter illos tanquam unus ex illis, dissimulans injuriam, accumulans gratiam. Sed audi ipsum. Non veni, inquit, ministrari, sed ministrare, et animam meam dare pro multis. Quod quidem caeterorum nemo fecisse inventus est, ut omnes quotquot ministrasse visi sunt, ipse devotis transierit fidelibusque obsequiis. Bonus minister, qui carnem suam in cibum, sanguinem in potum, animam ministravit in pretium. Bonus plane, qui spiritu alacer, charitate fervens, pietate devotus, non solum salit in montibus, sed et transilit colles, id est superat et vincit alacritate ministrandi, utpote quem unxit Deus Deus suus oleo laetitiae prae consortibus suis: in quo utique singulariter exsultavit ut gigas ad currendam viam. Denique transiliit Gabrielem, et praevenit ad Virginem, eodem archangelo attestante, cum ait: Ave, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Quid? Quem modo reliquisti in coelo, nunc [ alias, hunc] in utero reperis. Quonam modo? Volavit et praevolavit super pennas ventorum. Victus es, o archangele: transiliit te qui praemisit te.
2. Aut certe saliebat in montibus, cum in angelis olim patribus apparebat: quod utique proprietati litterae magis convenire videtur. Non enim ait, saliens in montes; sed, in montibus, ut ipse in eis videatur salire, qui facit et dat ut saliant; quemadmodum loquitur in prophetis, operatur in justis, cum illis verba, et istis opera tribuit. Adde quod aliqui eorum personam ejus gerebant, ita ut loqueretur quisque illorum, non tanquam angelus, sed tanquam Dominus. Verbi gratia, ille angelus qui cum Moyse loquebatur, dicebat, non, Ego Domini, sed, Ego Dominus, atque id frequentius iterabat. Saliebat ergo in montibus, id est in angelis, in quibus et loquebatur, et suam hominibus exhibebat praesentiam. Ad homines enim saliebat, sed in angelis, non in se; non in sua natura, sed in subjecta creatura. Qui enim salit, de loco ad locum vadit: quod non cadit in Deum. Ergo in montibus, id est in angelis, saliebat, qui in se non poterat; et saliebat usque ad colles, id est patriarchas et prophetas, caeterosque spirituales viros de terra. Sed transiliebat et colles, cum non solum magnis et spiritualibus viris, sed et aliquibus de populo, etiam et nonnullis mulieribus aeque in angelis loqui et apparere dignatus est. Vel colles dicit aerias potestates, quae inter montes quidem minime jam numerantur, pro eo quod a virtutum celsitudine defluxerunt per superbiam; nec tamen usque ad humilia vallium, sive ad valles humilium per poenitentiam detumescunt. De his arbitror illud dictum in psalmis: Montes, sicut cera, fluxerunt a facie Domini. Hos itaque tumentes ac steriles colles, tanquam medios positos inter montes perfectorum et valles poenitentium, procul dubio transiliit, qui in montibus salit; hisque praeteritis et despectis descendit ad valles, ut valles abundent frumento. Porro illi e regione aeterna ariditate ac sterilitate damnantur, sicut habes prophetae super illos imprecationem: Nec ros, inquit, nec pluvia descendant super vos. Atque ut noveris quod ad angelos qui praevaricati sunt sub figura montium Gelboe ista loquatur, Ubi, inquit, ceciderunt vulnerati multi. Quam multi in his maledictis montibus de exercitu Israel ceciderunt a principio, et quotidie cadunt! De quibus et habes in eodem propheta, cum dicit Domino: Sicut vulnerati dormientes in sepulcris, quorum non es memor amplius, et ipsi de manu tua repulsi sunt.
3. Non est ergo mirum, si steriles et infructuosi permanent isti, non montes coelici, sed aerii colles, super quos nec ros, nec pluvia descendit; quippe auctore gratiae et benedictionum largitore transiliente eos, et descendente ad valles, ut coelesti imbre perfundat humiles qui sunt super terram, et fructum afferant in patientia, fructum tricesimum, sexagesimum, et centesimum. Denique visitavit terram, et inebriavit eam: multiplicavit locupletare eam. Terram visitavit, non aerem quia misericordia Domini plena est terra. Denique, Operatus est salutem in medio terrae; nunquid et in medio aeris? Hoc adversum Origenem, qui in aere Dominum gloriae denuo pro daemonibus impudenti crucifigit mendacio, cum hujus conscius mysterii Paulus affirmet, quod resurgens ex mortuis jam non moritur, mors illi ultra non dominabitur.
