ON THE MOST
HOLY BODY OF CHRIST
by
Saint Bonaventure
Translated
by
Campion Murray
OFM
SUMMARY
Introduction
4
Six of our
imperfections are indicated
4
Six effects
of God are indicated
4
Six themes
that prefigure the Eucharist
4
Part I:
The first and second themes
5
The first is
the theme of dripping
5
First
effect
5
The theme points
to four remedies
5
Firstly
5
Secondly
6
Thirdly
6
Fourthly
6
Second
effect
6
Third
effect
6
The second
theme, namely, bread
Four
actions of Elijah
7
Firstly
8
Secondly
8
Thirdly
8
Fourthly
8
Four fruits
8
Themes
prefiguring the four fruits
9
First fruit
9
Second fruit
9
Third fruit
9
Fourth fruit
9
Part II.
The third and fourth themes
10
The third is
the theme of honey
10
Four
actions of Jonathan
10
Four fruits of the Eucharist
11
First fruit
11
Second fruit
11
Third fruit
11
Fourth fruit
12
The fourth
theme, namely, the Paschal Lamb
12
Four
qualities needed before his coming
12
First quality
12
Second quality
13
Third quality
13
Fourth quality
13
Four
qualities needed in approaching the Sacrament
13
First quality
13
Second quality
13
Third quality
14
Fourth quality
14
Four
fruits after receiving the Sacrament
14
First fruit
14
Second fruit
14
Third fruit
15
Fourth fruit
15
Part III.
On the fifth and sixth themes
15
Fifth theme:
the theme of heavenly treasure
15
Four
treasures hidden in the Sacrament
15
First treasure
15
Second treasure
15
Third treasure
16
Fourth treasure
16
Hidden
for four reasons
16
First reason
16
Second reason
17
Third reason
17
Fourth reason
17
Sixth theme:
Manna
17
Four properties of manna
17
First property
18
Second property
18
Third property
18
Fourth property
18
Example of the Saints
18
Four
things to be done
19
First preparation
19
Second preparation
19
Third preparation
19
Fourth preparation
19
Epilogue
20
Introduction:
1. Let the
mercies of the Lord give glory to him and his wonderful
works to the children of men. He has satisfied the empty
soul, and has filled the hungry soul with good things. Such
as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound, in
want and in iron [Psalm 106:8-10].
The Prophet David wrote this text to stimulate us to give
thanks when he said: Let the mercies of the Lord
etc. So, wanting to stimulate our hearts to give thanks,
in this text he shows multiple imperfections in our poor
condition, but also multiple effects of divine mercy.
Six of our
imperfections are indicated:
He says:
§
that people
are empty,
§
that they hunger,
§
sit in darkness,
§
and lie in
the shadow of death,
§
bound in want
§
and in iron.
Empty, because
God does not dwell within them; hungry, because they do
not have spiritual refreshment. They sit in darkness, because
they lack divine knowledge. They lie in the shadow of death,
because they are under a judgment of damnation. They are
bound in want, because they do not have works of virtue.
They are bound in iron, because they are hard of heart.
Six effects
of God are indicated:
Therefore,
let them give glory to the Lord, because
§
the Lord has
filled the empty soul,
§
has satisfied
the hungry soul,
§
enlightened
the soul sitting in darkness,
§
reconciled
the soul lying in the shadow of death,
§
enriched the
soul in need,
§
and softened
the hard heart.
They were empty
and the Lord gave himself to them by living in them. They
were hungry and the Lord gave himself to them as refreshment;
they sat in darkness and the Lord God gave himself to them
as the enlightenment of their hearts; they lay in the shadow
of death and the Lord gave himself to them as an offering
of reconciliation. They were bound in want, and the Lord
gave himself to them in good works; they were bound in iron,
that is, in hardness of heart, and he gave himself to them
to soften their hearts. Therefore, give glory to the Lord
for he fills the empty, he is the refreshment of the hungry,
the light of all who sit in darkness, the reconciliation
of those living in the shadow of death, the enrichment of
those in want and the softening of hardened hearts.
It is clear
that all of these are mentioned in the text chosen for our
treatise.
Six themes
that prefigure the Eucharist:
2. Corresponding
to these six points, the body of Christ is prefigured in
Scripture by six themes, namely,
§
the theme of
marrow or dripping,
§
the theme of
bread,
§
the theme of
honey,
§
the theme of
the paschal lamb,
§
the theme of
heavenly treasure
§
and the theme
of manna.
