Jars And Water And Wine

Et die tertio nuptiae factae sunt in Cana Galilaeae... Moraliter Nuptiae istae sunt Dei et Animae ipsa reconciliatone animae ad Deum. Oseae secundo: Sponsabo te mihi in fide, et scies, quia ego Dominus. Ad has nuptias faciendas venit Dominus Jesus, sed invitatus. Apocal tertio: Ecce ego sto ad ostium, et pulso, si quis audierit vocem meam, et aperuerit mihi januam, introibo ad illum, et coenabo cum illo. Vinum in his nuptiis defecit. Hoc vinum est interna devotio, de quo in Psal Vinum laetificat cor hominis. Et Matth nono: Nemo mittit vinum novum in utres veteres. Istud vinum deficit, cum homo efficitur aridus et indevotus, sicut dicit anima sancta in Psal Anima mea, sicut terra sine aqua, tibi. Sed ad preces Virginis, quae compatitur miseris, Dominus implet hydrias aqua compunctionis, quae convertitur in dulcedinem devotionis. Unde Exodo quinto decimo dicitur, quod aquae Marath in dulcedinem conversae sunt. Nota igitur, quod hyrdria, in qua hauritur aqua, est consideratio. Hydria vacua est consideratio defectus, et vacuitatis, quam incurrit homo per peccatum. Ista hydria impletur aqua, cum homo ex consideratione tali lacrymis perfunditur. Est igitur hydria prima consideratio defectus cognitionis; Tob quinto: Quale gaudium mihi erit, qui in tenebris sedeo, etc Secunda hydria consideratio defectus circumspectus circa hostem, secundae ad Cor. undecimo: Timeo autem, ne sicut serpens seduxit Hevam asturia sua, ita corrumpantur sensus vestri, et excidant a simplicitate, quae est in Christo. Tertia est consideratio defectus internae consolationis. Jer secundo: Vide quia malum, et amarum est, te reliquisse Dominum Deum tuum. Quarta est consideratio defectus virtutis ad resistendum; Psal Dereliquit me virtus mea, et lumen oculorum, et ipsum non est mecum. Quinta est consideratio defectus stabilitatis; Gen octavo: Sensus et cogitatio humani cordis in malum prona sunt ab adolescentia sua. Sexta est consideratio defectus securitatis ad proemium expectandum; Ecclesiastici nono: Nescit homo, utrum amore, an odio dignus fit. Tunc implentur istae hydriae aqua usque ad summum, quando anima poenitens lavat per singulas noctes ex his considerationibus, lectum suum. Et ex aqua vinum fit optimum devotionis, de quo Zach nono: Quid bonum ejus, et quid pulchrum ejus, nisi frumentum electorum, et vinum germinans virgines? In hoc converitur aqua compunctionis, unde sancta anima in Psal Convertisti planctum meum in gaudium mihi. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput II Source: Here, p507

On the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee... 1 Morally these nuptials are of God and the soul, in the reconciliation of the soul to God. In the second chapter of Hosea: 'I shall espouse you to me in faith, and you shall know I am the Lord.' 2 For the performance of these nuptials comes the Lord Jesus, even uninvited. In the third chapter of the Apocalypse: 'Behold I stand and the door and I knock, if someone hears my voice and opens the door to me, I shall enter and feast with him.' 3 The wine at the wedding ran out. This wine is internal devotion, concerning which in the Psalm: 'Wine which delights the heart of a man,' 4 and in the ninth chapter of Matthew: 'No one puts new wine in old wineskins.' 5 This wine runs out when a man is made arid and undevout, as the holy soul says in the Psalm, 'As a land without water to you,' 6 but to the prayers of the Virgin, who has compassion on your misery, the Lord fills the jars with the water of compunction, which are then turned into the sweetness of devotion. Whence in the fifteenth chapter of Exodus it is said that the waters of Mara turned sweet. 7 Therefore note that the jars from which the water is drawn is consideration. An empty jar is defective consideration and it holds nothing, and because of it a man hurries to sin. But this jar is filled with water when a man in such consideration is drenched with tears. Thus the first jar is consideration of defective knowledge. In the fifth chapter of Tobit, 'What joy shall there be for me who sit in darkness?' 8 The consideration of the second jar concerns the defect of wariness regarding the enemy. In the eleventh chapter of the second letter to the Corinthians: 'But I fear lest as the serpent seduced Eve with its cleverness, so your minds are corrupted and you are cut off from the simplicity which is in Christ.' 9 The third jar is the consideration of the defect of internal consolation. In the second chapter of Jeremiah: 'See that it is wicked and bitter that you have forsaken the Lord your God.' 10 The fourth consideration is the defect of virtue for resisting. In the Psalm: 'My virtue has gone from me, and the light of my eyes is not with me.' 11 The fifth consideration is of the defect of stability. In the eighth chapter of Genesis: 'The mind and thought of the human heart is inclined to wickedness from its youth.' 12 The sixth consideration is a defect in hope for the expected reward. In the ninth chapter of Ecclesiastes: 'A man does not know if he is worthy of love or hate.' 13 And then the jars are filled even to the brim when the penitent soul washes itself with these considerations each night on its own bed. And from this water is made the best wine of devotion, concerning which it is said in the ninth chapter of Zachariah: 'What is His good, and what is His beauty, unless the wheat of the elect and wine bringing forth virgins?' 14 One is changed into this by the water of compunction, whence the holy soul says in the Psalm: 'You turned my weeping into joy.' 5 Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 2 1 Jn 2.1 2 Hosea 2.19 3 Apoc 3.10 4 Ps 103.15 5 Mt 9.17 6Ps 142.6 7 Exod 15.23 8 Tob 5.12 9 2 Cor 11.3 10 Jerem 2.19 11 Ps 37.11 12 Gen 8.21 13 Eccl 9.1 14 Zach 9.17 15 Ps 29.12