4. Verum non solum visitavit terram, qui aerem transilivit, sed etiam coelum, dicente Scriptura: Domine, in coelo misericordia tua, et veritas tua usque ad nubes. Usque ad nubes enim coelum est quod inhabitant sancti angeli, quos non transiliit Sponsus, sed salit in eis, ita ut imprimat ipsis duo quaedam vestigia pedum suorum, misericordiam et veritatem: de quibus Domini vestigiis memini me in superioribus sermonibus plenius disputasse. A nubibus vero et infra daemonum habitatio est in aere isto infimo et caliginoso; in quibus non salit sponsus, sed transilit illos et praeterit nec ullum in se retinent Dei transeuntis vestigium. Nam quomodo in diabolo veritas est, de quo in Evangeliis Veritatis sententia exstat, quod in veritate non stetit, sed mendax exstitit ab initio? Sed nec misericordem quis dixerit eum, qui nihilominus ab initio homicida fuisse eadem ipsa Evangelii veritate convincitur. Porro autem qualis paterfamilias, tales et domestici ejus. Pulchre proinde de Sponso Ecclesia psallens, quod in altis habitet, et humilia respiciat in coelo et in terra, nullam omnino mentionem facit de his qui in aere versantur spiritibus superbis, quoniam Deus superbis resistit, et humilibus dat gratiam.
5. Videt ergo illum salientem in montibus et transilientem colles, juxta imprecationem David dicentis: Omnes montes qui in circuitu ejus sunt, id est in circuitu Gelboe, visitet Dominus; a Gelboe autem transeat. Diabolo nempe, qui per Gelboe designatur, hinc inde sunt montes quos visitat Dominus; supra angeli, infra homines. In poenam siquidem suam locum in aere isto, medium inter coelum et terram, de coelo cadens sortitus est, ut videat et invideat, ipsaque invidia torqueatur, Scriptura dicente: Peccator videbit et irascetur, dentibus suis fremet, et tabescet. Quam miser, cum suspicit coelos, in quibus innumeros montes intuetur divina claritate fulgentes, divinis laudibus resultantes, sublimes in gloria, abundantes in gratia! Quam miserior, cum respicit terram, montes nihilominus quam plurimos de populo acquisitionis habentem, fide solidos, spe excelsos, charitate spatiosos, cultos virtutibus, bonorum operum fructibus refertos, de rore coeli tanquam de saltu sponsi quotidianam capientes benedictionem! Cum quanto putamus dolore et rancore aspiciat ille cupidissimus gloriae istos in circuitu suo tam gloriosos montes, cum se et suos e regione incultos, tenebrosos, bonis omnibus infecundos despiciat, ita ut se sentiat esse opprobrium hominum et angelorum, qui omnibus exprobrabat, secundum illud in Psalmis: Draco iste quem formasti ad illudendum ei?
6. Atque hoc, quia ob ipsorum superbiam transilit eos Sponsus, saliens in montes qui in circuitu ejus sunt, tanquam fons ascendens de medio paradisi, irrigans universa, et implens omne animal benedictione. Beati qui torrente voluptatis hujus potati interdum vel raro promerentur in quibus etsi non continue fluit, saltem per horas salit aqua sapientiae et fons vitae, ut fiat in ipsis quoque fons aquae salientis in vitam aeternam. Et quidem hujus fluminis impetus laetificat civitatem Dei, sane perenniter et affluenter. In nostros autem montes qui in terra sunt, utinam interdum facta quasi inundatione saltus dare aliquos non despiciat, quibus sufficienter irrigati, nobis quoque, qui valles sumus, stillare vel raras guttulas possint, ne omnino aridi et steriles remaneamus! Miseria, et egestas, et omnino fames valida in regione illa, quae nullis unquam istiusmodi vel saltibus, vel instillationibus humectatur, praeterfluente et transiliente illam fonte sapientiae: Et quia non habuerunt, inquit, sapientiam, perierunt propter suam insipientiam.
7. Ecce venit is saliens in montibus, transiliens colles. Ad hoc salit ut transiliat, qui non vult ad omnes pertingere; neque enim in omnibus beneplacitum est Deo. Fratres, si, juxta sapientiam Pauli, scripta sunt, ista ad correptionem nostram, observemus Sponsi discretos et circumspectos saltus, quemadmodum videlicet tam apud Angelos quam apud nos, et in humiles saliat, et superbos transiliat: siquidem excelsus Dominus et humilia respicit, et alta a longe cognoscit. Haec, inquam, attendamus, quo cauti simus Sponsi nos salutiferis saltibus praeparare, ne veluti a montibus Gelboe forte transeat et a nobis, si indignos nos sua visitatione conspexerit. Quid superbis, terra et cinis? Et de Angelis transilit Dominus, exsecrans eorum superbiam. Ergo repudiatio Angelorum fiat emendatio hominum: scripta est enim ad ipsorum correptionem. Cooperetur mihi in bonum etiam diaboli malum, et lavem manus meas in sanguine peccatoris. Qualiter, inquis? Audi. Superbo certe diabolo horrenda et formidolosa maledictio intorquetur, propheta David in spiritu dicente de illo sub typo Gelboe, ut supra memoratum est: Montes, inquit, qui in circuitu ejus sunt, visitet Dominus, a Gelboe autem transeat.