On the first
theme, because dripping is something penetrating, it is
suitable for filling the empty. On the second theme, because
bread is strengthening, it is suitable for refreshing the
hungry. On the third theme, because honey cleanses the eyes,
it is suitable for enlightening those sitting in darkness.
On the fourth theme, because the paschal lamb can be offered
in sacrifice, it is suitable for reconciling those who lie
in the shadow of death. On the fifth theme, because treasure
is desirable, it is suitable for enriching the poor. On
the sixth theme, because manna can liquefy, it is suitable
for softening hardness of hearts. Therefore, let the
mercies of the Lord etc.
Part I:
On the first and second themes:
The first
theme, namely, of dripping
3. Firstly,
the most holy Body of Christ is rightly prefigured for us
by the theme of dripping. The Body of Christ is given to
us to preserve divine fervour in our heart and it is preserved
in three ways:
§
by interior
delight,
§
by love for
a neighbour,
§
and by devotion
to God.
Interior delight
is only experienced through a provision of refreshment;
love for a neighbour comes through the Sacrament of communion;
devotion to God through the sacrifice of an offering. The
Body of Christ is given for these three reasons, namely,
for a provision of refreshment
to preserve interior delight; for the Sacrament of communion
to preserve love for a neighbour; for the sacrifice of an
offering to preserve devotion to God. Fatness provides these
three: for interior delight it provides delightful foods
which it imparts; to preserve love of neighbour, it extends
a skin on which it is smeared; to preserve devotion to God
it supports a flame which it enkindles.
First effect:
4. Because
dripping produces delightful foods, it represents the Body
of Christ that produces great interior delight in anyone
who eats it with devotion. This is prefigured in Genesis
49:20: Asher, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield
dainties to kings. This bread imparts great delights
to a person because it takes away all that causes trouble.
Four things trouble a person in this life:
§
weakness,
§
ignorance,
§
malice
§
and concupiscence,
four things
inflicted on people because of original sin. Psalm 37:9:
I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly and the cause
is added immediately when it says: my strength has left
me, because of weakness; and the light of my eyes
itself is not with me, because of ignorance; my friends
and my neighbours have drawn near, and stood against me,
because of concupiscence. He calls his friends and neighbours
flesh with its concupiscence, and even adversaries because
the flesh lusts against the spirit (Galatians
5:17).
And they that were near me stood afar off because
of malice.
The theme
points to four remedies:
Under the theme
of the bread of Asher, that is, abundant bread, bread providing
delights, and bread of kings, the Body of Christ is given
against the four afflictions in the text quoted from Genesis
49:20.
Firstly:
It is called
the bread of kings because it strengthens kings against
weakness so that a king, that is, right reason, sitting
on the throne of judgment, that is, by a correct
governing of the soul, scatters away all evil with his
look as stated in Proverbs 20:8.
Secondly:
The Body of
Christ is called rich bread because it enlightens against
ignorance. When placed in a jug or poured into a lamp, dripping
provides light.
Thirdly:
It is also
called a bread giving delights against concupiscence of
the flesh. This is the bread having in it all that is
delicious, and the sweetness of every taste, Wisdom
16:20.
Fourthly:
It is called
the bread of Asher
which means happiness because it gladdens the whole person
against all malice. The power of this bread is that it changes
humans into Christ who is most blessed from his essence
and blesses others by grace. So the Lord said to blessed
Augustine:
‘You will not change me into you as food of your flesh,
but you will be changed into me’.
Second effect:
5. Secondly,
the Body of Christ is given to us in the Sacrament of communion
to preserve love for a neighbour; and so it is well prefigured
by dripping, for just as dripping expands a skin on which
it is smeared, so the Body of Christ expands a soul that
eats it devoutly. It broadens it in every direction, namely,
above and below, to the right, to the left, before and behind;
for this reason Jeremiah 31:14 says: I will fill the
souls of the priests with fatness.
The fatness,
by which he fills the soul of priests, refers to the Sacrament
of the altar by which a soul receiving it worthily is warmed
to love. This expands the soul strongly in every direction
and so he adds: and my people shall be filled with my
good things. The word, people, stands for the
whole Church, both militant and triumphant. After the soul
of a priest has been filled by virtue of the Sacrament with
the dripping of love, immediately he fills the whole Church
with good things. From the abundance of love, the Church
is expanded up to heaven by praying to God to the honour
of the Saints reigning in heaven; it is expanded below even
to purgatory because it prays for the redemption of those
abiding there; it is expanded to the right because it prays
for the salvation of friends and benefactors; it is expanded
to the left because it prays for the salvation of enemies
and persecutors; it is expanded behind because it prays
for the salvation of its predecessors; before because it
prays for the salvation of all the future predestined until
the day of judgment.
