THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE B

SERMON 1[1]

Isaias 11:1-2: There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest on him+.

Introduction

The mystery of the Lord’s resurrection is so secret and deep that no mind is able to understand it, no tongue capable of explaining it. For this reason, the Holy Spirit, being gracious to human weakness, wished to describe it by many metaphors, by which, as if led by the hand, we might come to some understanding of it. According to the Apostle, the invisible things of God are made visible by the things that are seen [Romans 1:20].

Triple metaphor of the resurrection

So, in the words of Isaias quoted above, this mystery is referred to in a triple metaphor, namely, a root, a rod and a flower; this indicates three things to us, namely, the nobility of the one conceiving, the purity of the conception, and the greatness of the Child conceived. Firstly, There shall come forth etc.; secondly, a flower etc.; thirdly, and the Spirit etc. And because, as has been said, they are represented by various metaphors in the sacred page, we should collect them so that they might lead us in some way to so great a mystery.

Part I: The nobility of Mary indicated in a triple metaphor

It must be noted that the nobility of the one conceiving is indicated in a triple metaphor, namely, the earth germinating, the rod blossoming, and the flower bursting forth. The metaphor indicates firstly, her deepest humility, secondly, her constant stability, and thirdly, her most liberal charity. These made her noble and made her ready to conceive the Son of god.

Metaphor of the earth germinating

Of the first we read in Genesis 1:11: Let the earth bring forth the green herb etc.; Isaias 45:8: Drop down dew, you heavens, from above, etc., let the earth be opened, namely, the sky of the Trinity by sending the Word, of angelic power by sending a messenger; let the earth of the Virgin be opened by her consent; David: Lord, you have blessed your land etc. [Psalm 84:1].

Exhortation to be humble

Accordingly, we must be made firm in humility if we wish to conceive the grace of God, for the Lord will give goodness [Psalm 84:13], but only to the humble. The Apostle: God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble [James 4:6]. The proud are mountains on which the dew of grace does not fall: 2 Kings 1:21: You mountains of Gelboe, let neither dew, nor rain come upon you; between the midst of the hills the waters shall pass [Psalm 103:10].

Metaphor of the rod blossoming

Of the second we read in Ecclesiasticus 24:15: So was I established in Sion, and in the holy city likewise I rested; and the text continues: and I took root in an honourable people; Apocalypse 22:16 speaking in his name: I am the root and stock of David, the bright and morning star.

Exhortation to be constant

We have to imitate him in the virtue of constancy if we wish to be productive in good work; James 1:8: A double-minded person is inconstant in all his ways.

Third metaphor of the flower bursting forth

Of the third we read in Canticle 4:15: The fountain of gardens, the well of living waters, which run with a strong stream from Libanus. It waters the garden of the whole Church and because he gave the streams of grace most generously, it received a most abundant grace. ‘The blessed Virgin, out of her most copious charity, made herself a debtor to all so that of his fullness all might receive [John 1:16].[2] And so rightly she was filled with grace more than all others; Esther 10:6: The little fountain which grew into a river, and was turned into a light, and into the sun.

Exhortation to generosity

We should imitate her in this virtue so that we might receive grace for grace [John 1:16]. This is a quality of grace that is increased when shared and diminished when withheld; Gospel: Give and it shall be given to you [Luke 6:38]; and in another text: he that has not, from him shall be taken away that also which he has [Matthew 13:12]. For whoever does not have the charity to share grace with others, shall be deprived of grace itself; Proverbs 5:16ff: Let your fountains be conveyed abroad, and in the streets divide your waters.

Part II: Three metaphors on the purity of the conception

We continue with the second, (that is) the purity of the conception, because it was wonderful and supernatural, namely, without any corruption of the flesh, without a sequence in time, without pleasure of passion. Therefore, it is represented by three wonderful and supernatural metaphors, namely, a bush shining wonderfully, a rod suddenly growing, and fleece supernaturally becoming moist.

First metaphor – the bush shining

On each of these some comments should be given. On the first, we read in Exodus 3:3 I will go and see this great sight, why the bush can burn and not be burnt. Certainly, even though this is wonderful it was quite reasonable. The fire was heavenly, preserving and life giving, not earthly, destructive and divisive. There is also a double fire in people, namely, a fire of heavenly quality that preserves and this is charity; a fire of carnal quality that destroys and this is greed.

Second metaphor – the rod growing

Of the second we read in Numbers 17:8 that Moses found the rod swelling with foliage and flowers and suddenly producing fruit. By the fact, wonderfully true, but even more wonderful beyond measure, namely, that in that conception without any passing of time the perfect God and perfect man was in the womb of the Virgin; even though this be wonderful, it is, however, fitting and reasonable. For if the person of Christ had been man before being God, he would not have been God by nature but by accident; therefore, he was God and man at the one moment. But, as Damascene says: ‘The Deity is joined to the flesh by the medium of the intellect’.[3] But an intellect or rational soul is only placed in a body formed and perfect. Accordingly, the body receiving the soul was perfectly formed; the soul was strong in virtue and wisdom at the time of its infusion; for it was not fitting for the Deity to join itself to an ignorant soul; therefore, it follows that in the very conception the perfect God and perfect man was in the womb of the Virgin. Hence Jeremiah 31:22 says: The Lord has created a new thing upon the earth: a woman shall compass a man, a man not only in sex but in wisdom and virtue. Ambrose: ‘The grace of the Holy Spirit does not recognize sluggish efforts’.[4]

Third metaphor – the fleece

On the third we read in Judges 6:37ff. that Gedeon, being sent to fight and free the people, received from the Lord a sign, namely, the fleece placed on the floor and moistened most amply with dew while the ground remained dry. Psalm 71:6 says: He shall come down like rain upon the fleece. Jerome: ‘Even though fleece is part of a body it does not experience the feelings of a body; virginity, in the same way, while being in the flesh does not experience corruption of the flesh’.[5]

Part III: The greatness of the Child in three metaphors

There follows on the third, that is, the greatness of the Child conceived, that because he is ‘a giant of a twin substance’,[6] namely, a person with divine and human natures, he is indicated according to each nature by certain metaphors of sacred Scripture. And because according to human nature there was in him a fullness of grace, a beauty of wisdom, an uprightness of perfect justice, he is prefigured according to these three by a triple metaphor, namely, a cloud dropping moisture, a rainbow glittering, a star gleaming.

First metaphor – cloud dropping moisture

On the first, we read in 3 Kings 18:44ff.: A little cloud arose out of the sea and suddenly there fell a great rain, that is, Christ, an infant from Mary whose name means a bitter sea, enriched the whole Church with a shower of grace.

Exhortation

We should be conformed to this cloud so that we also may be gracious clouds passing on from ourselves to others a flowing grace. Psalm 146:8 says: Who covers the heavens with clouds etc. I Peter 4:10 says: As everyone has received grace, ministering the same one to another. However, we are not to be stormy clouds, sending out thunders of impatience and flashes of anger, but people of whom is said: Wonderful are the surges of the sea, wonderful is the Lord on high [Psalm 96:4]. For the vapours of the sea, although they be salty and bitter, are changed within a cloud into sweet rain and so whatever bitterness or sadness happens to a good person who is a gracious cloud, they are changed completely into sweetness.

Second metaphor: rainbow glittering

Of the second we read in Genesis 9:13 that I will set my bow in the clouds etc. for in his humanity he has been made a memorial of the covenant between God and people. Just as in the rainbow there is a large number of colours, so there was an abundance of wisdom in the soul of Christ. In his soul was found the full innate wisdom of all creatures as in the first human, infused and gracious wisdom as in the Saints on the way, and glorious wisdom as in the Saints in heaven. Aptly then is he represented by a rainbow because of the beauty of wisdom; Ecclesiasticus 43:19 says: Look upon the rainbow and bless him who made it etc.

Also, he is aptly represented by a rainbow because just as a natural rainbow is produced in a moisture laden cloud from a ray of the sun that is direct, broken and reflected, so in fact Christ, the Sun of justice, is the cause and source of all knowledge in the soul. Knowledge in the soul is faith that is similar to a broken ray, for reason has to be as it were broken in pieces in faith. ‘Faith has no merit when the experience comes from human reason.’[7] Likewise, Christ is the source of reasoning as by a ray reflected in the middle of an arc, namely, human ability illuminated by his grace. The same is true of contemplation as caused by a direct ray of grace, namely, an ecstasy of mind. He is the source of faith in that he is the Word incarnate, the source of reasoning in a mind as he illumines an intellect, the source of contemplation drawing affection to the Father.

Third metaphor: star gleaming

Of the third, Ecclesiasticus 50:6 says: He shone in his days as the morning star in the midst of a cloud. In the midst of a cloud, namely of sinners, he displayed the light of justice in all his words and actions. We should be conformed to him lest we be wandering stars to whom the storm of darkness and blindness is reserved, as we are warned in the Canonical Epistle of Jude 1:13; but let us be those of whom Daniel 12:3 says: They that instruct many to justice shall shine as stars for all eternity.

The divinity of Christ represented by a metaphor

And just as Christ, the child of the Virgin, is represented by a cloud, a rainbow and a star, so he is well represented, according to his divinity, by the metaphor of the sun. No visible creature is more suitable to lead us to knowledge of him; Psalm 18:6 says: He has set his tabernacle in the sun etc.; and another Prophet: Unto you that fear my name the Sun of justice shall arise [Malachias 4:2]. Because of this nature there is in him an incomparable dignity, an unchanging stability, an inaccessible clarity; this is represented by three miracles of the sun, namely, of the sun going backwards, standing still in a wonderful way, and of shining in a wonderful way.

The metaphor illustrated by the sun going backwards

Of the first, Isaias 38:8 says: The sun returned ten lines by the degrees by which it had gone down in the sun dial of Achaz. Why was it necessary to prolong the mortal life for a king with such a miracle affecting the whole world, other than for the Lord to prefigure by this a future miracle of miracles? In a sun dial there were twelve lines, but the sun did not go beyond the tenth so as to give a sign. Because there are twelve degrees of life, namely, nine Orders of Angels and three of visible creatures, sensible and vegetable creations, the Sun of justice did not stand above the tenth, because nowhere did he take hold of the Angels nor of the Archangels, as the Apostle says in Hebrews 2:16; nor did he go below the tenth because it was not fitting for him to assume purely sensible or vegetable life; but as the Apostle says, he took hold of the seed of Abraham. Therefore, he humbled himself by going down through ten lines, that is, the lives of creatures, and he ascended by these degrees, until he established the assumed man above every angelic creature. Psalm 8:5 says: You have made him a little less than the angels. Therefore, in this way his incomparable dignity is indicated.

The metaphor illustrated by the sun standing still

Of the second, Josue 10:13 says: The sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hastened not to go down the space of one day. Could not the Lord have given victory to his people without so great a miracle? This the Lord could have done but the Lord wanted to prefigure that the Sun of justice himself in an assumed humanity was to fight, but the unspeakable dignity of his divinity was to remain.

The metaphor illustrated by the sun shining wonderfully

Of the third, Exodus 10:22.21 says that darkness came upon the land of Egypt; and, as is stated in the book of Wisdom 17:19ff., the whole world was enlightened with a clear light, but over them only, namely, the Egyptians, was spread a heavy night. This prefigured that the sun, Christ, while his merits are rejected by some who remain in the night of sin, others are shone on and enlightened wonderfully.

Conclusion

Accordingly, it must be noted that the mystery of the Incarnation is represented by twelve metaphors that begin from the earth of humility and take their place in the sun of divine wisdom, because where humility is, there also is wisdom [Proverbs 11:2]; and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom [Ecclesiasticus 1:16]. Hence, because these twelve metaphors indicate the blessed Virgin and her Child, in Apocalypse 12:1 she is fittingly called A woman clothed with the sun, namely, adorned with the brightness of Divinity; having the moon, changing seasons, under her feet; and having a crown of twelve stars because of the already mentioned miracle indicated by the twelve metaphors. These metaphors, while doing so in various ways, point to the same reality. Bernard[8]:

For there was but one Spirit in all the prophets, even though in diverse ways, signs and times, they all foresaw and preached beforehand the same reality. What was clear of Moses in the bush and fire, of Aaron in the rod and flower, of Gedeon in the fleece and dew, was openly preached by Solomon in the valiant woman [Proverbs 31:10]; more openly hinted at by Jeremias 31:22 in a woman and a man; most clearly Isaias 7:14 spoke of the Virgin and the Son; and finally Gabriel by a greeting pointed out the Virgin herself [Luke 1:30ff.].

SERMON 2

Isaias 7:14: Behold a virgin shall conceive.

Introduction

Understood literally this text refers to the Virgin Mary. It contains explicitly the mystery of the conception announced to her by the Angel and is the subject of today’s solemnity. That mystery was most high and hence admirable; it was most fitting and hence reasonable; it was most fruitful and hence desirable. The Prophet, indicating its triple qualities, described it by three words: to show it was admirable he begins with an exclamation of admiration when he says: Behold; to show it was reasonable he mentions the preparatory disposition, when he says: Virgin; to show it was desirable and useful he implies a most fruitful conception when he says: shall conceive. For if we look carefully we will see that the mystery of the virginal conception was reasonable because of the virginity preceding it; it was admirable because of the fruitfulness accompanying it; it was nonetheless desirable because of what came from it. So there are two things to be considered here: firstly, virginity; secondly, fruitfulness.

Part I: Three reasons why the conception was reasonable:

First reason is the beauty of incorruption

Virginity was a fitting and reasonable disposition for so great a mystery for three reasons. Firstly, because of the beauty of incorruption that made her suitable for the coming of the angelic mission. This is well prefigured in 3 Kings 1:2ff. which says:

The servants of king David said: Let us seek for our lord the king a young virgin, and let her stand before the king, and cherish him, and sleep in his bosom, and warm our lord the king. So they sought a beautiful young woman in all the lands of Israel, and they found Abisag a Sunamitess, and brought her to the king.

It is clear that we have to understand David as Christ, his servants as Angels, Abisag as the Virgin Mary who, because of her virginal beauty was brought to the King so that she might not only serve him but also cherish him by holding and feeding him. Hence, because Gabriel from among the Angels was the main messenger she is rightly represented by Rebecca, whom the servant of Abraham searched out to be a wife for the son of his master, namely, Isaac, of whom is said in Genesis 24:15ff.: Behold, Rebecca came out to draw water, an exceedingly comely maid, and a most beautiful virgin and not known to man. Abraham, the father of many peoples, is God the Father; Isaac, his son, is Christ the Lord; Eliezer, the servant, is the Angel Gabriel; Rebecca, which means has accepted much,[9] is the Virgin Mary. The messenger accepted her as a bride of the Lord because of her virginal beauty, something internal and external; for this reason she is twice called beautiful and twice said to be a virgin in the text quoted above. Because of her double beauty she merited the coming of the Archangel Gabriel, as Bernard says[10]:

The Virgin queen, adorned with precious stones and resplendent from a double beauty of virtues of both mind and body, known in the heavens for her comeliness and beauty, drew the attention of the citizens of heaven to herself, so that she could attract the desire of the spirit of the King upon herself and lead the heavenly messenger to her from above.

Second reason is simplicity of intention

Secondly, by the simplicity of her intention that disposed her to accept the Angel’s words, and fixed her mind only on what is divine, according to 1 Corinthians 7:34: The unmarried woman and the virgin think on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and spirit. But she that is married thinks on the things of the world. Accordingly, the Virgin Mary, ‘a virgin in the flesh, a virgin in her mind, a virgin by profession, a virgin holy in spirit and body’,[11] did not think of the things of the world, but of the things of God, and had chosen the better part, according to Luke 10:42: One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part which shall not be taken away from her. Therefore, because she was intent on one thing, was devoted to one thing, her mind progressed in unity and simplicity and made her fitting for divine and angelic words, because, as stated in Proverbs 3:32: His communication is with the simple.

Comment

There is no simplicity of heart without purity; purity prepares one for sight, simplicity for hearing, and these two together prepare for obedience that is the way to an inner understanding. Hence, it is fitting that she who was simple and pure would conceive the Word of God when addressed by the Angel, and this because of her most noble privilege of purity and simplicity. Hence Jerome[12]: ‘Mary was bright from many virtues of merits and brighter still than the whiteness of snow by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and she displayed in all things the simplicity of a dove’. Therefore, it is not surprising if the holy Angels spoke to so great and such a Virgin.

Third reason is sincerity of love

Thirdly, because of the sincerity of her love that disposed her to give assent to the Angel’s persuasion, one may apply to her the text of Ecclesiasticus 15:2 where it speaks of wisdom and its lover: She will meet him as an honourable mother, and will receive him as a wife married of a virgin. For the Angel was persuading her that, without harm to the purity of virginity, she could consent to the fruitfulness and dignity of a mother. Because both of these develop sincerity of love with which she was full, she was not being forced nor drawn in giving her consent but acted from her will alone, and so she met the persuading Angel as a mother honoured in the Angel’s greeting, and received him as a wife married of a virgin. Because she consented in this way she would have a son so that in no way would she wish to know a man when she said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord be it done to me according to your word.

The highest disposition

This was the highest and immediate disposition for the conception. Because the holiest love is that of the Holy Spirit, so the sincerity of love in the heart of the Virgin disposed her to accept the Spirit so that from the Spirit she might conceive a wholly immaculate Son. This is what the Angel said to her: The Holy Spirit shall come upon you and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you [Luke 1:35]. Hence, Master Hugh,[13] De virginitate Mariae, says:

Mary conceived of the Holy Spirit, not by accepting seed for birth from the substance of the Holy Spirit; rather, from the love and working of the Holy Spirit in the flesh of the Virgin, the Spirit supplied the substance of a human nature for the divine birth. Because the love of the Holy Spirit was burning in a singular way in her heart, so in her flesh the power of the Holy Spirit worked wonders. Her love of the Spirit was such that she had no companion in her love and the working of the Spirit in her flesh had no precedent.

Conclusion

Therefore, for the three reasons just stated, virginity was a fitting and reasonable disposition for the angel’s message and consequently for the conception of the Lord. For if Christ the Lord was beautiful above the sons of men [Psalm 44:3], and was a lamb unspotted [1 Peter 1:19], the Holy One among the Saints, it was fitting that he have a Mother who was most beautiful from an uncorrupted beauty, a most pure Mother from the simplicity of her intention, a most holy Mother from the sincerity of her love. All of this the Virgin Mary had by her virginity as has been shown; but this virginity of Mary was a singular privilege.

Three kinds of virginity

Consequently, we should reflect on virginity in so far as it disposes holy souls for spiritual fruitfulness; however, this is not true of all virginity. For this reason it must be noted that there is a false virginity that exists only in the flesh; this is subject to many dangers and so it should be entrusted to Christ the Protector. There is further a restored virginity and this should be joined to Christ the Redeemer. A third virginity is immaculate and this is in both; it shines with many privileges and should be united with Christ the Creator.

First kind of virginity

Firstly, take note of what is virginity only in the flesh; Matthew 25:1ff. says of it: Then shall the kingdom of heaven be like to ten virgins, who taking their lamps with them went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride. And five of them were foolish, and five wise. For the virgins who were virgins only in the flesh were false virgins, because exteriorly they display a purity of the flesh but interiorly have impurity in their heart. They are called foolish because foolish persons display externally the appearance of a healthy body but internally their minds have a sickly appearance and it is in the mind that the sense of reason operates; such virgins bear an appearance of virtue exteriorly, but lack the truth of virtue interiorly. Virtue is found only in the decisions of a free judgment.

This first kind of virginity is subject to three dangers

This virginity is subject to many dangers: firstly, from a divine judgment as from above; secondly, from a personal fall as from below; and thirdly from a scandal to others as from an equal.

First danger of divine judgment

Virginity of the flesh alone is subject, firstly, to the danger of a divine judgment because, even though such virginity may be approved by a human judgment, it is condemned by divine judgment: Man sees those things that appear, but the Lord beholds the heart [1 Kings 16:7]. This is stated also in Matthew 25:11 where it says: But at last came also the other virgins saying: Lord, Lord, open to us, as if to say: presuming on their virginity, but the divine judgment follows: But he answering said: Amen I say to you, I know you not, not because of ignorance but from a punishment. I know you not, I say, because of the deceit of hypocrisy; so Job 13:16 says: No hypocrite shall come before his presence, and I say, shall come not to justify but to condemn, and the secrets of his heart are made manifest, according to the text of Ecclesiasticus 1:36-37.39: Come not before him with a double heart. Be not a hypocrite in the sight of men lest God discover your secrets, and cast you down in the midst of the congregation. For the more one extols oneself in the sight of others, the more one becomes worthless before God, according to Luke 16:15: You are they who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts, for that which is high to men, is an abomination before God.

Second danger of a personal fall

Secondly, it is subject to the danger of a personal fall, because it is easy to fall and impossible to get up; Amos 5:2: The virgin of Israel is cast down upon her land, there is none to raise her up. This is literally true of virginity of the flesh because, as Jerome[14] says, ‘while God can do all things, God is not able to restore a virgin after ruin; God can free from punishment but does not want to crown a fallen person’. The loss of such virginity makes penance difficult, because it breaks down the wall of continence, and when this is broken by a divine judgment then the unfortunate soul is pressed down with many desires, and the guidance of reason is subjected to the command of sensuality; this is something to be lamented and greatly grieved over. Hence, Lamentations 2:2 says: The Lord has cast down headlong, and has not spared all that was beautiful of Israel, in external beauty; he has destroyed in his wrath the strongholds of the virgin of Juda, in the integrity of her flesh; and brought them down to the ground; he has made the kingdom unclean, in the captivity of her reason. The Lord is said to do this, not so as to cast down, but because he orders and allows sin as a punishment.[15]

Third danger of scandal

Thirdly, it is subject to the danger of scandalizing others as if from an equal. For external appearance stirs desire, for which reason in Ecclesiasticus 9:5 the wise person says: Gaze not upon a maiden, namely, by thinking of her; the reason is added: lest her beauty be a stumbling-block to you, by desiring her, because, whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart [Matthew 5:28]. And for this reason holy Job in Job 31:1 said: I made a covenant with my eyes that I would not so much as think upon a virgin, because not only are the external eyes to be guarded but also the inner; not only actions, but also affections and thoughts. Thought leads to affection, affection to consent, consent to action, an action highly heinous and dangerous because to corrupt a virgin is to violate a temple of God. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17: Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? But if any man violates the temple of God, him shall God destroy.

The dangers are to be entrusted to God

Therefore, since virginity is subject to so many and such great dangers, it has to be entrusted to Christ the Protector for him to protect its essential features, to preserve it from a fall and to free it from any defect. Jeremias 3:4, after stating the dangers, recommends this when he says: Therefore at the least from this time call on me: You are my father, namely by love; the guide of my virginity, namely, by fear; as if to say: if up till now you have persevered from human shame, now you may persevere from my love; if up till now you have relied on your own strength, now you may rely on my strength, call out and say: I could not otherwise be continent, except God gave it [Wisdom 8:21]. You may give your will to God by a firm commitment so that God may bestow on you the help of God’s power.

Second kind of virginity

The second kind of virginity is a restored virginity that exists only in the soul; this needs many helps and so should be joined to Christ the Redeemer. According to a text of Zacharias 9:17, we can acquire this by justifying grace: What is the good thing of him, and what is his beautiful thing, but the corn of the elect? In this text he indicates the sacrament of the Eucharist in which are only good things. He adds: and wine springing forth virgins, in which text he hints at the sacrament of Penance where there is the wine of compunction by which souls soiled by sin and corrupted by malice are brought back to inner holiness. On this Augustine in De poenitentia, says: ‘Penance is something excellent and perfect that restores every defect to perfection’.[16]

First help for restored virginity

This restored virginity needs many helps for healing. The first is a support of divine mercy against the offence of sin that is so great it cannot be wiped away without an intervention of divine mercy; Jeremias 31:3-4: I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore have I drawn you, taking pity on you. I say, I have drawn you, that you may do penance, and I will build you again and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel, when I will give back perfect innocence to you. We should not hide this greatest of helps for in Ephesians 2:4-5 is said: But God who is rich in mercy, for his exceeding charity wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together in Christ. No one should despise this help nor distort it into pride by impenitence; on this we read in Romans 2:4-5:

Do you not know that the benignity of God leads you to penance? But according to your hardness and impenitent heart, you treasure up to yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God.

Second help

The second help is an ornament of divine grace against the stain of sin and this is necessary for the soul if it is to regain its virginal integrity. So we read in Jeremias 2:32: Will a virgin forget her ornament or a bride her woman’s dress, as if to say, in no way. If she forgets, then without an outer garment she appears shameful; just as humans after sin were unseemly without exterior clothing, so a soul without an ornament of spiritual grace always seems stained. Grace is a garment that adorns the soul for which reason Apocalypse 3:17-18 says to a person without an ornament of divine grace: Because you say, I am rich and made wealthy, and have need of nothing, behold, a presumption of blindness; and you do not know that you are blind, behold, a denial of truth; I counsel you to buy of me gold fire-tried, behold, an advice of charity.

Third help

The third help is the protection of the Church against the consequences of sin that, unless it be restrained in some other way, always leads to ruin. For which reason Jeremias 31:21-22 says: Return, O virgin of Israel, return to these your cities. How long will you be dissolute in deliciousness, O wandering daughter? By the word cities we understand Orders that are like strongholds for defence in the Church. The walls of Jerusalem, that is the universal Church, are destroyed by many heresies, many schisms and by various kinds of sins, so that now Christians can be reproached and the text of Jeremiah 2:10-11 applied to them: Pass over to the isles of Cethim, and see, and send into Cedar, and consider diligently, and see if there has been done anything like this. If a nation has changed its gods etc. And later: My people have changed their glory into an idol¸ because they change the glory of the cross into the glory of worldly vanity. The Lord introduced certain styles of various Orders, so that at least the weak, people who in the world were prone to fall, might be able there to support and, as it were, restrain one another. So God censures the unsettled like Cain who do not want to be converted to penance. It is much more secure and honourable to live in strongholds than in deserted, unprotected and ruinous places.

Conclusion

Therefore, since virginity needs so much protection it should be joined to Christ the Redeemer so that he might apply a medicine against sickness. On this Jeremias says to a penitent soul in Lamentations 2:13: To what shall I equal you that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Sion, for great as the sea is your contrition! He compares the contrition of a penitent soul to a sea. This is valid whether it be contrition for sin for which whoever offends the infinite Good can say: great as the sea is my contrition because I have sinned more than the sands of the sea, or whether it be contrition of penance that should be like a sea so that just as the sea absorbs all the rivers so sorrow absorbs all pleasures. We are healed by the One who heals the contrite of heart and binds up their bruises [Psalm 46:3]. The One, I say, who was bruised for us, according to Isaias 53:5: He was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed.

Third kind of virginity

The third is immaculate virginity, that is, virginity of soul and body. The text of Esther 2:2 can be applied to it: Let young women be sought for the king, virgins and beautiful. They are beautiful virgins, that is, full of beauty, who are stained neither interiorly such as virgins only in the flesh, nor exteriorly like virgins only in the soul, but are those who imitate the Virgin Mary and are immaculate in body and soul.

First privilege of this kind of virginity

This virginity shines with many privileges, of which the first is a perfect conformity of likeness to the Lamb; Apocalypse 14:4: These are they who were not defiled with women, in the flesh; for they are virgins, namely, in their souls; these follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes, by a complete conformity of continence. So that they lack nothing, the Lord sees to it that they follow him by a conformity of patience as a sign of perfect friendship. Lamentations 1:15 says: The Lord has trodden the winepress, namely, of the passion, for the virgin daughter of Juda, by provoking her to excel in imitating.

Second privilege

The second privilege is the special familiarity of living with the Bridegroom. Isaias 62:5 says: For the young man shall dwell with the virgin, that is, Christ the son of the Virgin; and the bridegroom shall rejoice over the bride, that is, Christ over a holy soul joined to him. Hence Bede[17] says: ‘Christ was born from a Virgin to show his love for virginal glory; and as a sign of this he wanted to have a virgin as Mother, a virgin as precursor, and a virgin as friend’.

Third privilege

The third privilege is the complete joy of exultation in the Holy Spirit; for this reason Psalm 44:15 says: After her shall virgins be brought to the king; and Jeremias 31:12 says: Their soul shall be as a watered garden, from perfect grace, and they shall be hungry no more, from concupiscence; then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, from exultation in the Holy Spirit, the young men and old men together, from sharing joy. This is great joy because it is inner and external, and there is no pleasure above the joy of the heart [Ecclesiasticus 30:16].

Conclusion

Since it shines with so many privileges it should be joined to Christ the Creator who gave all things as a pledge of perfect love. In 2 Corinthians 11:2 the Apostle desired this: I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ, where is found the complete perfection and merit of the way.

Part II: The fertility of virginity

Having reflected on virginity, there remains to reflect on the fertility of virginity both from the point of view of virginity as admirable, and from the point of view of its value to us as being incomparable. The fertility of the conception was admirable for the one conceiving, for the One conceived and for the conception itself.

The integrity of the one conceiving

Firstly, it was admirable because of the integrity of the one conceiving. So Isaias 7:14 says: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, so that at the one time she might be both a virgin and one conceiving, otherwise she would not be given as a sign to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Ezechiel 44:1-2 shows this in a wonderful way in a description of the temple: He brought me back to the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looked towards the east, that is, to reflect on the origin and incarnation of the Son of God; and it was shut, namely, from a lack of corruption. And he adds the reason: This gate shall be shut, namely, in the pregnancy; it shall not be opened, namely, in the birth, and no man shall pass through it, with regard to the use of marriage; because the Lord the God of Israel has entered in by it, namely, in the mystery of the conception. Hence the Bridegroom speaking of the Virgin Mary in the Canticle 4:12-13 says: My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up; your plants are a paradise.

Triple lack of corruption

Three times he speaks of enclosure to show that she was incorrupt in the conception, in the birth and in her life. This is against the heretics who said that later she was known by her husband. In this it is indeed most wonderful that while enclosed she was still fertile with the utmost fertility and so he says: your plants are a paradise, because of the most perfect fertility in which was no defect, no impurity, no sadness as there was when Eve conceived. There was no pride, no corruption but everything was most humble, most fertile integrity and most joyful happiness; hence it was worthy of all praise and admiration. Bernard[18] says:

Happy Mary to whom neither humility nor virginity was lacking; your singular virginity did not dishonour but honoured fertility; nevertheless it was a special humility that did not take away but brought out a fertile virginity; an incomparable fertility that was accompanied by virginity at the same time as humility. Which of these is not admirable? Which not incomparable? Which not singular? Wonderful indeed provided you do not stop reflecting on which one of these in your opinion you judge to be more worthy unless, as is certain, you judge that all taken together are to be preferred to any single one of them. It is incomparable, more excellent and more fitting to ponder on all rather than on some.

The eternity of the One conceived

Secondly, it was admirable because of the eternity of the One conceived as the One conceived was God, the Son and Wisdom of God of whom in Proverbs 8:23-24 is said: I was set up from eternity, and of old before the world was made. The depths were not as yet and I was already conceived. If he was conceived from eternity how could he have been conceived by the Virgin Mary at the end of time? If he was eternal he was, therefore, unchangeable, incomprehensible and without end. How could he who was without end be conceived by a young woman, the incomprehensible by a slight woman, the unchangeable by a weak and tender person? Yet she did conceive such and so great a person that, according to the witness of Luke 1:31-33, the Angel said to the Virgin: Behold, you shall conceive in your womb and shall bring forth a son etc.; then the Angel describes him: He shall be great, that is, incomprehensible; and shall be called the Son of the Most High, from being unchangeable in his essence; and of his kingdom there shall be no end, since he has no end. Hence, in this conception divine Majesty is wonderfully humbled and virginal humility wonderfully exalted. Bernard[19] says:

Wonder at both and choose which you admire more, either the most benign worthiness of the Son or the most excellent dignity of the Mother! Both are a wonder, both a miracle: that God obeys a woman is humility without a like, and that a woman is over God is sublime unlike any other.

And later, illustrating the same wonder, he says:

Next, here is recognized short length, narrow width, height brought low, depth laid open. Here is recognized a light not shining, a word as an infant, thirsting for water, hungry for bread. You may see, if you are attentive, power ruled, wisdom taught, power upheld, God taking milk at the breast yet refreshing Angels, crying yet consoling the unhappy.

The newness of the conception

Thirdly, it was admirable for the newness of the conception, a newness foreseen in Jeremias 31:22: The Lord has created a new thing upon the earth, a woman shall encompass a man. This, I say, is new, something unheard in earlier times, that the conception of the Child would not be coagulation and accepting of seed, but the knowledge of a perfect man and a perfect and integral encompassing by virtues. In the words spoken to the Virgin, the Angel announced this new thing to Mary and showed something rare for confirmation, namely, conception in a barren womb: Behold, your cousin Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age, because no word shall be impossible with God [Luke 1:36-37]. This was not new because the barren and old Sara conceived [Gen 11:30] but it was wonderful; however, it was well possible for God to do what is great as well as what is small, new as well as what is rare, even though the greater and rarer something is, the more wonderful is it. Hence, among all the works of God the mystery of the conception contains more reasons for wonder. This is what blessed Bernard[20] says:

Never before has it been heard that a mother could at the same time be a virgin. If you reflect on whose Mother she is, how much the more your admiration draws you to its wonderful loftiness? Is it not so that you may see without ever wondering enough?

In a later text he adds:

And is it surprising if God, who sees and says what is wonderful in his Saints, has shown more wonderful things in his Mother? Therefore, spouses, venerate the integrity of flesh in corruptible flesh; holy virgins, you also should wonder at the fertility in the Virgin; all people should imitate the humility of the Mother of God; holy Angels, honour the Mother of your King, you who adore the Child of our Virgin, for he is equally our King and your King, the Redeemer of the human race, the Founder of your home.

Desirable for our benefit in three ways:

Firstly, the overthrow of the enemies

The fertility of the Virgin was also incomparable or desirable for our benefit in a way that is completely incalculable. A triple value can be noted. The first is the overthrow of the enemies by the Child conceived and this is well indicated in Isaias 8:3 where is said that a prophetess conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said to me, call his name Hasten to take away the spoils, make haste to take away the prey, because Christ has overcome our enemies, according to Colossians 2:15: And despoiling the principalities and powers, he has exposed them confidently in open show, triumphing over them in himself. For this reason, the Virgin Mary by conceiving him is called the conqueror of the enemies, according to the text of Ecclesiasticus 24:11: And by my own power I have trodden under my feet the hearts of all the high and low. Hence Bernard[21]:

She is the woman earlier promised by God, the woman who with a foot of power crushed the head of the ancient serpent that with great cunning clearly lay in wait for her heel, but without success; for she alone crushed all heretical deviation.

Secondly, the consolation of the afflicted

The second value is the consolation of the afflicted and this is well represented in Ruth 4:13-15: The Lord gave her to conceive and to bear a son. Ruth means seeing and by this we understand the Virgin Mary; further on the text says:

And the women said to Noemi: Blessed be the Lord who has not suffered our family to want a successor that his name should be preserved in Israel, and you should have one to comfort your soul and cherish your old age.

By Noemi we understand the Church that from the conception of Christ is consoled in all its troubles, according to 2 Corinthians 1:5: For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also by Christ does our comfort abound. For this reason the Virgin Mary is called the comforter of the unfortunate. Hence Bernard[22]:

Think on Mary, call on Mary in dangers, in difficulties, in doubtful situations. Let her not be absent from your mouth, absent from your heart, and so that you may beg the help of her prayer do not abandon the example of her way of life.

Thirdly, the freeing of captives

The third value is the freeing of captives that is well indicated in Exodus 2:2 where, when speaking of the conception of Moses, it is said of his mother that she conceived and bore a son and seeing him of fine appearance, hid him three months. Just as Moses freed the captive people of Israel from Egypt and hid them from the face of Pharaoh, so Christ freed us from darkness and the shadow of death [Luke 1:79], having been first hidden from the face of Herod. Hence Christ himself was our deliverance; he freed us from slavery to sin and freed us from the servitude of corruption into the liberty of the children of God [Romans 8:21]. For this reason the Virgin Mary is called the liberator of captives. Anselm says[23]:

But why do I say, Lady, the earth is full of your gifts? They penetrate hell, overcome heaven. By the fulness of your grace those rejoice who were freed from hell and those are glad who were restored above the earth.

Accordingly, it is clear how admirable, ineffable and yet singular is the fertility of the most blessed Virgin Mary.

Desirable and detestable conception

But it must be understood what is the fertility or conception desirable to a holy soul and that it should be common to all. Isaias 6:17-18: says of this: In your presence, O Lord, we have conceived and been as it were in labour and have brought forth wind [a spirit], of salvation. There is another fertility that is detestable and the opposite of this, namely, that of a sinful soul of which James 1:15 says: Then when concupiscence has conceived, it brings forth sin; but sin, when it is completed, begets death.

Praiseworthy conception has a sevenfold spirit

The first conception is praiseworthy and it is sevenfold having a sevenfold spirit that is well indicated in the spiritual man Job of whom it is said that there were born to him seven sons [Job 1:2]. Gregory[24] explains this as ‘the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit’ to which are opposed seven evil spirits; Luke 11:24-26 says of these:

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through places without water, seeking rest; and not finding, he says: I will return into my house whence I came out. And when he is come, he finds it swept and garnished. He goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there.

And so it has to be understood that the conception of a spiritual soul is sevenfold as is the conception of a carnal soul, both of which are to be treated together so as to make the matter clearer. But the seven gifts that arise from the grace of God are fittingly represented by the seven barren women who conceived by a gift of God and by the power of that divine gift.

First gift, fear, and its opposite, pride

Firstly, a spiritual soul conceives a spirit of fear, the first of the gifts, and this was represented in the conception of Sara of which Genesis 21:2-3 says: She conceived and bore a son in her old age and Abraham called his name Isaac. By Isaac is rightly understood a gift of fear, according to the text of Genesis 31:42 where Jacob says: Unless the fear of Isaac had stood by me, peradventure now you would have sent me away naked. This fear is conceived from a belief in the punishments; hence, Hebrews 11:11 says: By faith also Sara herself being barren received strength to conceive seed. This is the beginning of spiritual conception because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom [Ecclesiasticus 1:16].

Opposed to this is the conception of spiritual pride, the beginning of all ruin, of which in Genesis 6:4 it is said that Agar perceiving that she was with child, despised her mistress.

Second gift, piety, and its opposite, envy

Secondly, a spiritual soul conceives the gift of piety that was represented in the conception of Rebecca of which Genesis 25:21 says: Isaac besought the Lord for his wife because she was barren; and he heard him and made Rebecca to conceive. But the children struggled in her womb, in which is represented that the gift of piety is not born without a zeal for the severity of justice, for between them there was a struggle between the austerity of Esau and the kindness of Jacob.

Opposed to this is the conception of the spirit of envy of which Job 15:35 says: He has conceived sorrow, and has brought forth iniquity and his womb prepares deceits. This is rightly said of the envious who sorrow over the goods of others and from sorrow lie in ambush and later plunder. Isaias 59:13-15:

We have conceived and uttered from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward and justice has stood far off, because truth has fallen down in the street and equity could not come in. And truth has been forgotten and he that departed from evil, lay open to be a prey.

Third, gift of knowledge, and its opposite, anger

Thirdly, a spiritual soul receives the gift of knowledge represented in the conception of Rachel of whom Genesis 30:22-24 says: The Lord remembered Rachel, heard her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son, saying: God has taken away my reproach. And she called his name Joseph. By Joseph, who was most prudent, we understand the gift of knowledge. Hence, in Psalm 104:21-22 we read: He made him master of his house, and ruler of all his possession, that he might instruct his princes as himself, and teach his ancients wisdom.

Opposed to this is the conception of the spirit of anger that ‘hinders the mind lest it discern truth’[25]; Psalm 7:15 says of this: Behold, he has been in labour with injustice, he has conceived sorrow and brought forth iniquity. Sorrow is common to anger and envy, but envy arises principally over good things, anger from some injury or offence, while both are evident externally.

Fourth, gift of fortitude, and its opposite, sloth

Fourthly, a spiritual soul conceives the gift of fortitude represented in the barren wife of Manue of whom Judges 13:3.24 says: An angel of the Lord appeared to her and said: You are barren and without children but you shall conceive and bear a son; and later is added that she conceived and she bore a son and called his name Samson; because of her fortitude, the gift of fortitude, something we have from God, is elegantly represented in her.

Opposed to this is the conception of the spirit of sloth to which all things are burdensome. Isaias 59:4 says of this: They have conceived labour and brought forth iniquity.

Fifth, gift of counsel, and its opposite, avarice

Fifthly, a soul conceives the gift of counsel, represented in the conception of Anna in 1 Kings 1:20; 3:1; 8:21-22: Anna conceived and bore a son and called his name Samuel because she had asked him of the Lord. By Samuel for whom she had asked the Lord, whom she offered to the Lord and who ministered to the Lord is rightly understood the gift of counsel that is to be found in the Lord according to Tobias 4:20: Desire of the Lord to direct your ways and that all your counsels may abide in him.

Opposed to this is the conception of the spirit of avarice that contradicts the divine counsels; of it can be understood the words of Isaias 33:11: You shall conceive heat, namely, of avarice, and you shall bring forth stubble, of money.

Sixth, gift of understanding, and its opposite, greed

Sixthly, a spiritual soul conceives the gift of understanding represented in the conception of the woman of Sunam of whom 4 Kings 4:17 says: The woman conceived and brought forth a son in the time and at the same hour that Eliseus had said. As many claim, the son of this woman was Jonas, whose understanding was like that of a prophet and who preached not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles and to the people of Ninive who, by his preaching, were converted to God [Jonas 3:4ff.]. It is significant that the text says the woman conceived because of her hospitality to Eliseus, because, as Gregory[26] says, by a good practice of piety an understanding of truth is reached. On the other hand, understanding without work is a single talent that is not increased, rather, because of it, the person to whom it is committed is damned, as Matthew 25:24ff. says of the lazy servant.

Opposed to this is the conception of the spirit of greed, to which can be applied the text of Job 21:10: Their cattle have conceived and failed not. This text can rightly be understood of a greedy person who like cattle has two stomachs and whose stomach is distended from chewing the cud of food. Such a person is deprived of understanding because Isaias 28:9 says: To whom shall he teach knowledge and whom shall he make to understand the hearing? Them that are weaned from the milk, and are drawn away from the breasts.

Seven, gift of wisdom, and its opposite, lust

Seventhly, a spiritual soul conceives the gift of wisdom represented in the conception of Elizabeth of whom in Luke 1:24 is said that Elizabeth conceived and hid herself five months. She conceived John who was not only a Prophet but also more than a prophet, because the gift of wisdom exceeds every other way of knowing. This is the true treasure according to what is said in Wisdom 7:14: She is an infinite treasure which they that use become the friends of God being commended for the gift of discipline. According to the counsel of the Lord in Matthew 13:44, it should be hidden: The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field, which a man having found, hid it etc. For wisdom is hid from the eyes of all living [Job 28:21].

Opposed to this is the spirit of lust that turns people entirely to what is carnal. This is represented by Genesis 19:36: So the two daughters of Lot were with child by their father, that is, from incest. Note that they are called two because the horseleech has two daughters [Proverbs 30:15], for rarely is there lust without greed, in fact one introduces the other, as stated of the daughters of Lot [Genesis 19:31ff.].

Conclusion

So it is clear that there are seven spiritual conceptions that are opposed by seven evil conceptions. It is also clear how fittingly they are expressed in Scripture because only seven women are said to have conceived by divine power. For the divine Scriptures are more concerned with a prefiguring than with an event. However, those who did conceive gave birth to Christ in a figurative sense, such as Isaac, Jacob and Joseph among the Patriarchs, Samson and Samuel among the Judges, Jonas and John among the Prophets; and all these conceptions are a figure of the present conception because what in others was partial, was complete in Mary. She conceived the Son, who from the moment of conception had the sevenfold Spirit in its completeness, according to Isaiah 11:1-3:

And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the sprit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord.

Hence, this conception of the Virgin is a truth fulfilling all the previously mentioned conceptions. Because of its perfection and dignity it should not have been prefigured by any single and simple conception, but by many. Hence, there were many prefigurings before this conception, either to lead the intellect to believe the miracle of today’s conception, or to stimulate a desire for the fruit of the said conception; by this they could show the admirable and desirable conception as has already been touched on. Hence, Bernard[27] speaking of these prefigurings says:

What was clear of Moses in the bush and fire, of Aaron in the rod and flower, of Gedeon in the fleece and dew, was openly preached by Solomon in the valiant woman [Proverbs 31:10]; more openly hinted at by Jeremias 31:22 in a woman and a man; most clearly Isaias 7:14 spoke of the Virgin and the Son; and finally Gabriel by a greeting pointed out the Virgin herself [Luke 1:30ff.].

This sevenfold event is fulfilled today in our ears; so all Christian people should be glad and rejoice from the revealing of such a reasonable, admirable, valuable and desirable mystery, so that by the power of this mystery the people may be led to eternal happiness. Amen.

SERMON 3

Psalm 84:13: The Lord will give goodness and our earth shall yield her fruit.

John 3:31: He that is of the earth, of the earth he is, and of the earth he speaks. He that comes from heaven is above all.

(Introduction) The second quote is taken from John and is a text spoken by John the Baptist when his disciples were questioning him about Christ. In the text he shows that he is unworthy to speak about Christ and he gives the reason, namely, because Christ is from heaven and he is from earth. And as far as the heavens are distant from earth, so far is our understanding distant from Christ. Just as a person who tries to touch the heaven is regarded as being foolish, so also a person would be foolish who would want to investigate by human words and wisdom the mystery of the incarnation of Christ. And I am not worthy to speak of the mystery of the incarnation just like anyone who can say: My belly cleaves to the earth [Psalm 43:25]; I think of myself as being of the earth. And since I am less capable, let us ask the Lord at the beginning that he might give me some small gift of his grace so that I may be able to babble something about the mystery of the incarnation that would give honour to his holy name and be for the salvation of our souls.

The Lord will give goodness and our earth shall yield her fruit.

Sermon

The mystery of the incarnation is at the one time most high and yet deep, in its depth inscrutable, in its height inexplicable, so as Isaias 53:8 says: Who shall declare his generation? Also, in John 1:27, John the Baptist could say: The latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. It was most fitting that it be explained to us as something hidden under diverse and suitable likenesses, for as Dionysius[28] says: ‘It is impossible for us to shed light on the divine ray other than from the variety of sacred veils that cover it with spiritual meaning’. For this reason, David, outstanding among the Prophets, to whom the gift of the incarnation was divinely promised, and who was inspired by the Holy Spirit to explain to us the wonderful mystery of the incarnation that is today realized through the angelic ministry of the Archangel Gabriel and through the consent of the most pure Virgin. David does this, under the metaphor of a tree bearing fruit, in the text quoted above when he says: The Lord will give goodness etc.

Triple division

In this text the mystery and gift of the incarnation is well described under a triple heading: firstly, from the point of view of the principle acting when he says: The Lord will give goodness; secondly, from the point of view of the subject receiving when he adds: and our earth; thirdly, from the point of view of the benefit flowing from it when he adds: shall yield her fruit. The utterly kind incarnation of the Son is perfectly known when one recognizes from whom and in whom and for whom it exists; because in this way it is known from the point of view of its beginning, middle and end, or from the point of view of what precedes, what accompanies, what follows it; in these consists the whole and perfect knowledge of an object.

Part I: Incarnation described from the point of view of the principle acting

Therefore, firstly, the mystery of the incarnation is described in the text from the point of view of the principle acting when it says: The Lord will give goodness.[29] If the reason and main principle of why God wanted to become incarnate is sought, the best answer, the highest, main and most excellent reason is the goodness of God, from which, according to which and for which the Word became flesh. So the Prophet called this kindness goodness because it comes from goodness, disperses goodness and leads to goodness. It is linked to goodness by a triple type of causality, namely, efficient, exemplary and final. So it is that the gift of the incarnation, when thought of by reason alone, seems doubtful or incredible, but when compared to the highest goodness it becomes certain and indisputable. For if it is most sure that God is the best, it is also most certain that God is most kind and most generous, and because of this it is most fitting to attribute to God the gift of the greatest kindness and generosity, than which no greater can be imagined. This gift is for God to assume the form of a servant from a virginal womb, something not only credible but also certain and indisputable if we pay attention to what the Prophet wants to say: The Lord will give goodness.

Firstly, the incarnation comes from the greatest love

Firstly, he indicates that the gift of the utterly good incarnation comes from the greatest love, according to the fact that in a person of spiritual life, one speaking with God, it is said in Psalm 50:20-21: Deal favourably, O Lord, in your good will etc; and further on: Then shall you accept the sacrifice of justice etc. It is clear that this gift was acceptable only because of the coming of Christ; hence in Hebrews 10:5, taken from Psalm 39:7, we read: Sacrifice and oblation you did not want but a body you have fitted to me. Therefore, because this gift was not to be given for the sake of a dignity of human merit, but for the sake of a gift of divine kindness, he says: Deal favourably, O Lord, in your goodwill. Goodwill is a will that diffuses itself from kindness and comes down in mercy, for which reason the holy man prays in Psalm 68:17: Hear me, O Lord, for your mercy is kind. Because the Son of God took on not only our nature but also its punishments, it follows that the gift of the incarnation comes at the one time from mercy and kindness.

Secondly, the incarnation disperses the greatest goodness

Secondly, the incarnation was given to disperse the greatest goodness, according to what is said in Titus 3:4: The goodness and kindness of God our Saviour appeared. The goodness of God was as it were hidden before the coming of the incarnate Word, but after his coming it became clear, appeared, and was made public. In this way the year of goodness began, according to Psalm 64:12: You shall bless the crown of the year of your goodness. The crown of goodness was the blessed Virgin Mary who was described as a woman clothed with the sun and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was blessed by God as the Angel announced to her: Blessed are you among women [Luke 1:28]; and because of this the fields shall be filled with plenty of grace [Psalm 64:12]. Wherefore, those who are now empty of grace and filled with thorns, do not look to the goodness of the year but to the severity of divine judgment, according to Psalm 51:5: You have loved malice rather than goodness.

Thirdly, the incarnation leads to the highest love

Thirdly, it leads to the highest love, according to Ephesians 4:32: Be kind to one another, merciful, forgiving one another, even as God has forgiven you in Christ. It was for this that God out of kindness gave this gift and showed kindness in the gift given, so that by the gift and example God, as it were drawing us by cords, might make us conformable to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Hence, Luke 6:35 says: But love your enemies; do good and lend, hoping for nothing hereby and your rewards shall be great and you shall be sons of the Highest for God is kind to the unthankful and to the evil. For the Lord is kind to the evil, accepting them when they repent; Joel 2:12-13 says: Be converted to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of the evil, by showing tolerance when people sin. But this kindness changes to anger over those who are not converted to penance; Romans 2:4-5 says:

Know you not that the benignity of God leads you to penance? But according to your hardness and impenitent heart, you treasure up for yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God.

Conclusion

Accordingly, the kindness of God is not to be despised because no one is holy other than by accepting goodness from God and then beginning to act kindly for God’s sake. This is from the gift of the incarnation that, under the name kindness, the Prophet identifies as coming from the principle acting when he says: The Lord will give goodness.

Part II: Incarnation described from the point of view of the subject receiving

Secondly, the gift of the incarnation is described from the point of view of the subject receiving, when the text says: our earth. This is quite fitting for just as when the earth is left in a dry condition it is impossible for what germinates to bear fruit as it does when irrigated with water. In the same way virginity left in its barrenness does not conceive unless made fertile by grace from above. It is not surprising when formerly arid earth can germinate after being irrigated by rain. In the same way it is not surprising for a virgin to conceive, namely, when made fertile by the grace of the Holy Spirit. To understand such a metaphor better it has to be known that the earth in question is most arid as a property, most deep in its locality, most irrigated by a spring, and most fertile in fruitfulness,[30] in such a way that one of these properties is the cause and reason for another. The earth is fertile and fruitful because it is irrigated; it is irrigated because it is deep and situated below; it is situated in the lowest place because it is exceedingly arid and dark.

The four factors are found in Mary

Four conditions in our earth, namely the most blessed Virgin Mary, correspond to these factors. The conditions are virginal incorruption, most reverent subjection, complete sanctification and most fruitful conception. Similarly, in these conditions one of these properties leads to another. Incorruption of itself inclines one to reverence and subjection towards the eternal Father, and this leads to sanctification by the Holy Spirit, which then leads to the conception of the Son of God.

The first condition

Therefore, the blessed Virgin Mary was the driest earth because of her incorrupt virginity. A figure of this can be seen in Genesis 1:9-10: Let the waters that are under the heaven be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear. And it was so done and God called the dry land, Earth. By earth separated from water is understood the Virgin Mary drawn away from all carnal and fleeting desires. This was done by a vow of strictest virginity to which, from divine inspiration, the Virgin Mary totally gave herself and among others she was the first to do this. Accordingly, she was suitable to be joined to the most pure and chaste heavenly Bridegroom. For this reason, in Canticle 2:12 is said: The flowers have appeared in our land, the time of pruning is come, the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land. The turtle-dove is a most chaste bird, and so the voice of the turtle-dove represents a vow of most perfect chastity. This voice of the turtle-dove is heard in the blessed Virgin, and so now every base voice, namely, of fornication and passion, should cease, according to Ephesians 5:3-4: But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you, as becomes saints, or obscenity, or foolish talking, or scurrility.

The need for penance

For this voice to be fully heard we must busy ourselves with penance, according to the text of Psalm 62:3: In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water, so in the sanctuary have I come before you, because the Holy of Holies dwells only in those who have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences [Galatians 5:24] in imitation of the blessed Virgin.

The second condition

Secondly, the most blessed Virgin Mary was most deep in locality for a most reverent subjection. Proverbs 25:3 expresses this well: The heaven above and the earth beneath. The glorious Virgin Mary is compared at the one time to the heaven and to the earth: to the heaven on account of her most excellent dignity and loftiness; to the earth on account of her most deep humility, and these two were joined in a marvellous way in the blessed Virgin. For when she was saluted by the Angel as Mother most high, she named herself as a handmaid of Christ: Behold, she said, the handmaid of the Lord, and further on: He has regarded the humility of his handmaid [Luke 1:38.48]. Bernard[31] says: ‘Honoured humility, a great and rare virtue’. So it was most fitting that the heavenly and earthly be brought together in her, for she merited this by the virtue of humility, as Psalm 101:20 says: Because he has looked forth from his high sanctuary, from heaven the Lord has looked upon earth. The earth, situated in the very centre of the universe, is so placed that all heavenly bodies may look directly at it, and so that all the powers of any other bodies might be gathered together to produce in it a most noble offspring. In the same way, the Virgin Mary was ready by her most excellent humility for every grace.

The need for humility

And hence, if anyone wants to be noticed by divine grace, it is necessary, that he or she be humbled and go down to the earth. For who is as the Lord our God who dwells on high and looks down on the low things in heaven and in earth? Raising up the needy from the earth, and lifting up the poor out of the dunghill [Psalm 112:5-7].

The third condition

Thirdly, the Virgin Mary was earth most fully irrigated by a spring for complete sanctification; this is prefigured in Genesis 2:5-6: There was not a man to till the earth, but a spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of the earth. This earth, on which no man had worked, was the Virgin untouched by man and on whom descended and from whom rose a spring of living water and a river of divine grace, namely, a fount of water springing up into life everlasting [John 4:14]. This watered all the surface of the earth, because it sanctified not only the soul of the Virgin, but also her flesh for the conception of the Child without any stain of concupiscence. Hence, she was completely filled with grace like earth irrigated by rains from above; foreseeing this, the Psalmist says: You have visited the earth and plentifully watered it; you have many ways enriched it [Psalm 64:10]. Not only did she have the sanctifying Holy Spirit, but also an inebriating Spirit so that she might cause it to flow on others. The Holy Spirit came down upon her like rain upon the fleece and as showers falling gently upon the earth [Psalm 71:6]. By reason of her grace she moistens the arid earth of our heart, especially when we call out in prayer and sigh to her, according to the text of Judges 1:14-15 in which we read that the daughter of Caleb: Sighed, sitting on her ass, and said: You have given me a dry land, give me also a watery land. She obtains the grace of tears for our sins and for eternal goods.

The fourth condition

Finally, the most holy Virgin Mary was most fertile earth, fertile for a most fruitful conception, according to the words of Isaias 45:8: Drop down dew, heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just One, let the earth be opened and bud forth a Saviour. The heavens dropped down in the Angel’s greeting and in the sending of the Holy Spirit; the earth opened in the consent of the Virgin, budded forth a Saviour in the conception of the Son of God, something done by a divine decree alone, just as by a single decree in the beginning God made the earth to bring forth; Genesis 1:11: Let the earth bring forth the green herb, and such as may seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in itself upon the earth. That tree yielding fruit is Christ, whom the Virgin conceived; but first she brought forth the herb of holy thoughts, affections, words and works.

Exhortation

Whoever wants to have Christ spiritually within must, through a heavenly blessing, bring forth herbs from a full intention, according to Mark 4:28: For the earth of itself brings forth fruit, first the blade, then the ear, afterwards the full corn in the ear, because first comes good deeds, then an expectation of glory, lastly follows the receiving of the kingdom, which one does not reach unless one has first been made holy on the earth. Hebrews 6:7: The earth that drinks in the rain which comes often upon it, and brings forth herbs meet for them by whom it is tilled, receives blessing from God. Accordingly, we are not like Eve because of whom it was said to Adam: Cursed is the earth in your work etc.; but rather like Mary of whom in Psalm 84:2 we read: Lord, you have blessed your land etc. She was so blessed that she was made fertile to bring forth the noblest fruit. For which reason it says: and our earth shall yield her fruit etc.

DISCOURSE

Repetition

It has been stated that in the texts quoted the mystery of the incarnation is described from a threefold point of view, namely, from the points of view of the principle acting, the subject receiving, and the benefit flowing. It has been said about the first that the mystery of the incarnation comes from goodness, displays the highest goodness and leads to the highest goodness. It has also been said that from the point of view of the subject receiving, the mystery of the incarnation is said to be of the earth; this was said because of the four properties of earth that correspond to four dignities in the blessed Virgin and this has been discussed. It now remains to treat of the third point of view.

Part III: Incarnation described from the point of view of the benefit flowing

In the third place, the mystery of the incarnation is described from the point of view of the benefit flowing when the text says: our earth shall yield her fruit. In this text the benefit of the incarnation is noted from the point of view of the benefit flowing. Concerning this it has to be understood that the virginal conception is the richest fruit of this earth. Leviticus 25:21 gives a prefiguring of this: I will give you my blessing the sixth year and it shall yield the fruit of three years. The sixth year represents the sixth age in which Christ was conceived, while the three years represent the three periods of time, namely, of the law of nature, of Scripture and of grace, in which in no way can a person be saved other than through Christ. In the time of grace this fruit is given more richly and more copiously and is more highly honoured, according to Isaias 4:2: In that day the bud of the Lord shall be in magnificence and glory, and the fruit of the earth shall be high, and a great joy to them that shall have escaped of Israel. So the fruit of the virginal womb is sublime and delightful, because it is most beautiful to look at, most sweet to smell, most flavoursome to taste, most effective for support, most precious to possess.

The first condition

Firstly, this fruit is most beautiful to look at through the eye of faith: Ecclesiasticus 39:17: Hear me, you divine offspring, and bud forth as the rose planted by the brooks of waters. The divine offspring are all the saints and just, but especially Jesus Christ himself, who was born from God the Father, conceived by the Virgin Mary through the Holy Spirit, and who came forth from human nature like a rose among thorns. Because of its beauty, the rose holds the first place. Isaias 11:1 says: There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. This beauty came from a freedom from all sin, according to the text of Proverbs 3:14: His first and purest fruits etc. He was free from any deformity, any inclination towards or possibility of sin. He has this also from the brightness of heavenly grace, something implied in the blessing of Joseph in Deuteronomy 33:13-15:

Of the blessing of the Lord be his land, of the fruits of heaven, and of the dew, and of the deep that lies beneath, of the fruits brought forth by the sun and by the moon, of the tops of the ancient mountains, of the fruits of the everlasting hills.

This is said because in Christ at the one time there is the light of wisdom represented by the sun, and prudence represented by the moon; a light enabling contemplation and a light enabling actions; a light according to the nature of heaven and according to the conditions of the way; in his nature is a light of divinity and a light of humanity, and so on him the angels desire to look [1 Peter 1:12].

The second condition

Secondly, there is a most sweet fruit to smell through the desire of hope, as is well indicated in the text of Ecclesiasticus 24:23 where what Wisdom says can be applied to the Virgin: As a vine I have brought forth a pleasant odour. This fruit of sweet odour is Christ, the Wisdom of the Father who said of himself: I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aromatical balm, from my Divinity; I yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh, from my humanity that suffered. This odour should stir up in us a desire to reach Christ, according to Canticle 1:3: We will run after you to the odour of your ointments. So blessed John the Evangelist[32] says: ‘Your odour, Lord, has stirred in me eternal desires’. We experience the odour of this fruit when we do good in the hope of reaching this fruit, according to the text of 1 Corinthians 9:10: He that ploughs, should plough in hope; and he that threshes, in hope to receive fruit. According to James 5:7, this hope does not allow one to tire: Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, patiently bearing till he receive the early and the late rain.

The third condition

Thirdly, this fruit is most flavoursome to taste from the comfort of charity, according to Canticle 2:3: I sat down under his shadow, whom I desired, and his fruit was sweet to my palate. To a palate alive with the hope of charity, nothing is sweeter and more flavoursome than Christ, who is living fruit. Anyone who comes close to Christ is refreshed by this fruit, according to Matthew 11:28: Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you. For charity gives a taste of the sweetness of the charity and goodness of God, and so, in Galatians 5:22, charity is listed as the first of the fruits of the Spirit: But the fruit of the Spirit is charity etc. It is charity that is the main factor in enjoying Christ as the most flavoursome food and the sweetest fruit, according to Deuteronomy 32:13: He set him upon high land, that he might eat the fruits of the fields, that he might suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the hardest stone. By honey out of the rock and oil out of the hardest stone Christ is understood, Christ God and man, born from the virginal womb. This fruit was gathered from the fields of the Patriarchs to refresh those who desire what is temporal for the sake of what is eternal, according to the text of Jeremias 2:7: I brought you into the land of Carmel, to eat the fruit thereof. Carmel stands for knowledge of circumcision because unless one cuts away from oneself desires of the world, one does not attain a taste of the spiritual gifts of Christ.

The fourth condition

This fruit is also most effective for support through the practice of virtue, according to the text of Wisdom 16:26: It is not the growing of fruits that nourishes men, but your word preserves them that believe in you. The Word of God is the Son of the Father, Christ, Son of the Virgin, who is the food of salvation for all who approach him worthily. Such are all who become like him through believing, hoping, loving and imitating. Such are fed with the fruit of the strongest strength by which they are sustained for ever. And so in Proverbs 11:30 we read: The fruit of the just man is a tree of life. Because justice is unending and immortal, a just person should be refreshed with this fruit that leads to immortality and such is the fruit of the tree of life. This tree is Christ according to John 6:41: I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Hence, this fruit is provided for us as the food of salvation in the Sacrament of the altar, to which no one approaches worthily without hearing and doing the Word of God. Such a person lives not by bread alone but in every word that proceeds from the mouth of God [Matthew 4:4]. If, therefore, the Word of God is food for the soul, then the perfect food of the soul consists in the Word who came forth incarnate. The food of the spirit united to flesh is the incarnate Word. For a person walking in faith, not yet by sight, this food has to be the Word incarnate under the veil of the species as given in the Sacrament of the altar.

The fifth condition

Lastly, this fruit is most precious to possess as the prize of an eternal reward, according to Psalm 126:2-3: When he shall give sleep to his beloved, behold the inheritance of the Lord are children, the reward, the fruit of the womb. Christ who is the fruit of the virginal womb will be our reward in heaven, not any kind of reward, but one most precious. Hence, the Virgin can utter the text of Proverbs 8:19: For my fruit is better than gold and the precious stone, and my blossoms than choice silver. They are incorruptible and unceasing, given only to those who work faithfully, according to Wisdom 3:15: For the fruit of good labours is glorious, and the root of wisdom never fails. Because fruit and the root are the same thing, the beginning and the end are the same, the Alpha and Omega [Apocalypse 22:13] are the same; just as a root lacks a beginning, so the fruit will lack an ending. Let us, then, enjoy this fruit in heavenly glory, to which may lead us etc.

SERMON 4

He that made me, rested in my tabernacle.

Introduction

This text is written in Ecclesiasticus 24:12 in which, according to the general interpretation, a divine dwelling is described in so far as it is from God and in so far as it is towards God. It is described, firstly, by comparison to the action of the One creating, when it says: He that made me; secondly, by comparison to the quiet of the indwelling guest when it adds: rested in my tabernacle. The Creator and the One indwelling are the same, because God and man are the same, the Alpha and Omega. But according to the spiritual interpretations it can have quite fitting and diverse applications. According to the literal sense it fits the Virgin Mary in whose tabernacle the Lord rested bodily; according to the allegorical sense it fits the Church militant in whose tabernacle the Lord rests in a sacramental way; according to the moral sense it fits a faithful soul in whose tabernacle the Lord rests spiritually; according to the anagogical sense it fits the heavenly curia in whose tabernacle he rests for ever. So, in every sense what is said is true: He that made me, rested in my tabernacle, namely, literally, allegorically, morally and in an anagogical sense.

Part I: Literal sense

Therefore, firstly, the Virgin Mary can say: He that made me etc. since this applies to her in a literal sense. The Lord of Majesty rested in her tabernacle when made man in her womb. For this reason the excellent Prophet said: The Most High has sanctified his own tabernacle [Psalm 45:5], that he had prepared by forming her nature so that he might be born from it. In another text the Prophet says: That man is born in her and the Highest himself has founded her [Psalm 86:5]. Founded, indeed, that is, confirmed in grace so that he might be able to rest securely in her. And so he adds: God is in the midst thereof, it shall not be moved [Psalm 45:6], because that tabernacle will never be inclined to sin. Hence, Bernard[33] writes Ad Lugdunenses: ‘I think that a more abundant grace of holiness came down on her that not only sanctified her beginning but then kept her free from all sin during her life’. This was well prefigured in the last chapter of Exodus 40:9 and then 31-32 in that prefiguring of the tabernacle where Moses was told: Anoint the tabernacle with its vessels, that they may be sanctified; and then later is added: After all things were perfected the cloud covered the tabernacle of the testimony and the glory of the Lord filled it. This tabernacle is the Virgin Mary; the vessels are the containers of virtues. The Son of God anointed all these when, as he sanctified her, grace filled her. After her sanctification, he who overshadowed her and filled her with grace, covered her so that nothing would remain in her, either in her soul or flesh that was not filled with the grace of the Divinity.

Triple division

Accordingly, the Creator of all things rested in the tabernacle of the virginal womb, since he had established in her a wedding room that he might become our brother; he had prepared a royal throne that he might become our prince; he put on a priestly vestment that he might become our high priest. Because of the wedding room the Virgin Mary is the Mother of God; because of the royal throne she is the queen of heaven; because of the priestly vestment she is the advocate for the human race. The Virgin Mary was suitable for all these since she was a member of the human race, from a line of kings and from a line of priests. Therefore, the most loving Virgin Mary may say: He that made me, rested in my tabernacle.

First division, the wedding room

In this tabernacle he prepared a wedding room and he did this so that in the virginal womb he might take human nature as his bride; the Prophet David foresaw this in the Spirit with prophetic certainty: He has set his tabernacle in the sun [Psalm 18:5]. He says, in the sun, that is, in the blessed Virgin who is rightly called the sun because she was clothed with the sun and filled with the light of eternal brightness, according to a text of Apocalypse 12:1: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, because of purity. When she is compared with the light, she is found before it [Wisdom 7:29]. Anselm[34] says: ‘It was fitting that the conception of that person should be from a most pure Mother with a purity than which no greater could be imagined under God’, by reason of her splendour in a total perfection of virtue. Hence, Jerome[35] says: ‘If you examine closely, there is no virtue, no beauty, no brightness nor glory that does not shine from her’. Rightly then is it said: In the sun, that is, in the blessed Virgin. Later he adds, as a bridegroom, because the womb of the Virgin is an inner room in which God was joined to human nature and, as he kissed it, he was joined to it by a marriage bond. This is well prefigured in Genesis 24:67: Who brought her into the tent of Sara his mother, and took her to wife. What is understood by Isaac other than Christ; what is understood of Rebecca, who received much,[36] other than human nature that received much in gifts in this betrothal; what is understood by Sara other than the Virgin Mary who was the Mother of the true Isaac? In this tabernacle of Sara, that is, the most holy womb, the Son of God entered a human nature to espouse himself to it, and the Creator of all things became our brother, and the blessed Virgin was made the Mother of all the Saints. Blessed is the day on which all this happened because, through the Virgin Mother, God became our Father; the Son of God, our brother. So Bernard[37] speaking to the Virgin says:

All generations shall call you blessed, you who brought forth life and glory for all generations. In you the angels find joy for ever, the just grace and sinners forgiveness. Rightly do the eyes of all creatures look to you because in you, through you and from you the kind hand of the Almighty recreated whatever had been created’.

Second division, the royal throne

In this tabernacle he also prepared a royal throne that he might become our prince, according to Isaias 16:5 that says: A throne shall be prepared in mercy, and one shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David. This throne is rightly understood to be the assumed human nature in which God reigned. This kingdom is said to be prepared in mercy, because, while power, wisdom and justice are displayed in the incarnation, nevertheless the strongest reason and cause of the incarnation was the mercy of God and our shared misfortune. Hence, Augustine in sermon 175 De Verb. Apost.[38] says: ‘A faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Jesus Christ came into this world for no reason other than to save sinners’. And again[39]: ‘If man had not sinned, the Son of man would not have come’. Or, in mercy, that is, in the blessed Virgin Mary who is the queen of mercy. So Bernard[40] says: ‘No one need be silent about your mercy, blessed Virgin, for no one remembers calling on you in their needs and you failed them’. Rightly then is it said: A throne shall be prepared in mercy, that is, in the Virgin Mary; and then is added: and one shall sit upon it in the tabernacle of David, that is, in the Virgin who was the tabernacle of David, the true King who is Christ. The Lord sat and rested on it so that he might become our prince; hence, we read in Ezechiel 34:24: My servant David the prince in the midst of them. If David is a prince, then the Mother of the Lord is not a handmaid but a Lady, a queen, the mistress also of all things, not only earthly but also heavenly to which her empire reaches. And so Anselm[41] says:

O Lady, wonderfully singular and singularly wonderful! Through you the elements are renewed, what is hellish is healed, humans are saved, the angels restored. Why do I say, Lady, that the world is filled with your gifts? They penetrate the infernal regions, reach higher than the heavens; for through the fullness of your grace those who were in hell congratulate themselves on being freed and those above the world are joyful at being restored.

And so the blessed Virgin has been made the queen of all.

Exhortation

Therefore all should praise her, in whose honour every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth [Philippians 2:10], because her gifts reach all. And so Bernard[42] speaking of her says:

From her fullness all have received: the slave freedom, the sick healing, the sad consolation, the sinner pardon, the just glory, the Angels joy, the whole Trinity glory, and the person of the Son the substance of human flesh, so that there is no one who can hide from her heat [Psalm 18:7].

Therefore, the Virgin Mary may say: He that made me, rested in my tabernacle.

Third division, the priestly vestment

From this tabernacle he took for himself a priestly vestment that with it he might enter the Holies; we read in Hebrews 9:11-12:

But Christ, being come a high priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hand, that is, not of this creation, neither by the blood of goats, or of calves, but by his own blood, entered once into the holies.

Christ, our priest, entering the Holies, passed through the womb of the Virgin from whom he accepted the priestly stole, and through the yoke of the cross on which he obtained a most holy victim and by this bound us to God. The Apostle touches on these two things in the text quoted: regarding the dignity of the virginal womb he says: a more perfect tabernacle; regarding the excellence of the offering of the cross he says: by his own blood. For, in the womb of the Virgin he put on both a white vestment and a ruddy vestment. The Lord wanted to receive this vestment in the tabernacle of the virginal womb, so that not only would he be an advocate but she also, so that through two persons, whom it is impossible to deny, namely, the Son and the Mother, we may have the strongest comfort, who have fled for refuge to hold fast the hope set before us, according to Hebrews 6:18. So it is said in Leviticus 26:11: I will set my tabernacle in the midst of you, and my soul shall not cast you off again, because the blessed Virgin, our advocate, cannot be refused. Bernard[43] says:

Little children, this is the ladder for sinners, this is my strongest trust, the whole basis of my hope. What is? Could the Son refuse her or bear to see her refused? Clearly neither. The Angel said: You have found grace with God. Fortunately! She will always find grace and we need only grace.

Exhortation

So we should approach the Virgin with great confidence, and without a doubt we will find her in our needs, since she is our advocate. For this reason Bernard[44] exhorts us saying:

In dangers, difficulties and when doubtful think of Mary, call on Mary, do not let her name be far from your mouth, be far from your heart; and to obtain the help of her prayer, do not depart from the example of her way of life. Following her you do not go astray, asking her help you are not desperate, thinking on her you do not err, holding on to her you do not fall, with her protection you are not afraid, with her as leader you do not tire, with her favourable to you, you succeed.

Rightly then this tabernacle should be venerated and one should flee to this tabernacle; in it the Lord rested so familiarly that the blessed Virgin was able to say with literal truth: He that made me, rested in my tabernacle. What has been said is sufficient on the text quoted and understood in its literal meaning.

Part II: Allegorical sense

Understood in its allegorical meaning, the text quoted applies to the Church militant in which the Creator of all rests sacramentally, in so far as the Church holds and preaches the true faith. This is well prefigured in Exodus 29:42 where is said: It is a sacrifice to the Lord, by perpetual oblation unto your generations, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony before the Lord, where I will appoint to speak to you. This tabernacle of the testimony, in which sacrifice is offered and its voice is heard, is the Church militant because, as Augustine[45] says: ‘Outside the Catholic Church there is no place of true sacrifice’. God speaks in it because no teaching makes clear the will of God other than the teaching of the Christian faith. In this tabernacle a perpetual oblation is sacrificed to the Lord because that sacrifice in which God rests sacramentally, will endure until the end, according to the text of Matthew 28:20: Behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world. In this tabernacle the Lord rests to be sacrificed for his people; and so it is necessary that its ministers be pure. He rests also to teach his people; and so it is necessary for the ministers of his tabernacle to be skilled in wisdom. Nonetheless, he rests there to refresh his people; and so it is fitting that its ministers abound in spiritual joy. These three are taken according to the triple action of the angelic and ecclesiastical hierarchy, namely, to purge, enlighten and perfect.

The first reason: to sanctify the people

Firstly, it must be noted that the Lord rests in the tabernacle of the Church militant to sanctify his people and to purge them from all uncleanness; so it is said in Exodus 29:44-45: I will sanctify also the tabernacle of the testimony with the altar, and Aaron with his sons, to do the office of priesthood unto me. And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel. So God sanctifies them so that they, once sanctified, may sanctify others. For the tabernacle is the Church, according to Ephesians 5:25-26: Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church, and delivered himself up for it, that he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life. It is in the Church that Christ cleanses and sanctifies and, therefore, it is necessary that those who serve in this tabernacle be clean so that they may cleanse others by their example and ministry. Hence, it is written in Leviticus 15:31: You shall teach therefore the children of Israel to take heed of uncleanness, that they may not die in their filth, when they shall have defiled my tabernacle that is among them.

Cleanliness in priests

Those who should teach people cleanliness are the priests and Levites, ministers of the altar, whose duty is to purify others but, firstly, they must begin with themselves, and so Leviticus 10:3 says: I will be sanctified in them that approach to me.

But for now it has to be lamented that ministers of the tabernacle, who should give an example of cleanliness and who ought to sanctify the people, defile and disfigure them. Malachias 2:11-12 threatens such people:

Juda has profaned the holiness of the Lord, which he loved, and has married the daughter of a strange god. The Lord will cut off the man that has done this, both the master, and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offers an offering to the Lord of hosts.

Juda by his actions represents a cleric who should confess to the Lord in the tabernacle, but he defiled holiness and so merited despair rather than for his prayer to be heard. God said to such through Isaias 1:15: And when you stretch our hands, I will turn away my eyes from you, and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear, for your hands are full of blood. Such should be afraid lest there happen to them what happened to the sons of Heli of whom is said in 1 Kings 2:22: They lay with the women that waited at the door of the tabernacle. Later, they were killed on one day, and all Israel fled.[46] This was because they had made the house of prayer into a house of prostitution.

The second reason: to teach the people

Secondly, the Lord rests in the tabernacle of the Church militant to teach the people. This is well prefigured in Exodus 33:7: All the people that had any question went forth to the tabernacle of the covenant, without the camp. That tabernacle, to which people went for questions to be answered, is the Church, in which the Lord, teaching what is right by his law, speaks to the mind of a prelate and through him to the subjects.

On prelates

Prelates or ministers of the Church are middle people between the people and God, so that they may pass on divine answers to them; they should then be skilled in wisdom. This is well represented in Numbers 11:16-17:

And the Lord said to Moses: Gather unto me seventy men of the ancients of Israel, whom you know to be ancients and masters of the people, and you shall bring them to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant, and shall make them stand there with you, that I may come down and speak with you, and I will take of your spirit, and will give to them, that they may bear with you the burden of the people.

What it says is excellent: whom you know to be ancients and masters of the people: ancients, I say, in maturity of age and life; masters, in knowledge and teaching, that is, the teaching of divine law that truly makes them masters by their depth, according to what Augustine[47] says to Volusianus:

Such is the depth of the Christian Scriptures that I could progress in them daily had I, from the beginning of childhood until feeble old age, tried to learn with the greatest attention, utmost study and a better ability, and such a depth of wisdom lies hidden not only in the words but in the things to be understood, so that this could happen from a desire to learn from what is newest, most acceptable and most urgent, for Scripture says: When a man has done, then shall he begin [Ecclesisticus 18:6].

And further on the text says: that they may bear the burden of the people.

Prelates must minister

Prelates of the Church are called to minister rather then to rest; more to burdens than to honour; and so whoever seeks rest and honour is reproved by the Lord, according to the text of Isaias 22:15-19:

Go, get you in to him who dwells in the tabernacle, to Sobna who is over the temple, and you shall say to him: What are you doing here, or as if you were somebody here, for you have hewed for yourself a sepulchre here.

Note that he was looking for quiet; and further: You have hewed out a monument carefully in a high place, a dwelling for yourself in a rock. Note that here he is looking for honour; so the text continues:

Behold, the Lord will cause you to be carried way, as a cock is carried away, and he will lift you up as a garment. He will crown you with a crown of tribulation, he will toss you like a ball into a large and spacious country; there shall you die, and there shall the chariot of your glory be, the shame of the house of your Lord. And I will drive you out from your station, and depose you from your ministry.

Therefore, it is not lawful for anyone to look for rest in the office of a prelate in the tabernacle of the Lord, and certainly not in the role of a subject. Exodus 33:11 says: Josue, the son of Nun, departed not from the tabernacle. This implies that clerics should be assiduous in the tabernacle especially those who live from what is offered to the Church. Numbers 18:21: And I have given to the sons of Levi all the tithes of Israel for a possession, for the ministry wherewith they serve me in the tabernacle of the covenant.

Exhortation

Accordingly, take note all who do not serve the tabernacle [worthily] and see if they live with a clear conscience rather than indulge in what has been offered for the liturgy and the service of the tabernacle. So that no one might be concerned primarily with the tithes, he says tithes given for ministry, and not the opposite. This is against those who attend Church more for a profit of money than for a profit of eternal life. Such are worthy of being thrown out of it because they have turned the house of prayer into a house of traffic [John 2:16].

The third reason: to refresh the people

Thirdly, the Lord rests in the tabernacle of the Church militant to refresh his people. This is well prefigured in Exodus 16:33-34: Take a vessel and put manna into it, as much a gomor can hold, and lay it up before the Lord to keep unto your generations. And he did as the Lord commanded Moses. And Aaron put it in the tabernacle to be kept. The vessel is the Sacrament, the manna is the Lord’s body, and it is food having all that is delicious and the sweetness of every taste [Wisdom 16:20]; the tabernacle is the Church in which the Sacrament of the altar is kept for the refreshment of the faithful.

Exhortation

Because this refreshment is spiritual it is necessary for the ministers to be filled with spiritual joy; so in Ephesians 5:18-19 is said: And be not drunk with wine wherein is luxury; but be filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to yourselves in Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual canticles. This is what God laid down for the ministers of the tabernacle in Leviticus 10:9: You shall not drink wine nor anything that may make drunk, you nor your sons, when you enter into the tabernacle of the testimony. The reason for this is that spiritual and carnal delights repel each other like fire and water; so it is said in Hebrews 13:10: We have an altar, whereof they have no power to eat who serve the tabernacle.

Against carnal living

But now it is a cause for sorrow that many walk whose god is their belly [Philippians 3:18-19], who, when they should look for spiritual refreshment in the tabernacle of the Lord, look for carnal comfort in a tavern; such deserve to be cast out of the tabernacle because they change a house of prayer into a house for revelry. O Lord, would that you would purify the bellies and the tavern and, after making a scourge of little cords you would drive out those [John 2:15] who have turned a house of sanctification into a house of prostitution, a house of learning into a house of traffic, a spiritual house into a house for revelry! In this way there would remain in your tabernacle ministers pure in holiness, learned in wisdom, filled with spiritual joy, through whom you would be able to purify, enlighten and perfect your people, as it should be.

Part III: Moral sense

The moral interpretation of the text quoted refers to a faithful soul in whose tabernacle the Lord rests spiritually; Job 29:2-4:

Who will grant me, that I might be according to the months past, according to the days in which God kept me, when his lamp shined over my head, and I walked by his light in darkness? As I was in the days of my youth, when God was secretly in my tabernacle?

This is the word of a true penitent who recalls his baptismal innocence, is mindful of the time when God clearly was living in him and who desires to regain innocence by penitence, so that he might experience God living in the tabernacle of his body.

Need for quiet

For God to rest in this tabernacle, it is necessary for the person to be quiet because as Psalm 75:2 says: his place is in peace. A tabernacle can be disturbed from a triple cause, namely, from a hostile invasion, from a lashing in a storm and from the noise of a town. Against a hostile invasion a tabernacle should be placed in the strength of charity; against the lashing of a storm in the valley of humility; against the noise of a town it should be placed in the solitude of poverty.

First protection against disturbance

Firstly, therefore, the tabernacle should be placed in the strength of charity; Job 5:19.24: In six troubles he shall deliver you, and in the seventh, evil shall not touch you; and further on: And you shall know that your tabernacle is in peace, and visiting your beauty you shall not sin. These six troubles, from which God delivers, and the seventh, in which evil shall not touch, are attacks that disturb the soul to make it draw back from good. The charity of Christ delivers from all these, as the Apostle says in Romans 8:35, where he explains the sevenfold trouble: Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or persecution, or the sword? As if to say, none of these, and the reason is because charity joins us to God, who is a strong tower [Psalm 18:10]; and so Job 17:3 says: Deliver me, O Lord, and set me beside you, and let any man’s hand fight against me. So the previous text adds: And you shall know that your tabernacle is in peace, provided you have eminent charity. And the Apostle adds in Romans 8:38-39:

For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God.

God rests in such a tabernacle. But if someone lacks charity, God finds no rest in the tabernacle, because so many things trample on the unfortunate soul that God has no place in it. Job 19:12 says of a human person beset by enemies: His troops have come together, and have made themselves a way by me, and have besieged my tabernacle round about. They have come, I say, by temptation, they have made themselves a way by acts of wickedness, they have besieged by bad habits.

Second protection against disturbance

Secondly, it is right for the tabernacle to be placed in a valley of humility that God may rest there. A wind of vanity does not allow God to rest in a proud heart; so Psalm 137:6 says: For the Lord is high and looks on the low, namely, from close by, and the high he knows from afar. This is well indicated in Genesis 18:1-2.10: The Lord appeared to Abraham in the vale of Mambre as he was sitting at the door of his tent, in the very heat of the day. By placing the tent in the valley we understand humility; just as mountains represent the proud, so we can take valleys to represent the humble. By sitting at the door of the tent we understand a meditation on death; a person sits at the door of a tent when he reflects on leaving this world and this is a reflection that greatly blesses a soul; to such a soul God may appear and rest and feast in it as is added in the same story. But what was said is to be carefully noted, namely, that Abraham went out from the door of the tent to meet them, and Sara laughed behind the door of the tent. Those who are mindful of death welcome divine visits, but others are forgotten because when they are called by the Lord they are thinking of a future time.

Against the proud

Therefore, if anyone wants God to rest in his or her tabernacle, he or she must pitch it in the lowest place through humility and the remembrance of death, for if it is put in a high place, it is not a dwelling prepared for the Lord but for Pharao. This is prefigured in Exodus 1:11 where is said about Pharao and the children of Israel: He set over them masters of the works, to afflict them with burdens, and they built for Pharao cities of tabernacles. These masters of the works are those who by their industry are promoted in this world. Pharao sets then over the children of Israel, when he places them before others as an example, saying: Go, and do in like manner [Luke 10:37], and he makes them build for him high houses in which he may live. The devil who fell from heaven willingly lives in ruins; Proverbs 17:16 says: He who makes his house high, seeks a downfall. Hence, it is not surprising that God does not want his tabernacles to be on mountains.

Third protection against disturbance

Thirdly, nevertheless, it is opportune for the tabernacle of our heart to be placed in the solitude of poverty because the care and deceits of riches do not allow God to rest in a heart. Hence, Job 39:5-6: Who has sent out the wild ass free, and who has loosed his bonds? To whom I have given a house in the wilderness and his dwellings in the barren land. By this text the Lord shows that it is he who frees people from slavery to avarice and from the bonds of greed. For the sake of the large number in the city he leads to a desert place, instead of an abundance of riches he chooses the barrenness of poverty. God does this for those who leave this world; they are prefigured in the Rechabites who, in Jeremias 35:7, were commanded by their father: Neither shall you build houses, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyards, nor have any, but you shall dwell in tents all your days. These are the tabernacles of Jacob of which we read in Genesis 25:27: Jacob a plain man dwelt in tents. These are the tents of which Peter said to the Lord in Matthew 17:4: Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you will, let us make here three tabernacles, on account of the triple good in a Religious Order. It is indeed true that it is good for us to be here as plain people with Peter and Jacob.

Against the greedy

But many, looking at the plainness of these tabernacles, scoff at those who live in them; hence, Job 12:4-6:

The simplicity of the just man is laughed to scorn. The lamp, despised in the thought of the rich, is ready for the time appointed. The tabernacles of robbers abound, and they provoke God boldly, whereas it is he that has given all into their hands.

What are the tabernacles of robbers other than the hearts of the greedy? Those boldly provoke God who scorn the example of the poor and of all who imitate the poor, according to what is said in Luke 16:14: Now the Pharisees, who were covetous, heard all these things and they derided him. But they should fear what God threatens through Osee 9:6: Nettles shall inherit their beloved silver, the bur shall be in their tabernacles; Job 15:34: Fire shall devour their tabernacles, who love to take bribes. Accordingly, each should pay attention to a wiser counsel and say with the Prophet: I have chosen to be an abject in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners [Psalm 83:11]; not without reason because the voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the just [Psalm 117:15]. Many seek refuge in the tabernacle of Religious Orders because of their austerity and barrenness, but this is not to be feared because the voice of rejoicing and salvation is in their tabernacles.

First Form of attack

But should anyone wish to go up to these tabernacles, it is necessary to avoid what attacks them. Some attack them with malicious praise; this is prefigured in Balaam in Numbers 24:5-6.14 where it says he was called to curse Jacob but instead he praised and blessed him: How beautiful are your tabernacles, O Jacob, and your tents, O Israel! As woody valleys, as watered gardens near the rivers, as tabernacles which the Lord has pitched, as cedars by the waterside; but further on it notes that he gave wrong advice.

Second form of attack

Some attack them by pulling them down in secret. Such are prefigured by Ismael of whom in Genesis 16:12 is said: He shall be a wild man, his hand will be against all men, and men’s hands against him, and he shall pitch his tents over against all his brethren. Wild from a cruelty of detraction that makes him eat the meat of those he detracts [Psalm 26:2], and so it is said: his hand will be against all men, because he pulls all down. And certainly men’s hands are against him because in Job 36:6 is said: He gives judgment to the poor.

Or: men’s hands are against him because all, as many as persevere in their Order, call out to him that he is a liar since they say: How good for us to be here [Matthew 17:4], and they should be believed the more as they have experience. No one knows what things are in the tabernacles of Religious except one who rests and sleeps in them. This is well represented in Genesis 28:16: And when Jacob awaked out of sleep, he said: Indeed the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.

Enough has been said on the tabernacle in which the Lord rests spiritually, namely, in a faithful soul.

Part III: Anagogical sense

Concerning the anagogical meaning the text quoted applies to the heavenly curia in whose tabernacle the Lord rests for ever; Psalm 14:1-2 says of this: Lord, who shall dwell in your tabernacle? And the reply: He that walks without blemish and works justice. Glory is not reached by only avoiding evil; for ‘No argument in a syllogism is made from negatives alone’.[48] In this tabernacle the Lord rests for ever and in the tabernacle there is a complete absence of evil, a presence of all good, and an unending continuance of both. In these three there is perfect praise and for this reason the tabernacle is lovable to the Lord and desirable to holy people.

Complete absence of evil

In that tabernacle there is a complete absence of evil according to what is implied in Apocalypse 2:3-4:

Behold the tabernacle of God with men, and he will dwell with them. And they shall be his people, and God himself with them shall be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away.

This will be in eternal beatitude in which God will dwell with men, protecting them from all evil, from the evil of sorrow and from the evil of fear. For this reason in Isaias 4:6 is said: There shall be a tabernacle for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a security and covert from the whirlwind, and from rain. This will be the tabernacle of glory in which God has hidden me in the day of evils.

Presence of all good

Secondly, however, there will be a presence of all good in that tabernacle. We read in Isaias 32:18: My people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the tabernacles of confidence, and in wealthy rest. The soul, desirous of all good, does not rest until it can have all good. Therefore, if in the tabernacles of glory there will be perfect peace, it is clear that there will be enough of every good, indeed superabundance. There will be a fullness of quiet, a quiet of security and a security of abundance. In the first, rational desire rests; in the second, irascible desire; in the third, a longing desire. Because of these three the text says: My people shall sit etc. Psalm 41:5: I shall go over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God.

An everlasting tabernacle

Thirdly, both will endure for ever; because of this Isaias 33:20 says: Look upon Sion the city of our solemnity, your eyes shall see Jerusalem, a rich habitation, a tabernacle that cannot be removed, neither shall the nails thereof be taken away for ever, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. That tabernacle will be eternal, and so blessed are they that dwell in that tabernacle, because they shall praise the Lord for ever and ever [Psalm 83:5].

Exhortation

So let our soul call out and say: How lovely are your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord [Psalm 83:2-3], and almost faints away.

Who is capable of telling how great are the joys of that heavenly state, of being with the choirs of Angels, of assisting with the most blessed spirits of the glory of the Creator, of seeing the face of God present, and of seeing light with no boundaries?

Behold, this is the presence of every good; ‘not to be touched by any fear of death’; behold, the absence of evil; ‘to be freed from the burden of corruption’;[49] behold eternity. May we be led to these tabernacles by him who today rested in the tabernacle of the virginal womb, Jesus Christ, our Lord, to whom be honour and glory etc.

SERMON 5

Luke 1:28: Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women.

This text written in Luke, chapter 1, is the word of the heavenly messenger who announced the most excellent mystery that the Church recalls today in a solemn way. Three things that make a prayer perfect can be noted in the text. Firstly, as a good speaker, the Archangel Gabriel begins with a greeting to the Virgin as an introduction, when he says: Hail, full of grace. Secondly, he goes to the message of the virginal conception as the subject matter, when he adds: the Lord is with you. Thirdly, he mentions the blessing of praise as a conclusion when he adds: blessed are you among women.[50]

Part I: Form of the Angel’s greeting

The Angel said when greeting the Virgin Mary: Hail, full of grace so that in the beginning of his message he describes the Virgin as kind, docile and attentive according to the three words used in the greeting. Even though this introduction is brief, it is nevertheless useful because it gives us a form for greeting the Virgin; while it is short it is full of meaning. It was not without reason that the Archangel Gabriel greeted the Virgin as full of grace. The Virgin Mary was filled with a sevenfold grace.

The sevenfold grace of Mary:

First, a sanctifying grace

She was filled with a sanctifying grace that cleansed the stain of sin from which she was cleansed by grace, so that the text of Ecclesiasticus 26:19 can be applied to her: A holy and modest woman is grace upon grace. A holy woman from the purification of her mind, and modest from the integrity of her flesh, and in these titles we see a prefiguring of the Virgin Mary of whom Bernard writes Ad Lugdunenses[51]: ‘The Mother of the Lord was holy before she was born’. She was not only holy but modest and so the same Bernard adds: ‘I think that a more abundant grace of holiness came down on her thar not only sanctified her beginning but then kept her free from all sin during her life’. The Prophet gives the reason for this full and perfect holiness when in Psalm 92:5 he says: Holiness becomes your house, O Lord, unto length of days. And for this reason Anselm[52] says: ‘It was fitting that the conception of that person should be from a most pure Mother so that the Virgin should be resplendent with a purity than which no greater could be imagined under God’.

And so the text says not only grace but grace upon grace, because she was filled with sanctifying grace. Therefore, let us say with the Angel: Hail, full of grace.

Second, a strengthening grace

She was filled with a strengthening grace as a protection against the weakness of the penalty so that she would never be overcome by temptation; so the text of Proverbs 11:16 can rightly be applied to her: A gracious woman shall find glory. A woman, I say, filled with a strengthening grace for battle, shall find the glory of praise and honour in victory. But who shall find this valiant woman [Proverbs 31:10], who crushes the head [Genesis 3:15] of the enemy, the ancient serpent? The Angel found this woman as he greeted her who alone is the one who crushed the head of the devil with the strength of her foot and destroyed all heretical deviance. So Bernard[53] says:

She is the woman formerly promised by God, the woman who by the power of her foot crushed the head of the ancient serpent which, in many acts of cunning, clearly lay in waiting for her heel; but without success for alone she destroyed all heretical deviance.

Without a doubt she crushed the poisoned head, she who reduced to nothing every suggestion of evil both form an enticement of the flesh and from pride of soul.[54]

She alone can be glorified for her heart does not reprehend her in all her life [Job 27:6]. So Augustine[55] says: ‘When there is question of sin it is only of the Mother of the Lord that I would not want any mention’.

Therefore, let us say: Hail.

Third, a perfecting grace

She was filled also with a perfecting grace to make up for a possible defect in nature so that there would remain in her no void of need; so 1 Corinthians 15:10 can rightly be applied to her: By the grace of God I am what I am and his grace in me has not been void, as if to say, the Lord himself gave me a living nature and then completed and perfected it by a fullness of grace. So he says: it has not been void, because he was completely filled. So Bernard[56]:

Who would call her empty when the Angel greets her as full of grace? Not only this, but he states further that the Holy Spirit is to overshadow her. For what purpose other than with the coming of the Spirit she would be filled and with this coming there would also be a superabundance for us?

Hence, more than all others she had a most perfecting grace, according to what Jerome[57] says: ‘Just as no one is good in comparison with God, so no one is found to be perfect when compared to the Mother of the Lord, no matter how outstanding he or she may be proven in virtues’.

For this reason, rightly can we say with Solomon the words of Proverbs 31:29: Many daughters have gathered together riches, you have surpassed them all, and greet her with the Angel: Hail.

Fourth, an adorning grace

Nevertheless, she was filled with an adorning grace to adorn her goodness of life so that there might be nothing reprehensible in her and the text of Esther 2:15 can most justly be applied to her: She was exceedingly fair, and her incredible beauty made her appear agreeable and amiable in the eyes of all. She was agreeable and beautiful not only in body, but also in her soul because favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain; the woman that fears the Lord, she shall be praised [Proverbs 31:30]. Because she was beautiful internally and externally, it is said in Canticle 4:7: You are all fair, O my love, and there is no spot in you. Commenting on this text, Bernard[58] says of the Virgin: ‘All fair, because most beautiful in the face, most perfect in body, most holy in spirit’. And in the same place:

Virgin queen, adorned with the precious stones of virtues, shining from a twin beauty of soul and body, known in heaven for comliness and beauty [Psalm 44:5], drawing the gaze of the citizens of heaven to her, so as to entice the soul of the King to desire her and draw the heavenly messenger from above to herself.

And Jerome[59] says: ‘If you look more closely, there is no virtue, no beauty, no splendour nor glory that does not shine out of her’. ‘She shone from many virtues of merits, was whiter than snow from the gifts of the Holy Spirit, representing in all things the simplicity of a dove.’

Fifth, a betrothing grace

She was filled with a grace betrothing her to dwell in closeness with the divine and so to be taken up into a bond of unbreakable union so that the text of Esther 2:6-7 that speaks of Queen Esther, the bride of Assuerus, can be applied to her:

Esther was brought to the chamber of king Assuerus the tenth month, which is called Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. And the king loved her more than all the women, and she had favour and kindness before him above all the women, and he set the royal crown on her head.

Esther is the Virgin Mary who was brought to the chamber of king Assuerus when through intimate love she came to closeness with the divine. So Jerome[60]:

The Holy Spirit filled her completely with grace, divine love enkindled her completely, so that there would be nothing lowly in her that might violate her affection but rather a continuous ardour and excess of love poured out.

So she not only had grace but had it more than all the women because she was made closer to God, according to what Bernard says:

Lady, how familiar you have been made to Christ, how close, indeed how intimate you have merited to become! How much grace you found with him! He remains in you and you with him; you clothe him and are clothed by him; you clothe him with the substance of flesh, he clothes you with the glory of his majesty.

Therefore, it is correctly said in the verse above: he set the royal crown on her head.

Sixth, a fertile grace

She was filled also with a fertile grace for a conception of virginal integrity, so that she might conceive without any corruption; hence, the Angel said to her in Luke 1:30-31: You have found grace with God. Behold you shall conceive in your womb, and shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. She was truly full of grace that ‘filled not only filled her soul but also her belly’.[61] So Jerome[62]: ‘Truly full, because for others it is made eminent in some areas, but for Mary a fullness of grace at the one time was poured out’. And Bernard[63]:

Mary has chosen the better part [Luke 10:42]; certainly the better part, because conjugal fertility is good but virginal chastity is better, the better part is virginal fertility or fertile virginity. The privilege of Mary is that there is not given to another what will not be taken away from her.

And the same Bernard[64]:

The unharmed, chaste and incorrupt womb of the Virgin, like a pasture bearing a flower of eternal vigour, whose beauty will not see corruption and whose glory would not ever wither.

Because of this fullness of virginal fertility we should say: Hail etc.

Seventh, an overflowing grace

Lastly, she was filled with an overflowing grace for the benefit of human salvation so that there may be no one that can hide from her heat [Psalm 18:7], and according to this the text of Ecclesiasticus 24:25-26 can be understood of her: In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue. Come over to me, all you that desire me, and be filled with my fruits. She says, in me is all grace of the way and of the truth, because she gave birth to the incarnate Word; the Word, I say, the only begotten of God the Father, full of grace and truth; and so knowing that she had an overflowing grace, she invites all to her fullness. So Jerome[65]: ‘The holy Virgin Mary is the universal help and protection prepared for all coming to her, the consolation of those in trouble, the way for those who stray, the release of captives and the mediatrix of all before God’. And Bernard[66]: ‘All receive from her fullness’.

For this reason one should flee to her according to the advice of Bernard himself:

Why would human weakness fear to come to Mary? There is nothing in her that is hard, rough, austere or bitter; she is all sweet and gentle, all merciful, offering to all milk and wool.

Rightly then can one say: Hail, full of overflowing grace.

Part II: Seven steps that prepare us to receive grace

The grace of the Virgin can overflow to all in asking for grace, but not by an infusion; it is poured out on all in a sufficient amount, but not on all in its effectiveness, something that happens only on those who prepare themselves to receive it. There are seven steps that prepare us to receive grace, so that there might be a sevenfold disposition according to the sevenfold perfection of free virtue.

First step

The first disposition for receiving grace is a right conscience when it is necessary to turn away, because the light of grace rises only on the just [Psalm 96:11]; Proverbs 1:8-9: Forsake not the law of your mother, that grace may be added to your head. The law of the mother is a right conscience that teaches goodness; Proverbs 12:2: He that is good shall draw grace from the Lord. Truly, he is good who from a right conscience draws good grace, because God is good to Israel, to them that are of a right heart [Psalm 72:1]. Hence, only those can glory over goodness and grace whose intention is simple and whose conscience is right. In 2 Corinthians 1:12 the Apostle says when speaking as one of the Blessed: For our glory is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity of heart and sincerity of God, not in carnal wisdom but in the grace of God, we have lived in this world. In simplicity, I say, of a right conscience and intention, not in a double standard of carnal wisdom and sophistication, because grace cannot be associated with that; hence, Ecclesiasticus 37:23-24: He that speaks sophistically, is hateful for grace is not given him from the Lord. They speak in a sophistic manner who outwardly say one thing in word but inwardly have something else in their heart, and who act in deeds as a hypocrite who is cut off without the gift of divine grace.

Second step

The second disposition is a sure confidence about what is to be waited for, because divine mercy and grace are given only to those who trust in her. In Hebrews 4:16, the Apostle encourages us to do this: Let us go therefore with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid. The throne on which divine grace rests and abides is the Virgin Mary whom we should approach with certain trust as to a mother and a queen of mercy. Bernard[67] says: ‘She is the ladder of sinners, our trust and the complete reason for our hope’. Hence, through her we have such trust in God that whatever we requested we received, provided our heart was made firm by the grace of his love and devotion. We read in Hebrews 13:9: It is best that the heart be established with grace, not with meats, which have not profited those that walk in them. There is little gain in fasting out of love for the Virgin without constancy and fervour in prayer and imitating her, according to what Bernard[68] advises: ‘In dangers, in difficulties think on Mary, call on her, and to obtain the result of prayer do not abandon the example of your way of life’. For if you abandon it you are not able to rely on her with certainty and so neither can you obtain grace.

Third step

The third disposition is a broad kindness in communicating, because wisdom will not enter a malicious soul [Wisdom 1:4] nor will grace. But where there is a breadth of kindness, there is an abundance of grace, according to 2 Corinthians 9:7-8: Every one as he has determined in his heart, not with sadness, or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able to make all grace abound in you. The Apostle gives the reason for this, namely, that the one who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly etc. [2 Corinthians 9:6]. Therefore, whoever wants to have much grace, must distribute broadly, according to how blessed Peter advises us in his first letter 4:10: As every man has received grace, ministering the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. A good steward of the grace of God is one who takes note of the will of God, not of one’s own interest, who dispenses according to the divine precept, not according to one’s own decision. Hence, in Matthew 10:8 the Lord says: Freely have you received, freely give. That person gives freely who gives not only to friends, household members and relatives, but who also gives the grace he has received to strangers, unknown people and enemies. Hence in Luke 6:32 we read: If you love them that love you, what thanks are to you? For sinners also love those that love them, as if to say: none. Those other distributors who always seek their own interest, while they have grace freely given, do not have the grace that makes one pleasing. For grace that makes one pleasing is of the broadest goodness, and so cannot rest in a cold heart, in a small dwelling nor be covered by a short cloak. But what broadens the heart the most is divine mercy which is upon all flesh [Ecclesiasticus 18:12]; hence, Proverbs 3:3-4: Let not mercy and truth leave you, put them about your neck, and write them in the tables of your heart, and you shall find grace and good understanding before God and man.

Fourth step

The fourth disposition is to take heed of providence in choosing. The gift of grace is given to no one other than to those who walk in the way of prudence and discipline, according to what is said in Proverbs 4:7-9:

With all your possession purchase prudence. Take hold on her, and she shall exalt you; you shall be glorified by her, when you shall embrace her. She shall give to your head increase of graces, and protect you with a noble crown.

The way to acquire wisdom is through teaching, and so Proverbs 13:15 says: Good instruction shall give grace. An instruction is good that teaches people that they must first choose and seek grace in their heart, actions and speech as in the teaching of Paul the Apostle. For Paul in Hebrews 12:15 exhorts and incites us to pursue grace and seek it in affection: Lest any man be wanting to the grace of God, namely, by laziness in affection. He incites us to pursue grace in word; hence, in Ephesians 4:29 we read: Let no evil speech proceed your mouth, but that which is good, to the edification of faith, that it may administer grace to the hearers. He incites us to search in actions as in 2 Corinthians 6:1: And we helping do exhort you, that you receive not the grace of God in vain. And in 1 Timothy 4:14 he says: Neglect not the grace that is in you, which was given you. He desires this for everyone whom he always greets with the words: Grace to you and peace from God [Romans 1:7]. The prudent accept this instruction while the stupid and foolish refuse; Ecclesiasticus 20:13: A man wise in word shall make himself beloved, but the graces of fools shall be poured out. And again in 21:19: The talking of a fool is like a burden in the way, but in the lips of the wise, grace shall be poured out.

Exhortation

A wise person delights in wholesome words such as thanksgiving and blessings; for grace is poured abroad in your lips, and therefore you are blessed for ever [Psalm 44:2]. The fool on the contrary delights in the lies of detractors and flatterers; hence, Ecclesiasticus 20:17-18 says: A fool shall have no friend, and there shall be no thanks for his good deeds. For they that eat his bread, are of a false tongue. How often and how many will laugh him to scorn. Such fools are all people who prefer false to true praise and what is transitory to what is eternal; such lack prudence in choosing.

Fifth step

The fifth disposition is a restraint of modesty in using, for grace is given only to those who restrain concupiscence. Hence 1 Peter 1:13-15 says:

Wherefore having the loins of your mind girt up, being sober, trust perfectly in the grace which is offered you in the revelation of Jesus Christ. As children of obedience, not fashioned according to the former desires of your ignorance, but according to him that has called you, who is holy, be you also in your whole conduct holy.

To girt the loins is to hold back every movement of concupisence by modesty so that a person is modest not only in actions and speech but also in the heart and affections. For modesty and purity of heart are the main source for obtaining divine grace and friendship, according to what is written in Proverbs 22:11: He that loves cleanness of heart, for the grace of his lips shall have the king for his friend, as if it were to say: where there is cleanness of heart, there is cleanness of mouth and where these are, there is cleanness of body. Wherever this triple cleanness and mercy is, there follows grace and divine friendship to free a person from slavery to sin, eternal damnation and present disgrace, as the Apostle in Romans 7:24-25, speaking as a person bound down by sin, exclaims: Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? And he replies: The grace of God by Jesus Christ our Lord. And further in Proverbs 25:10: Grace and friendship deliver a man, keep these to yourself lest you fall under reproach. You cannot preserve these other than by cleanliness, nor can you be clean other than by modesty and temperance; and so according to the advice of Peter gird up the loins of your mind and be sober. These two are necessary to a person who wants to be temperate, namely, to restrain the mind and flesh from superfluous food and drink. Ecclesiastes 2:3 teaches this by his example. He says: I thought in my heart to withdraw my mind to wisdom. The reason for this is given in Proverbs 20:1: Wine is a luxurious thing and drunkenness riotous; whoever is delighted therewith shall not be wise. Therefore, to obtain grace and wisdom the restraint of modesty is necessary.

Sixth step

The sixth disposition is prompt obedience in actions, for where disobedience reigns, grace cannot exist; Proverbs 3:21-23: Keep the law and counsel and there shall be life to your soul and grace to your mouth. Perfect and prompt obedience is that by which one is prompt to obey not only commandments but also counsels. Only a person who is ready to be subject not only to superiors but also to inferiors has this promptitude, according to Ecclesiaticus 3:20: The greater you are, the more humble yourself in all things, and you shall find grace before God. The reason for this is because, as James 4:6 says, God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Moreover, the Virgin Mary was full of grace because she was most humble. Isaias 40:4 prophesies this: Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. Hence, 2 Kings 1:21 says: Mountains of Gelboe, let neither dew nor rain come upon you etc. Nothing blocks the receiving of grace more than the tumour of pride. On the other hand, fear of reverence disposes one to receive it. Eccclesiasticus 32:9 says: Hear in silence and for your reverence good grace shall come to you.

Seventh step

The seventh disposition is a meekness of patience in enduring, without which grace can neither be had nor kept; Proverbs 3:34 says: He shall scorn the scorners, and to the meek he will give grace, especially to those who maintain meekness when enduring abuse and injuries. 1 Peter 2:19-20 says:

For this is thankworthy, if for conscience towards God, a man endures sorrows, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if committing sin, and being buffeted for it you endure? But if doing well you suffer patiently, this is thankworthy before God.

This is not only necessary for perfecting grace but also to keep and possess it. Hebrews 10:36 says: Patience is necessary for you that, doing the will of God, you may receive the promise. The promise is made to the meek: But the meek shall inherit the land, and shall delight in abundance of peace [Psalm 36:11]. Matthew 5:4 says: Blessed are the meek for they shall possess the land, namely, the land of the heart, because in your patience you shall possess your souls; they shall possess the land, that is, the Virgin Mary, who was the blessed land. They shall possess her because, since she is meek, she shall give them everything, as Bernard says in the text quoted above[69]. They shall also possess the land of the living, of which Psalm 141:6 says: My portion in the land of the living; to whom etc.

Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

This text, written in Luke 1:42, was spoken by blessed Elizabeth in praise of the most glorious Mother of God; it expresses the excellence of the Virgin, blessed with an abundance of heavenly blessing. Two things can be noted in the text: firstly, the most excellent blessing of the Virgin in herself, when it says: Blessed are you among women; secondly, in the child conceived, when it adds: and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

Part I: The Virgin blessed in herself

Moreover, this Virgin Mary is proclaimed and said to be blessed in herself, because she was blessed with a divine and a human blessing. The first blessing was freely given, the second was owed to her; in the first is found the principle of perfect holiness; in the second is found the proclamation of perfect holiness.

Blessed with a triple divine blessing

The Virgin Mary was blessed with a divine blessing and in her this was perfect; it was also special because of the exceeding excellence of the gift, complete because of the abundance of the gift, and everlasting because of the permanence of the gift.

The divine gift was excellent

Therefore, she was blessed with an excellent blessing according to what is implied in Judith 13:23 where Ozias said of her: Blessed are you, O daughter, by the Lord the most high God, above all women upon the earth. These words were spoken to that widow not in her own person, since on many others an excellent blessing has been conferred, but for the Virgin Mary who is exalted by God above all women and blessed with an excellent blessing with no exceptions. This is well indicated in Ecclesiasticus 24:1.4-7 speaking in praise of wisdom: Wisdom shall praise her own self, and shall be honoured in God. And in the multitude of the elect she shall have praise and among the blessed she shall be blessed, saying, I came out of the mouth of the Most High etc. In this text the excellence of the blessed Virgin is described, firstly in relation to all others, when it says: The firstborn before all creatures; secondly, in relation to the just when it says: I made that in the heavens there should rise light that never fails; thirdly, in relation to the Blessed when it says: I dwelt in the highest places, and my throne is in a pillar of a cloud, words that speak of the excellence of the glorification of the Virgin in her soul and body. From this it is sufficiently clear that she was blessed with an excellent blessing in heaven and on earth.

The divine gift was complete

She was blessed with a complete blessing, as indicated by the Prophet in Psalm 64:12: You shall bless the crown of the year of your goodness, and your fields shall be filled with plenty. The year of goodness is the year of grace that began with the incarnation of the Son of God as from its source. And because the Virgin Mary enclosed the incarnate Word, she is called the crown of the year of divine goodness. This crown was placed on the head of Christ adorned with all manner of precious stones because of the fullness of the blessing of Christ worthily received, according to what is said in Psalm 20:4: You have prevented him with blessings of sweetness, you have set on his head a crown of precious stones. The blessing of this crown flows out over the breadth of the whole Church; for this reason the text rightly says: your fields shall be filled with plenty, by removing every defective sterility, according to the same Prophet: Lord, you have blessed your land, you have turned away the captivity of Jacob [Psalm 84:2]. This refers to the blessing poured out on the whole Church through the Virgin Mary, through whom a full blessing is poured out, so that the cause, guilt and punishment of wickedness are taken away, as the Prophet indicates in the following verses [Psalm 84:3-4].

The divine gift was everlasting

She was blessed also with an everlasting blessing, according to the text of 2 Kings 7:29: Bless the house of your servant, that it may endure for ever before you, because you, O Lord God, have spoken it, and with your blessing let the house of your servant be blessed for ever. What is this house of David other than the Virgin Mary, in whom the true David, Christ, lived, and whom he dedicated and blessed for ever? This was fitting for Christ according to what is said in Psalm 92:5: Holiness becomes your house, O Lord, unto length of days. Note that it is said twice that she is blessed for ever on account of a double certitude, namely, of everlasting election and everlasting confirmation. He indicates the utmost certitude when in Psalm 88:4 he says in an oath: I have sworn to David my servant: your seed will I settle for ever. And I will build up your throne unto generation and generation. Your throne is the blessed Virgin in whom the Lord rests and reigns; hence, she is rightly understood to be the heavenly Jerusalem, according to Tobias 13:23: Blessed be the Lord, who has exalted it, and may he reign over it for ever and ever. And so she says: This is my rest for ever and ever, here will I dwell, for I have chosen it [Psalm 131:14].

She was greeted by Elizabeth in this very way: Blessed are you among women, with a divine blessing from which came the source of the highest holiness.

Blessed with a triple human blessing

You are blessed also with a human blessing in the proclamation of the highest holiness. We read in sacred Scripture of three reasons why women are blessed by other people, namely, because of a glory of integrity, of a gift of fertility and for a work of vigour. Because of her excellence in these three, the Virgin Mary was blessed three times, namely, by the Archangel Gabriel, by holy Elizabeth and by blessed Simeon [Luke 1:28.42 and 2:34]. This was indeed fitting and in order. It was fitting for the Angel to bless her in her virginity, for the pregnant Elizabeth to bless her fertility, and for Simeon, the just man, to bless her vigour.

Triple blessing of integrity:

First, conjugal continence

Note that a glory of integrity has three levels; the first, in conjugal continence, and Ruth was blessed for this in Ruth 3:10: Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter, because you have not followed young men either poor or rich. He commends her for this because she did not want to fornicate but to wait for the union of marriage in which later he accepted her; and for that time this was indeed quite praiseworthy.

Second, continence of a widow

The second level is the continence of a widow and Judith was blessed for this in Judith 15:10-11:

You are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the joy of Israel, you are the honour of your people, for you have done manfully, and your heart has been strengthened because you have loved chastity and after your husband have not known any other.

For this she merited an excellent blessing, because she preserved her widow’s continence until the day of her death.

Third, virginal continence

The third level is virginal continence for which reason the Virgin merited to be blessed by the Angel; Luke 1:28: The angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, blessed are you among women. This is due to her in a particular way because she holds the first place among all virgins. Ruth is blessed for her conjugal continence; Judith is blessed for her continence as a widow; but the Virgin Mary is blessed, blessed again and yet further blessed for her virginal continence.

Warning

Anyone, therefore, who abandons every level of continence does not merit a blessing; so in Hebrews 12:15-17 we read:

Looking diligently, lest any man be wanting to the grace of God, lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau who for one mess sold his first birthright. For know that afterwards, when he desired to inherit the benediction, he was rejected.

Esau merited rather a curse according to Deuteronomy 27:20: Cursed be he who lies with his father’s wife, and all the people shall say: Amen. Whoever wants to receive a blessing must be found in one of these three levels.

Triple level of the gift of fertility:

First, level of nature itself

In a similar way, the gift of fertility has three levels. The first is the level of nature itself as from itself. According to the text of Tobias 9:9-11 Sara, the wife of Tobias, was blessed for this level. Gabelus said to Tobias:

The God of Israel bless you, because you are the son of a very good and just man that fears God and gives alms. And may a blessing come upon your wife and upon your parents, and may you see your children and your children’s children unto the third and fourth generation.

It is clear that this is said about natural fertility, something that belongs to men and women especially in their youth.

Second, level of nature helped by grace

The second level is of nature helped by grace. Anna, the wife of Elcana, was blessed for this; even while young she was infertile, but by a divine blessing she merited to become fertile as we read in 1 Kings 2:20-21: Heli blessed Elcana and his wife; and further on: The Lord visited Anna, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters.

Third, level of grace above nature

The third level of fertility is of grace working above nature. The Virgin Mary was blessed for this by Elizabeth; Luke 1:41-42: Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed are you etc. Sara, the daughter of Raguel, was blessed, Anna, the mother of Samuel was blessed even more; but Mary, the Mother of the Lord and Saviour, was blessed the most because her fertility was from grace, was with grace, from which every holy soul is to be made fruitful as it is blessed by God, according to Hebrews 6:7-8:

For the earth that drinks in the rain which comes often upon it, and brings forth herbs meet for them by whom it is tilled, receives blessing from God. But that which brings forth thorns and briers, is reprobate, and very near unto a curse,

namely, to that curse coming from Adam and Eve. Genesis 3:17-18 says of this: Cursed is the earth in your work; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you. Everyone not wanting to be made fruitful by grace, necessarily falls under this curse. Such are clerics who seek a foliage of leaves of words but do not bring forth the fruit of good works; such merit to be cursed by the Lord with the barren fig tree, according to the text of Matthew 21:19.

Three levels of a work of vigour:

First, to overcome the fleeing opponent

In this way, a work of vigour also has three levels. The first is to overcome the fleeing opponent. For this, Jahel was blessed as we read in Judges 5:24.26: Blessed among women be Jahel, the wife of Haber the Cinite, and blessed be she in her tent. The reason for this is given a little later, namely, because she struck and killed the fleeing Sisara, the prince of the Midianites.

Second, to overcome the invading opponent

The second level is to conquer an invading opponent, and for this Judith was blessed; Judith 13:22: They all adored the Lord, and said to her: the Lord has blessed you by his power, because by you he has brought our enemies to naught. She cut off the head of Holofernes.

Third, to overcome a ruling opponent

The third level is to overcome a ruling opponent. Simeon in Luke 2:34-35 blessed the glorious Virgin for this: Simeon blessed them, namely, Mary and Joseph, and said to Mary: Behold, this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be contradicted, and your own soul a sword shall pierce. This occurred in the battle between Christ and the devil in which Christ died in the flesh, and the blessed Virgin was wounded and transfixed in her soul. The greatest victory and the utmost vigour were in this. It is more virtuous to bear a wound with an even spirit than to inflict a wound, and to want to see one’s own Son suspended on a cross than to kill an enemy with one’s hands. Jahel is blessed because she overcame the fleeing Sisara; even more blessed is Judith because she overcame an invader, Holofernes; but the Virgin Mary is blessed the most because she conquers the world and the devil who was crucifying her Son and piercing her soul.

Warning

Whoever does not want to act and fight vigorously, after the example of the Virgin, will necessarily incur a curse, according to Jeremias 48:10: Cursed is he that does the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that withholds his sword from blood, that is, anyone who neglects to mortify the flesh by which the devil tries to capture us and bring us back to slavery. For this reason, the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 9:27 says: I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway. We should, then, most carefully imitate the example of the blessed Virgin who was completely blessed in herself.

Part II: Mary was blessed in her Child

She was blessed also in the child conceived. The Evangelist says of this: Blessed is the fruit of your womb. The fruit of the virginal womb is Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father, who is rightly called blessed because in Christ all blessings are brought together; from him all blessings are poured out.

Triple claim to grace in Christ

All blessings were gathered together in him because he had a triple claim to grace. He had the grace of a singular person by which he was blessed with a singular blessing. He had the grace of union by which he was blessed by a general blessing from a joint nature. He had the grace of the head by which he was blessed with a universal blessing.

First, blessing of a singular person

Firstly, he was blessed with a singular blessing coming from the grace of a singular person according to which no one can be compared to him. Psalm 44:3 says: You are beautiful above all the sons of men, grace is poured abroad in your lips. He is said to be beautiful because there is no deformity of sin in him, something that cannot be said of any other person. So he received a singular blessing because it had no element of curse in it. This is well prefigured in the blessing of Jacob of whom Genesis 27:27.29 says: Behold the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field which the Lord has blessed. And a little further on: Cursed be he that curses you, and let he that blesses you be filled with blessings. Christ is the only person who should be blessed in everything and cursed in nothing at all, and he alone was able to redeem us from the curse of the law, as is stated in Galatians 3:13: Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.

Second, blessing of a joint nature

He was blessed also with the blessing of a joint nature in view of the grace of union that made him to be truly the Son of God, not adopted but natural, according to what Psalm 117:26-27 indicates: Blessed be he that comes in the name of the Lord. The Lord is God and he has shone upon us. He was blessed not only as a friend of God, but also as true God and Lord, according to the text of Apocalypse 19:16: He has on his garment, and on his thigh written: King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. All who are to be saved believe and confess this, according to what was stated in Matthew 21:9: And the multitudes that went before and that followed, cried saying: ‘Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Third, universal blessing

Thirdly, he was blessed with a universal blessing as the head of the whole Church. This was promised in Genesis 12:2-3 in the blessing of Abraham: I will make of you a great nation, and you shall be blessed, and in you shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed. It is certain this was complete in him whose blessing flows to all as from the highest head. Just as all the senses are found in the head, so all the blessings of the Fathers were in Christ as gathered together in the universal head. This was well represented in Genesis 49:25 in the blessings of Joseph: The Almighty shall bless you with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the deep that lies beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb. It is clear from what the Apostle says of him in Philippians 2:10 that these blessings are fulfilled in him: That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. What is said in Psalm 71:17-19 can be understood of this triple blessing:

Let his name be blessed for evermore; his name continues before the sun. And in him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed, all nations shall magnify him. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wonderful things. And blessed be the name of his majesty for ever, and the whole earth shall be filled with his majesty. So be it. So be it.

So in Christ there is a gathering together of every grace.

Triple path for receiving the graces of Christ

From him every blessing is poured out as from the highest head. Blessings flow from Christ onto the members of his body by a triple path, namely, by keeping the divine law, by perseverance in divine prayer and by frequent divine praise. The first of these concerns the perfection of an active life, the last the perfection of a contemplative life, and the middle one concerns a disposition that applies to both.

First, keeping the divine law

The first path by which we get a divine blessing is by keeping the divine law, according to what the Lawgiver says in Deuteronomy 11:26-28:

Behold I set forth in your sight this day a blessing and a curse. A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day, a curse, if you obey not the commandments of the Lord your God.

This is even clearer in Deuteronomy 28:2-6:

If you hear the precepts of the Lord, you shall be blessed in the city and blessed in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your cattle, the droves of your herds, and the folds of your sheep. Blessed shall be your barns and blessed your stores. Blessed shall you be coming in and going out.

This text touches on a blessing on a dwelling, on preparation, on possession and work. If, on the contrary, anyone neglects the law he or she is liable to a curse, and so the text continues in 28:15-19:

But if you will not hear the voice of the Lord your God, to keep and to do all his commandments and ceremonies, which I command you this day, all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall be your barn, and cursed your stores. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your ground, the herds of your oxen, and the flocks of your sheep. Cursed shall you be coming in, and cursed going out.

Three types of neighbour

There are many precepts of the law by which a divine blessing is obtained, but the Law, according to Romans 13:8, is concerned above all with one’s neighbour: He that loves his neighbour, has fulfilled the law. Just as there are three types of neighbour, so there are three most powerful ways of obtaining a divine blessing. There is a neighbour above us to whom honour is due; there is a neighbour below us, such as a poor person, to whom mercy is due; and there is a neighbour opposed to us to whom tolerance is due. Corresponding to these three, a divine blessing is gained in a triple way by observing the Law.

First, respect for a parent

Firstly, it is acquired from the respect due to a father; Ecclesiasticus 3:9-13:

Honour your father in work and word and all patience that a blessing may come upon you from him, and his blessing may remain in the latter end. The father’s blessing establishes the houses of the children, but the mother’s curse roots up the foundation. Glory not in the dishonour of your father, for his shame is no glory to you. The glory of man is from the honour of his father, and a father without honour is the disgrace of the son.

Whoever dishonours his father, does not gain a blessing but a curse, according to the text of Deuteronomy 27:16: Cursed be all who do not honour their father.

Second, mercy to a poor person

Secondly, it is acquired by mercy shown to a poor person; Proverbs 22:9: He that is inclined to mercy shall be blessed, for of his bread he has given to the poor. Such was Job as in Job 29:13: The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me, and I comforted the heart of the widow. According to Psalm 36:26, every just person should be like that: He shows mercy and lends all the day long, and his seed shall be in blessing, because according to 2 Corinthians 9:6: He that sows sparingly, shall also reap sparingly. Ecclesiasticus 7:36 says of this: Stretch out your hand to the poor that your expiation and your blessing may be perfected, otherwise one does not gain a blessing but a curse according to Proverbs 11:26: He that hides corn shall be cursed among the people. In Ecclesiasticus 4:5, the wise man says: Turn not away your eyes from the poor for fear of anger and leave not to them that ask to curse you behind your back.

Third, patience

Thirdly, it is acquired by patience before an enemy who curses you; 1 Peter 3:9: Not rendering evil for evil, nor curse for curse but contrariwise, blessing, for unto this are you called. In Romans 12:14 the Apostle invites us to this very thing: Bless them that persecute you, bless and curse not. This is a perfect work of patience to which blessed Peter, in 1 Peter 2:21-23, invites us from the example of Christ:

Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps. Who did not sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, did not revile, when he suffered, he threatened not.

Blessed Paul, in 1 Corinthians 4:12, invites us to follow his example: We are reviled and we bless, we are persecuted and we suffer it. This is done by few because as James 3:8-9 says: But the tongue no man can tame, an unquiet evil full of deadly poison. By it we bless God and the Father, and by it we curse men who are made after the likeness of God. Rightly is it said that the tongue cannot be tamed due to its tendency to curse detractors and to bless flatterers because what is said in Psalm 9:3 (24) frequently happens, namely, The sinner is praised in the desires of his soul, and the unjust is blessed. Proverbs 27:14 says: He that blesses his neighbour with a loud voice, rising in the night, shall be like to him that curses. Therefore, whoever wants to bless correctly, should bless the good in such a way as to refute evil, according to Proverbs 24:25: They that rebuke him shall be praised, and a blessing shall come upon them.

Second, perseverance in prayer

The second principal path for acquiring a blessing is by perseverance in prayer. In Genesis 32:24.26.29 this is well represented by Jacob wrestling with the Angel who said: Let me go for it is break of day; Jacob said: I will not let you go except you bless me; and the text goes on: And he blessed him in the same place. This struggle is through prayer and sighing, by which a person gains the Holy Spirit and an overflow of devotion. This is well represented in Axa, the daughter of Caleb, of whom is said that sitting on her ass she sighed and said to her father: Give me a blessing, and it continues that he gave her the upper and the nether watery ground, that is, devotion to the Divinity of Christ and to the humanity of Christ, something acquired by prayer.

For prayer to be effective in obtaining, it is necessary that it be accompanied by three virtues, namely, reverence for Majesty, vigilance for truth, and confidence about generosity.

First, a reverence of divine fear

Firstly, a reverence of divine fear is appropriate for one seeking a blessing because such reverence disposes one for a blessing. Ecclesiasticus 1:13: With one that fears the Lord, it shall go well in the latter end. A reverence of fear disposes one most effectively for a grace of blessing, as stated in Ecclesiasticus 40:28: The fear of the Lord is like a paradise of blessing and they have covered it above all glory. A divine blessing is given only to the humble and contrite, and this is well represented in Joel 2:13-14: Rend your hearts and not your garments; and a little further on we read: Who knows if God will return and forgive and leave a blessing behind him?

Second, vigilance

Secondly, according to Ecclesiasticus 32:18, vigilance is necessary: He that fears the Lord will receive his discipline and they that seek him early shall find a blessing. This is excellently indicated in Wisdom 16:28: We ought to prevent the sun to bless you, and adore you at the dawning of the light.

Third, confidence

Thirdly, confidence is opportune so that the one praying does not rely on personal justice but on divine mercy, according to Jeremias 17:7: Blessed be the man that trusts in the Lord and the Lord shall be his confidence. But whoever relies on him or herself incurs a curse and so the text says in 17:5: Cursed be the man that trusts in man and makes flesh his arm. This means to trust in oneself or in another when hope should be placed only in God from whom every blessing comes.

Third, divine praise

The third way to gain salvation is by frequent divine praise, as is stated in Proverbs 11:25: The soul which blesses shall be made fat. This comes from divine blessings according to Numbers 24:9: He that blesses you, shall also himself be blessed; he that curses you shall be reckoned accursed. There is no way one can be blessed or cursed more than by blessing or cursing God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our blessing must be perfect in its cause

But for our blessing to be pleasing to and accepted by God, it is necessary for it to be perfect in its cause by coming from the whole heart, according to Ecclesiasticus 39:41: Now therefore with the whole heart and mouth praise you him, and bless the name of the Lord. A complete blessing must come from the whole person, and the prophet David exhorts us to do this: Thus will I bless you all my life long [Psalm 62:5]; and further: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all that is within me bless his holy name [Psalm 102:1]. Otherwise, if a blessing does not come from the whole person, it is of little or no value, and there is the fear that it will dispose one to curse rather than to bless, according to Malachias 2:2: If you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts, I will send poverty upon you, and will curse your blessings. Such who bless God with their mouth but mean something else in their heart, should listen to Isaias 29:13: This people honour me with their mouth, but their heart is far from me [see also Matthew 15:7-8]. Such people are called hypocrites by the Saviour and are far from a divine blessing.

Our blessing must be perfect in its content

Secondly, it is necessary that its content be perfect, namely that it be for every gift from God, according to Ecclesiasticus 32:17: And for all these things bless the Lord that made you, and that replenishes you with all his good things. In Psalm 102:2, the holy person said this: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all he has done for you. And because all creatures were made to serve human needs, so all creatures should be invited to bless God, as in the hymn of the three young men: All you works of the Lord, bless the Lord [Daniel 3:57]. Hence, to bless God perfectly means not only to praise God in the highest creatures, but also in the middle and lowest creatures.

Our blessing must be perfect in its measure

Thirdly, however, it is necessary that it be perfect in its measure, namely, that it be given all the time, according to Tobias 4:20: Bless God at all times and desire of him to direct your ways etc., that is, both in times of prosperity and of adversity. There are some who bless God only in times of prosperity, and Zacharias 11:5 says of them: Blessed be the Lord, we are become rich etc.; and Psalm 48:19: He will praise you when you shall do well to him. Such are all who love and bless God only for the sake of temporal benefits; the devil believed that this was true of Job 1:11 when the devil said: Stretch forth your hand a little and touch all that he has, and see if he blesses you not to your face, that is, he will openly curse. But he was deceived, for the text adds that afterwards Job blessed God in adversity when we read what Job said: The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; as it has pleased the Lord, so is it done: blessed be the name of the Lord. Or at all times can refer to the times laid down for the seven hours, in accord with what Psalm 118:164 says: Seven times a day have I given praise to you etc. Or, certainly, at all times means without interruption, but this is not possible while on the way but it belongs to heaven to which the prophet longed to come when he said: Bless the Lord at all times. We will arrive at that state when the words of Matthew 25:34 are spoken to us: Come, you blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom; to which may the Father lead us etc.

[1] A sermon of St Bonaventure on the Annunciation of the B. Virgin Mary is printed in tome V, p. 483ff, with the Conferences on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Among these conferences it is in the seventh order and is the second on the gift of fortitude, which two are so closely connected that they cannot be suitably separated. In the first sermon on the gift of fortitude (p. 479) n. 2 we read at the end: We will speak now (namely, in the evening) on the gift of fortitude; tomorrow in the morning on the privilege of fruitfulness, and in the evening tomorrow on the gift of counsel.

[2] Bernard., Sermon, De Dominica infra Octavam Assumtionios B. V. M., n. 2

[5] Epistola 9 ad Paulam et Eustochium, De Assumtione. B. V. M. (in the works of Jerome) c. 5. See Bernard, Homilia 2, super Missus est, n. 7.

[6] Augustine, Liber contra Sermones Ariani, c. 8.

[7] Gregory, Homiliae in Evangelia, II, Homilia 26, n. 1.

[8] Bernard., Homilia 2, super Missus est, n. 11.

[9] See Jerome, De Nominibus Hebraicis.

[10] Homilia 2, super Missus est, n. 2 where he quotes Psalm 44:5.

[11] Bernard., Homilia 2, super Missus est, n. 4.

[12] Epistola ad Paulam et Eustochium, De Assumtione B. V. M. (in the works of Jerome) c. 9.

[15] See Augustine, Epistola 140 (alias 120) n. 4.

[16] Rather the author of the work Hypognostic (in the works of Augustine), III, c. 9, n. 17.

[17] The reference to Bede has not been found.

[18] Homilia 1, super Missus est, n. 9.

[19] Homilia 1, super Missus est, n. 7 and Homilia 2, n. 9.

[20] Homilia 1, super Missus est, n. 7 and then n. 9 in which Psalm 67:36 is quoted.

[21] Sermon, De Dominica infra Octavam Assumtionis B. V. M., n. 4, with reference to Genesis 3:15.

[22] Homilia, 2, super Missus est, n. 17.

[25] Dionysius, Cato, II, Distrib. 4.

[26] See Homiliae in Ezechielem, II, Homilia 7, n.. 7: ‘By piety we are led to knowledge’; and in ibid., n. 9 he says: ‘By a good action she merited to know God’.

[27] Homilia 2, super Missus est, n. 11.

[29] From this first section much is found verbatim in Sermo 2, Dominicae I. Adventus, tome IX, p. 27, col. II.

[30] In Sermons 4 and 5, In Vigilia Nativitatis Domini, Bonaventure lists similar properties of earth.

[31] Homilia 4, super Missus est, n. 9.

[32] Abdias, Historiae Certaminis Apostolici, V.

[33] Epistola 174, Ad canonicos Lugdunenses, n. 5.

[35] Sermon, De Assumtione B. V. M., ad Paulam et Eustochium (in the works of Jerome) c. 16.

[36] According to the interpretation of Jerome, De Nominibus Hebraicis when referring to Genesis 24:53: Bringing forth vessels of silver and gold, and garments, he gave them to Rebecca for a present.

[37] Sermon 2, In Pentecosten, n. 4 in which Luke 1:48 is quoted.

[38] Augustine, Sermo 175 (alias 9 de Verbis Apost.) n. 4 quoting 1Timothy 1:15.

[39] In the same work where he says: ‘There was no reason for Christ the Lord to come other than to save sinners’.

[40] Sermon 4, In Assumtione B. V. M., n. 6.

[42] Sermon, De Dominica infra Octavam Assumtionis B. M. V., n. 2.

[43] Sermon, De Nativitate B. V. M., n. 7 quoting Luke 1:30.

[44] Homilia 2, super Missus est, n. 17.

[45] Liber Sententiarum Prosperi, n. 15; Can., Extra catholicam (71) c. 1, q. 1.

[46] 1 Kings 4:10-11: Every man fled to his own dwelling … and the two sons of Heli were slain.

[47] Epistola 137 (alias 3) c. 1, n. 3.

[48] Aristotle, Analytica Posteriora, I, c. 35, n. 3.

[49] Gregory, Homiliae in Evangelia, II, Homilia 37, n. 1.

[50] St Bonaventure makes similar remarks in his Commentary on Luke (VII, 22) when commenting on the words of Luke 1:28: ‘In announcing the future conception, the Angel proceeds as a good, well ordered orator, and the Evangelist explains it perfectly. He puts first the beginning of the greeting; secondly he adds the development of the message: And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary; he adds a conclusion: Therefore, he that shall be born of you etc. These are the main parts of rhetorical speech, namely, an introduction, a message and a conclusion, according to Tullius (Rhetorica, I, c. 14)’. Then he says of the introduction of the greeting: ‘The Angel took kindness, maintained confidence and showed reverence’. In later passages he quotes many statements and texts of Scripture that are found in this or preceding sermons. For the rest, in this sermon he does not develop this general division but deals only with the sevenfold fullness of grace of the most blessed Virgin to which is added, as a second part, the sevenfold disposition of all who receive grace.

[53] Sermon, De Dominica infra Octavam Assumtionis B. V. M., n. 4.

[54] Homilia 2, super Missus est, n. 4.

[55] De natura et gratia, c. 36, n. 42.

[56] Sermon, De Dominica infra Octavam Assumtionis B. V. M., n. 2.

[57] Rather the author of the sermon, De Assumtione B. V. M., ad Paulam et Eustochium (in the works of Jerome) c. 16.

[59] Sermon, De Assumtione B. V. M., (in the works of Jerome), c. 9.

[60] Sermon, De Assumtione B. V. M., (in the works of Jerome) c. 14 (13.).

[61] Bernard, Sermon 1, De Dominica post Octavam Epiphaniae, n. 2.

[62] Sermon, De Assumtione B. V.M., (in the works of Jerome) c. 5.

[63] Sermon 4, In Assumtione B. V. M., n. 5.

[64] Sermon 2, In Adventu Domini, n. 4.

[66] Sermon, De Dominica infra Octavam Assumtionis B. V. M., n. 2.

[67] Sermon, In Nativitate B. V. M., n. 7.

[68] Homilia 2, super Missus est, n. 17.