8. Sane ego hoc legens, referensque oculos in me, et intuens diligenter, invenio me peste ipsa infectum, quam in angelo Dominus in tantum exhorruit, quatenus propterea declinaret ab eo, cum omnes in circuitu ejus montes, sive de Angelis, sive de hominibus, visitationis suae gratia dignaretur; et pavens tremensque aio ad memetipsum: Si sic actum est cum angelo, quid de me fiet terra et cinere? Ille in coelo intumuit, ego in sterquilinio. Quis non tolerabiliorem in divite superbiam, quam in paupere ducat? Vae mihi! si tam dure in potente illo animadversum est pro eo quod elevatum est cor illius, nec ei profuit quod cognata potentibus superbia esse cognoscitur; quid de me exigendum et misero, et superbo? Denique jam luo poenas, jam acerbissime vapulo. Non sine causa sane ab heri et nudiustertius invasit me languor iste animi, et mentis hebetudo, insolita quaedam inertia spiritus. Currebam bene: sed ecce lapis offensionis in via; impegi, et corrui. Superbia inventa est in me, et Dominus declinavit in ira a servo suo. Hinc ista sterilitas animae meae, et devotionis inopia quam patior. Quomodo ita exaruit cor meum, coagulatum est sicut lac, factum est sicut terra sine aqua? Nec compungi ad lacrymas queo; tanta est duritia cordis. Non sapit psalmus, non legere libet, non orare delectat, meditationes solitas non invenio. Ubi illa inebriatio spiritus? ubi mentis serenitas, et pax, et gaudium in Spiritu sancto? Ideo ad opus manuum piger, ad vigilias somnolentus, ad iram praeceps, ad odium pertinax, linguae et gulae indulgentior, segnior obtusiorque ad praedicationem. Heu! omnes montes in circuitu meo visitat Dominus, ad me autem non appropinquat. Num collis non sum ex his quos transilit sponsus? Nam alium quidem intueor singularis abstinentiae, alium vero patientiae admirandae, alium autem summae humilitatis et mansuetudinis, alium multae misericordiae et pietatis; illum in contemplatione frequenter excedere, hunc pulsare et penetrare coelos orationum instantia, aliosque in aliis praeeminere virtutibus. Hos, inquam, considero omnes ferventes, omnes devotos, omnes in Christo unanimes, omnes donis coelestibus et gratia affluentes, tanquam spirituales revera montes qui a Domino visitantur, et sponsum in se salientem frequenter recipiunt. Ego autem, qui horum in me invenio nihil, quid me aliud putem quam unum de montibus Gelboe, quem praeterit in ira et indignatione sua ille caeterorum omnium benignissimus visitator?
9. Filioli, haec cogitatio tollit extollentiam oculorum, conciliat gratiam, sponsi saltibus praeparat. Haec ego in me transfiguravi propter vos, ut et vos ita faciatis. Imitatores mei estote. Quod non de exercitio dico modo virtutum, aut morum disciplina, aut gloria sanctitatis (nec enim de hujusmodi quidquam mihi temere arrogaverim imitatione dignum); sed volo vos non parcere vobis, sed accusare vosmetipsos, quoties forte in vobis, vel ad modicum tepere gratiam, virtutem languescere deprehenditis, sicut et ego pro hujusmodi memetipsum accuso. Hoc facere hominis est, qui curiosus circumspector est sui, et scrutator viarum suarum ac studiorum, atque in omnibus semper suspectum habet arrogantiae vitium ne subrepat. In veritate didici, nil aeque efficax esse ad gratiam promerendam, retinendam, recuperandam, quam si omni tempore coram Deo inveniaris non altum sapere, sed timere. Beatus homo qui semper est pavidus. Time ergo cum arriserit gratia, time cum abierit, time cum denuo revertetur; et hoc est semper pavidum esse. Succedant vicissim sibi in animo tres isti timores, secundum quod gratia vel adesse dignatur, vel offensa recedere, seu iterum redire placata sentietur. Cum adest, time ne non digne opereris ex ea: nam hoc monet Apostolus: Videte, inquiens, ne in vacuum gratiam Dei recipiatis; et ad discipulum: Noli, inquit, negligere gratiam quae in te est; et de semetipso dicebat: Quia gratia Dei in me vacua non fuit. Sciebat homo, consilium Dei habens, redundare in contemptum donantis donum negligere, nec expendere ad quod donatum est; idque intolerabilem esse superbiam judicabat: et propterea studiosissime hoc malum et ipse cavebat, docebatque cavendum. Sed rursum latet fovea hic, quae nolo vos lateat, de qua is ipse superbiae spiritus tanto periculosius, quanto occultius, sicut habetis in psalmo, insidiatur quasi leo in spelunca sua. Nam si impedire non praevalet actionem, tentat intentionem, suggerens et suadens, quatenus effectum gratiae arroges tibi. Quod quidem superbiae genus longe illo priore intolerabilius esse non ambigas. Quid enim odiosius illa voce, qua quidam dixerunt: Manus nostra excelsa, et non Dominus, fecit haec omnia?