Third effect:
6. Thirdly,
the Body of Christ is given to us for a sacrificial offering
to preserve devotion towards God. For this reason it is
well represented by dripping because just as dripping poured
on a fire raises the flame higher, so the most divine Eucharist,
received by a devout soul, raises the soul through devotion
to God. So Psalm 62:5-6 says: In your name I will lift
up my hands. Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness,
and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips. Just
as a vase filled with marrow and dripping, cannot hold all
within and overflows outside, so the Body of Christ, when
it has filled a soul with the dripping of devotion, overflows
exteriorly with joyful lips.
In this text
there is mention of four things that help to preserve devotion
to God, namely,
§
a correct intention,
§
routine in
prayer,
§
devotion in
communion,
§
and subsequent
thanksgiving.
One should
so order these things that one, firstly, prepares a right
intention, afterwards stirs oneself by prayer, then devoutly
approaches communion, and finally opens the mouth in thanksgiving.
7. Firstly,
a person must have a right intention. One should not offer
this sacrifice to please others, or for a personal convenience
or for temporal gain. It is to be offered only for the sake
of divine honour, for the benefit of a neighbour and to
increase one’s merit. For this reason the Apostle says:
All whatsoever you do in word or work, do all in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 3:17).
One approaching
this Sacrament should be ready for prayer; one should not
come with a tepid heat because this could cause obstinacy.
For this reason the Psalm says: I will lift up my hands,
namely, in prayer according to the Apostle in 1 Timothy
2:8: I will therefore that people pray in every place,
lifting up pure hands, namely, to the Lord.
Then thirdly,
a devout person should approach communion, and so there
is added: Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness.
And lastly,
fattened by devotion, and inflamed from love, one must break
out in thanksgiving. So there is added: and my mouth
shall praise you with joyful lips.
Therefore,
let the mercies of the Lord give glory, because his
Body is first prefigured for us by the theme of fatness.
The second
theme, namely, bread:
8. Secondly,
this most holy Body is prefigured for us in the theme of
bread, of which John 6:51
says: I am the living bread which came down from heaven,
and in
6:52: The
bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.
This is the
bread brought by the Angel to Elijah as stated in 1 Kings
19:6: Elijah looked and behold there was at his head
a hearth
cake and a vessel of water. A hearth cake is the Body
of Christ that is well called hearth because it is covered
with other material.
The hearth implies other material and under this material,
namely, ashes, the refreshment of our minds is hidden. The
text says also that there was a vessel of water there
and this is added because of the mystery of the Blood of
Christ. That the bread was brought by an angel’s ministry
signifies that when this Sacrament is confected, there is
present an army of angels. Gregory in Dialogues:
Who among the
faithful doubts that in the very hour of immolation at the
voice of a priest the heavens are opened, the lowest is
connected to the highest, earth is joined to heaven, and
the visible and invisible become one? But when we do this,
it is necessary that before God we first, in compunction
of heart, offer ourselves on the altar to God.
Four actions
of Elijah:
But before
Elijah came to the refreshment of this bread, we read that
he did four things.
§
He left the
servant,
§
came into the
desert,
§
sat under a
juniper
§
and received
an angelic awakening.
This signifies
that for a person to want to approach this Sacrament worthily
four things are necessary.
§
Firstly, a
person must flee from the consolation of the world,
§
enter religion,
§
remain subject
to a superior there,
§
and have devotion
towards God.
And these are
the four things spoken of above.
Firstly:
9. Firstly,
it is necessary to flee from the consolation of the world.
There is a fullness of spiritual consolation in this Sacrament,
something not given to anyone indulging in other consolation,
as Bernard says.
Hence, it is necessary that whoever wants to receive spiritual
consolation has to dismiss carnal delight. This is what
is said, namely, that when he came to
Beersheba he
left his servant there.
Beersheba
means a spring of abundance and it represents Christ in
whom is all fullness of graces. Whoever reaches this fullness
sets aside every delight of the world; and this is what
is added here: he left his servant there. What do
we get from a servant other than carnal delight? The Apostle
teaches us to leave this servant when he says: Therefore,
do not become children in sense, but in malice be perfect
(1 Corinthians 14:20). Therefore, the one who leaves
a servant is one who leaves behind the childish ways of
the world.
Secondly:
10. Secondly,
whoever wants to approach this Sacrament worthily must engage
in the religion of an upright life. This is what is said
here: Elijah went into the desert. The desert represents
religious life which is named from deserting
for in it all temporal things are left behind. There, riches
are abandoned by the vow of poverty, delights by the vow
of chastity, honours and worldly dignities by giving up
one’s own will. Nothing in the world is as harmful as these
three; 1 John 2:16 states: For all that is in the world,
is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence
of the eyes, and the pride of life. Because the devil
captures sinful souls through these three things, so it
is that religious souls struggle against these three things.
This is implied in Deuteronomy 8:15: in the desert was
the serpent burning with his breath, that is, the devil
tempting through pride; and the dipsas
killing from thirst, that is, the devil tempting through
avarice; and the scorpion fawning in appearance but
stinging with the tail, that is, the devil temping through
concupiscence of the flesh.
Thirdly:
11. Thirdly,
it is necessary to be subject to a superior; this is said
in the text: Elijah sat under a juniper tree. Isidore
says that a juniper is a tree whose ashes conserve fire
for a whole year. Therefore, what are we able to see in
a juniper other than a good superior? The ash of a juniper
is the humility of a superior; this humility serves to preserve
a fire of mutual love and warmth of fervent devotion in
the hearts of subjects.
Fourthly:
12. Fourthly,
it is necessary to maintain devotion for God; this is what
the text says here:
that an angel touched him. What does the Angel represent
other than a gift of divine grace? An Angel means messenger.
When God sends us grace, then it is as if God is sending
an Angel to us. This angel stirs us once and yet again because
the gift of divine grace always prompts us in spirit to
go forward.
Four fruits:
Whoever approaches
this Sacrament worthily does not return empty. And so note
that there are four things usually received in this Sacrament
when approached worthily.
Themes prefiguring
the four fruits:
13. This Sacrament
§
comforts for
action,
§
raises to contemplation,
§
disposes to
the revelation of divine things,
§
animates and
enkindles contempt of the world and a desire for heavenly
and eternal goods.
This is stated
in the text: Elijah walked in the strength of that food
and reached the mount of God, saw divine secrets
and stood at the mouth of a cave. These are the four
things referred to above.
First fruit:
The first fruit
drawn by a devout soul from this Sacrament is to be comforted
in actions. So it is said: he walked in the strength
of that food for forty days etc. This food represents
the Body of Christ in the strength of which a person works
while not ceasing to make progress in the spiritual life.
He walks for forty days. In the number forty, ten
is taken four times. Ten represents the Decalogue to which
the whole of the Old Testament can be reduced. Four represents
the four Gospels to which the whole of the New Testament
can be reduced. So, to walk in the strength of that food
for forty days is to progress in the spiritual life throughout
all the time we have in such a way that our life is ruled
by the New and the Old Testaments.
Second fruit:
14. Secondly,
one is raised to contemplation; so the text says: he came
unto the mount of God. What else can we understand
by the mount other than a lifting up of the mind? Moses
came to this mount, of which we read in Exodus 3:1ff.:
Moses fed the sheep, and note here the carrying out
of an action. Afterwards, he drove the flock to the inner
parts of the desert, indicating the leading back of
all actions and affections to the inner parts of the heart.
And he came to the mount of God, in which is noted
the raising of the mind to heavenly matters. There, the
Lord appeared to him, because from then on an act of
contemplation occurs in the soul. The Lord appeared to him
in a flame of fire. Fire warms and illuminates and
so indicates that, when a soul reaches the grace of contemplation,
the intellect draws the light of knowledge and the affections
the glow of love.
Third fruit:
15. Thirdly,
one is disposed for the revelation of divine secrets; so
the text of 1 Kings 19:11-12 says that the Lord said to
Elijah: Go forth and stand upon the mount before the
Lord, and behold the Lord passes and a great and strong
wind before the Lord overthrowing the mountains, and breaking
the rocks in pieces; the Lord is not in the wind and after
the wind an earthquake; the Lord is not in the earthquake.
And after the earthquake a fire; the Lord is not in the
fire, and after the fire a whistling of a gentle air,
and the Lord is there. There, it was revealed to Elijah
that the Lord is not in a spirit of pride, not in the upset
of impatience, nor in a fire of greed or carnal concupiscence,
but in the whispering of a gentle air, that is, in the tranquillity
of a peaceful conscience. Psalm 75:3 says: His place
is in peace, and his abode in
Zion.
Fourth fruit:
16. Fourthly,
one is animated to contempt of the world and to a desire
for heavenly goods. So the text says here (1 Kings 19:13)
that Elijah covered his face with his mantle and coming
forth stood at the entrance of the cave. When a soul
is lifted up to see the immensity of that beauty and the
infinity of divine power, it immediately draws back to its
own smallness, covers its face with deep humility,
comes forth from the greed of the world, and stands
at the entrance of the cave, that is, it longs for eternity.
The cave represents a human body and the entrance a desire
to leave. For this reason he, as it were, stood at the entrance
because he wanted to go out.
Therefore,
let the mercies of the Lord give glory to him, because
his most holy Body is prefigured for us in this second way
by the theme of bread.
Part II.
The third and fourth themes:
The theme
of honey:
17. Thirdly,
his most reverent Body is prefigured for us in the theme
of honey. So, Proverbs 24:13 says: Eat honey, my son,
because it is good, and the honeycomb most sweet to your
throat. The honeycomb represents the Sacrament of the
Lord’s Body, and it is well represented by honey because
honey delights the taste and, according to doctors purifies
eyesight. In the same way, Christ delights the affections
and enlightens the mind. Bernard:
‘Jesus, sweetness of hearts, living fountain, light of minds,
surpasses every joy and every desire’. By saying that he
is sweetness of hearts, the affections are delighted, and
that he is the light of minds, the intellect is enlightened.
Bernard says
on the Canticle
that Jesus is honey: ‘Jesus is honey in the mouth, a song
in the ear, joy in the heart’. And in another text: ‘Jesus,
angelic glory, a sweet song to the ear, wonderful honey
in the mouth, heavenly ornament in the heart’. Our bee,
the Virgin Mary, made for us this honey, according to Sirach
11:3: The bee is small among flying things, but her fruit
has the greatest sweetness.
The blessed
Virgin is a bee, an animal described as small, because she
is the most humble among all the Saints. Her fruit has
the greatest sweetness, because the Lord Jesus Christ,
the fruit of her womb, was not only sweet like honey but
indeed more than honey and the honeycomb. Bernard says:
‘Jesus is a presence sweeter than honey and everything else’.
Therefore,
just as the Body of Christ is prefigured by the theme of
bread and this is for the refreshment of the hungry, so
it is prefigured by the theme of honey for the illumination
of those sitting in the shadow of death. This is
stated in 1 Samuel 14:27, 29: Jonathan tasted the honey
and his eyes were enlightened.
Four actions
of Jonathan:
Four things
are necessary for a person who approaches this Sacrament.
We read that Jonathan did four things before he came to
taste the honeycomb of honey:
§
he climbed
a difficult track,
§
put the whole
army of the Philistines to flight,
§
held in his
hand a rod,
§
and brought
his hand to his mouth.
This signifies
that anyone approaching this Sacrament worthily has to be
trying to improve, have victory over temptation, the protection
of the blessed Virgin, and the assistance of an enlightened
way of acting.
18. Therefore,
firstly, one must be trying to improve. So the text says
of Jonathan that he went up creeping on his hands and
feet, to signify that one must always have a strong
desire to move forward, to increase and ascend from virtue
to virtue, according to Psalm 83:6-8: Blessed are they
whose help is from you, whose heart is disposed to ascend
by steps, in the vale of tears, in the place which has been
set. For the lawgiver shall give a blessing, they shall
go from virtue to virtue; the God of gods shall be seen
in
Zion.
No one is capable of this other than one who concentrates
all the strength of soul and body on all these. For this
reason, Jonathan is said to have gone creeping on his
hands and feet. Bernard:
This is my
daily exercise: I examine my spirit assiduously and with
all in you that deserves love, as if with hands and feet
and striving with all my strength, I move towards you; but
the more strongly I strive, the more severely am I pressed
down to the earth; in myself and under myself, and looking
at myself, I have come to regard myself as a difficult and
tedious question.
19. Secondly,
one must have a victory over temptation. For this reason
we read of Jonathan that he put the whole army to flight,
signifying, that one who wants to approach the Sacrament
of the altar worthily must achieve victory over all temptations.
20. Thirdly,
one who wishes to taste the sweetness of the honey hidden
in the Sacrament of the altar must have the protection of
the blessed Virgin. For this reason we read that Jonathan
held a rod in his hand before he came to the sweetness similar
to honey. In Scripture, the rod represents the Virgin Mary
according to the text of Isaiah 11:1: There shall come
forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall
rise up out of his root. One holds a rod in the hand
as long as the memory of the blessed Virgin is held during
every activity; honey is got by reaching out with her because
it is only by the protection of the blessed Virgin Mary
that one reaches the power of this Sacrament. For this reason,
just as this most holy Body is given to us through her,
so what was given to us and was born from her womb should
be offered through her hands and accepted through her hands
in the Sacrament. Bernard:
Whatever it
may be you are preparing to offer remember to entrust it
to the hands of the blessed Virgin so that grace may flow
back by the same channel to the giver of grace from whom
it flowed. Perhaps your hands are either full of blood or
stained from gifts in so far as you have not kept them free
from every gift.
21. Fourthly,
one who wants to approach the mystery of the Body of Christ
worthily must have the assistance of an enlightened way
of acting.
Just
as the Apostle says in 2 Thessalonians 3:10: Anyone who
will not work, or who does not work, is not to eat.
This must be observed most faithfully when eating the Body
of Christ; no one is worthy to receive this Sacrament other
than a person exercised in good works. And so it is said
of Jonathan that he brought his hand to his mouth.
Because we work with our hands, work is indicated in Scripture
by hands; but work is also indicated by the mouth and so
the word mouth indicates the act of eating.
Four fruits
of the Eucharist:
22. But because
the gift of grace in one who eats worthily is usually increased,
we read that Jonathan received four good effects from tasting
the honey; these represent four effects of grace that one
receives from approaching the Sacrament worthily.
First fruit:
The mind is
enlightened to know the highest truth, and so we read in
1 Samuel 14:27 that after Jonathan tasted the honey:
his eyes were enlightened. Whoever frequents this Sacrament
daily with fervour of devotion advances in enlightenment
of mind, and so the text says: You have seen yourselves
that my eyes are enlightened because I tasted a little of
this honey.
Second fruit:
23. Secondly,
desire is here incited to seek the highest good; whoever
approaches this Sacrament worthily is delighted more and
more in its intimacies. This is what is said of Jonathan:
I did but taste a little honey (1 Samuel
14:43).
It is noteworthy that he said: I did but taste. Once
that sweetness is tasted, the desire to taste is incited
and further increased; so because one tastes by tasting,
from the taste desire always increases. So Bernard:
‘A spiritual taste is a stirring of love and a prompting
of desire’. Also he says: ‘Who tastes you still hungers,
who drinks you still thirsts, they know of no desire other
than Jesus whom they love’. And it adds well a little
honey because even though an ample taste is given to
someone in this life, in comparison with the heavenly fullness,
it is only a little honey.
Third fruit:
24. Thirdly,
an irascible person is strengthened to stamp out all evil.
For this reason we read that Jonathan, strengthened by the
taste of honey, pursued the Philistines to Aijalon
(1 Samuel 14:31). The word Philistines means
double ruin and represents vices that bring ruin to the
soul and eternal death to the body. Aijalon means
a searching for life and represents the eternal life that
we acquire there most perfectly. Temporal life is not called
life but rather death, as Gregory
says. Therefore, Jonathan, strengthened by the honey, that
is, a man made from the Body of Christ, pursued the Philistines
to Aijalon, that is, he did not cease to stamp out vices
until he gained eternal life.
Fourth fruit:
25. Fourthly,
a person dies to this world so as to live for God. And this
is what is said of Jonathan. After tasting a little honey,
he then added: Behold, I must die (1 Samuel 14:43),
signifying that the sweetness of this Sacrament fills a
person and totally destroys this person for the world. This
is the desire of the Saints, and so Job
7:15 says:
My soul rather chooses hanging and my bones death.
This death of the external person is the total bringing
to life of the inner person. So the Lord said to Moses:
a person shall not see me and live (Exodus 33:20),
because it is only after this death that one reaches the
vision of God.
Therefore, because ‘the vision of God is the whole reward’,
as Augustine
says, there is no way to the vision of God except through
death. Blessed Augustine desired this death saying:
Make me, Lord,
out of desire and love for you, totally dead to this world
and make me forget the vanity of all transient things because
of the greatness of your love, so that over temporal things
may I neither lament nor rejoice nor be corrupted by flattery
nor be shaken by adversity.