10. Si ergo timendum manente gratia; quid, si recesserit? num multo magis tunc timendum? Plane multo magis; quia ubi deficit tibi gratia, deficis tu. Audi etenim quid dator gratiae dicat. Sine me, ait, nihil potestis facere. Time ergo subtracta gratia, tanquam mox casurus; time et contremisce, Deo tibi, ut sentis, irato; time, quia reliquit te custodia tua. Nec dubites in causa esse superbiam, etiamsi non appareat, etiamsi nihil tibi conscius sis. Quod enim tu nescis, scit Deus; et qui te judicat, ipse est. Sed nec qui se ipsum commendat, ille probatus est, sed quem Deus commendat. Nunquid commendat te Deus, cum gratia privat? Aut nunquid qui humilibus dat gratiam, humili auferet datam? Ergo argumentum superbiae privatio est gratiae. Quanquam tamen interdum subtrahitur gratia, sive retrahitur, non pro superbia quae jam est, sed quae futura est, nisi subtrahatur. Habes hujus rei evidens documentum de Apostolo, qui stimulos carnis suae sustinebat invitus, non quia extolleretur, sed ne extolleretur. Sed sive jam existens, sive nondum, superbia tamen semper causa erit subtractae gratiae.
11. Jam si gratia repropitiata redierit, multo amplius tunc timendum, ne forte contingat recidivum pati, juxta illud de Evangelio. Ecce sanus factus es, vade et amplius jam noli peccare, ne aliquid deterius tibi contingat. Audis recidere quam incidere esse deterius. Proinde invalescente periculo, invalescat et metus. Beatus es, si cor tuum triplici isto timore repleveris, ut timeas quidem pro accepta gratia, amplius pro amissa, longe plus pro recuperata. Hoc fac, et eris hydria in Christi convivio, impleta usque ad summum, continens ni mirum metretas, non binas tantum, sed et ternas, ut Christi merearis benedictionem, quae aquas tuas convertat in vinum laetitiae, et perfecta charitas foras mittat timorem.
12. Quod dico, tale est. Aqua timor est, quoniam ab aestu refrigerat desideriorum carnalium. Initium, inquit, sapientiae timor Domini; et habes: Aqua sapientiae salutaris potavit illum. Si timor sapientia, et sapientia aqua; timor aqua est; denique: Timor Domini, inquit, fons vitae. Porro hydria mens tua. Capientes, inquit, singulae metretas binas vel ternas. Tres metretae, timores tres. Et impleverunt eas, inquit, usque ad summum. Non unus timor, non duo quoque, sed toti tres simul replent usque ad summum. Omni tempore time Deum, et ex omni corde tuo, et implesti hydriam tuam usque ad summum. Amat Deus integrum munus, affectum plenum, perfectum sacrificium. Cura proinde nuptiis coelestibus plenam inferre hydriam, ut de te quoque dicatur: Quia replevit eum spiritu timoris Domini. Qui sic timet, nihil negligit. Unde namque negligentia intret in plenitudinem? Alioquin quod capere adhuc aliquid potest, plenum non est. Eadem sane ratione non potest simul et sic timere, et altum sapere. Non est enim quo admittas superbiam, repletus timore Domini. Et sic de caeteris vitiis sentiendum, quia necesse est omnia plenitudine timoris excludi. Tunc demum si plene, si perfecte timueris, dabit charitas saporem aquis tuis ad Domini benedictionem. Sine charitate enim timor poenam habet. Et quidem charitas vinum, quod laetificat cor hominis. Perfecta autem charitas foras mittit timorem, ut ubi aqua fuerat, vinum esse incipiat ad laudem et gloriam sponsi Ecclesiae Jesu Christi Domini nostri, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen