Fear And Hope

Ab auditu malo non timebit, paratum est cor ejus sperare in Domino... Illum auditum malum dicit, quem audituri sunt impii: Ite in ignem aeternum, et reliqua. Malus enim illis videtur qui justa serveritate plectendi sunt: quia fas dicit non est, nisi justum Domini semper esse judicum. Et ne solum beatos putares poenas noxias non timere, sequitur, paratum cor ejus sperare in Domino, ut promissa ipsius percipiant, qui saeculi illecebras ejus juvamine calcaverunt; quibus ipse dicturus est: Venite benediti Patris mei, percipite regnum quod vobis paratum est ab origine mundi. Cor autem positum est pro rectae mentis affectu, quod sine aliqua cunctatione promissa novit expetere. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, CXI Source: Migne PL 70.806d

He shall not fear the hearing of evil, his heart is prepared to hope in the Lord... 1 He speaks of that hearing of evil that the wicked will hear: 'Go into eternal fire,' 2 and the rest. For it seems evil to them that they are struck with just severity, because one does not speak rightly unless that the judgement of the Lord is always just. And lest you might think that the blessed lack only that fear of woeful punishments, he continues: 'his heart is prepared to hope in the Lord,' that receiving His promises, with His help, they crush down worldly snares, to whom He shall then say, 'Come blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world.' 3 For the heart established in the disposition of a right mind knows how to have hope in the promises without any hesitation. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 111 1 Ps 111.7 2 Mt 25.41 3 Mt 25.34

Grief And Hope

Nolumus autem vos ignorare, fratres, de iis qui dormiunt; ne contristemini, sicut et caeteri qui spem non habent. Nam si credimus quod Jesus mortuus est et resurrexit, sic et Deus illos, qui dormierunt per Jesum adducet cum eo. Manifesta est ratio, quia si resurrectio creditur mortuorum futura, non sunt lugendi, qui cum signo crucis exeunt. Lugendi autem vere sunt infideles, qui hinc transeunt in gehennam; ut ediscant verum esse, quod credere noluerunt. Fideles autem resurgent ad gloriam, ut qui in saeculo stulti habiti sunt propter fidem, videantur prudentes; providerunt enim sibi gloriam. Hi sunt qui per Jesum, id est, sub spe fidei hujus exeuntes, adducentur cum eo in adventu ejus; ut ab hominibus videantur. Cum tamen ipse defuncti excessum lugendum prohibeat, ipse alibi dicit: Ne tristitiam haberem. Sed jam suo loco solutum est. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam ad Thessalonicenses Primam Caput IV Source: Migne PL 17.449d-450a

We do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, so that you are not sorrowful, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so God will bring with Him even those who have slept through Jesus. 1 The reason is obvious, because if there is belief in the future resurrection of the dead, then they who depart with the sign of the cross should not be mourned. In truth mourning is for the faithless, who pass from here into hell, that there they learn the truth they refused to believe in here. But the faithful shall rise to glory, so that those who in the world lived as fools on account of faith, shall appear wise, for they foresaw glory for themselves. These who depart through Jesus, in the hope of faith in Him, shall attend Him in His coming, so that they will be seen by men. However when here he prohibits them to mourn excessively for the dead, he says elsewhere: 'Lest I be sorrowful.' 2 And now in this passage the matter is resolved. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The First Letter of Saint Paul To The Thessalonians, Chapter 4 1 1 Thes 4.12-13 2 Phil 2.27

Preparing For The Kingdom

Appropinquabit enim regnum caelorum... Id est, beatitudo regni caelestis: quam praeparavit fidelibus Deus, ac si dicat, Parate vos per poenitentiam et per patientiam ad percipiendam beatitudinem regni caelestis: qui appropinquabit tempus mercedis reddendae. Qui mala timetis, aut concupiscitis bona, attendite, quia appropinquabit regnum caelorum. Si vos mala non terrent, vel bona delectant: aut si regna non concupiscitis, vel tormenta timete. Gaudeant justi, quia jam finiuntur mala eorum, et incipiunt bona. Lugeant peccatores, quia jam transeunt bona eorum, et incipiunt mala. Quid nocuit hominibus justis, quia mala passi sunt, cum coeperint esse in bonis? Nam et recordatio transactorum malorum non solum non nocet, sed adhuc magis delectat. Nam mala quamdiu praesentia sunt, gravia videntur: cum vero transacta fuerint, recordatio eorum gloriata est. Aut quid prodest peccatoribus, quia bona sunt consequuti, cum coeperint esse in malis? Nam recordatio transactorum bonorum non solum non adjuvat, sed adhuc amplius gravat. Nam quamdiu praesentia sunt, delectabilia videntur: cum vero transacta fuerint, recordatio eorum magis affligit. Et ista praedicatio poenitentiae qualem fructum contulit Christo? Seminavit verbum poenitentiae, et immaculatos praedicatores justitiae messuit. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia VI Source: Migne PG 56.674

For the kingdom of heaven is at hand... 1 That is, the blessedness of the heavenly kingdom, that God has prepared for His faithful ones, 2 as if He said, 'Prepare yourself through penance and through patience to take possession of the blessedness of the heavenly kingdom, for the time for the giving of the reward is near.' You who fear evil or desire good things, attend, because the kingdom of heaven is near. If evil things do not trouble you, if you do not delight in good things, either you do not desire the kingdom of heaven, or you do not fear torment. But let the righteous delight, because now their evils are coming to an end, and good things are beginning. But let sinners lament, because now their good things are passing away, and their evils are beginning. How has it harmed righteous men that because they have suffered evils, they now begin to be among good things? For the remembrance of evils undergone not only does no harm, but delights all the more. For while evils were present, they seemed so heavy, when however they have passed away, the memory is glorious. Or how shall it profit sinners, that with their goods passing away, they begin to be among evil things? The remembrance of their bygone goods will not help them, but rather it will increase their distress. For while such things were present, they seemed delightful, but when they have passed away, the memory of them is a greater affliction. And this preaching of penance, what sort of fruit does it bear for Christ? He sows the word of penance, and he reaps immaculate proclaimers of righteousness. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 6 1 Mt 4.17 2 Mt 25.41, 1 Cor 2.9

Blessedness Perfected

Beati qui esuriunt et sitiunt justitiam.... Sed quid facimus de eo, quod non ait, quaerunt, sed esurient justitiam, nisi ut intelligamus id esse justitiam animae, quod cibum et potum carni? Ipsa viaticum in itinere, juxta quod ex parte est: ipsa coena in patria, ubi perfecta est, ipsa lac parvulis, ipsa esca viris. Unde illa Prophetae exsecratio: Sicut ablactatus super matre sua, ita retribues in animam meam. Beati ergo qui esuriunt et sitiunt justitiam, quoniam ipsi saturabuntur. Tunc plena beatitas, qunado plena satietas; tunc plena plene satiabor, qui nunc in parte ex parte fruor. Nunc ad medicinam, tunc ad delectationem: nunc ad disciplinam, quae in praesenti videtur habere aliquid difficultatis moeroris, tunc ad gloriam, quando exercitatis per eam pacatissimum feret fructum of ipsius justitiae; ut hic quasi quidam flos justitiae sive omnis virtutis appareat, ibi plenitudo fructus carpatur. Sic sic ab inchoatione per profectum ad perfectum justitiae dirigendi sunt, qui in virtute beatitudinem quaerunt: cujus inchoatio quidem continet, nemini injuriam facere, profectus illatam patienter ferre, perfectio omnibus benefacere, si potest, si minus, velle. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo III, In Festo Omnium Sanctorum Source: Migne PL 194.1698d-1699a

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness... 1 But what are we to make of this, that He does not say 'seek' but 'hunger' for righteousness, unless we understand that righteousness to the soul is as food and drink to the flesh? This is the food supplied on the way, according to which it is but partial, and then this is the feast in the fatherland, where it is perfected. This is milk for the babe, and then this is solid food for the man. 2 Whence the outburst of the Prophet, 'Like a weaned boy over his mother, thus you shall return it to my soul.' 3 Blessed, therefore, are those who hunger and thirst, for they shall be satisfied. Then blessedness is complete when there is full satisfaction. Then indeed I shall be fully satisfied with what I now enjoy in part. Now is the medicine, then the joy. Now is discipline, which in the present can seem so difficult and grievous, then the glory, when by exertion in discipline it bears the most peaceful fruit of righteousness. 4 Thus as there may appear here a certain bloom of righteousness, or of any virtue, so there the fullness of the fruit shall be plucked. Thus they who seek blessedness in virtue are directed from the beginning on through improvement to the perfection of righteousness, which beginning certainly consists of doing no harm to anyone, and whose advance is that we should suffer injury patiently, and whose perfection is the wish to do good to everyone, insofar as it is possible, even if little. Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 3 On The Feast Of All Saints 1 Mt 5.6 2 1 Cor 3.1-2 3 Ps 130.2 4 Heb 12.11

Blessings And Heaven

Beati mundo corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt. Sex sunt opera misericordia, sicut diximus, quae hominem purificant et emundant. Nonne haec opera sex hydriae in Galilaea positae ad purificationem Judaeorum? Aquae mundat, eleemosyna mundat. Fide, inquit, mundanus corda eorum. Beati autem mundo corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt. Nonne vita aeterna est videre te Deum, et quem misisti Jesum Christum? Beati, Domine, qui te viderunt et in te credidetunt, spe non re. Nam et mundi corde hodie te vident, nec tamen beati sunt, vident sed per speculum, et in aenigmate, et quasi sub nube. Erit tempus quando videbunt te facie ad faciem in splendoribus sanctorum, gloria et honore coronatum, non in diademate majestatis tuae, sed quasi unigentium a Patre plenum gratiae et majestatis. Tunc exsultabimus et gaudebit cor nostrum; tunc erit Sabbatum de Sabbato; tunc erit in ore hominum canticum novum, et vox quasi laetentium omnium. Ibi sicut Christus splendor et figura substantiae Dei, sic apparebit in figura Dei et gloria majestatis. O custos hominum et redemptor noster, ad te levavi oculos meos, oculos scilicet cordis mei. Sicut enim oculi servorum in manibus dominorum suorum, ita oculi nostri ad te, Domine, donec miserearis nostri. Verutamen turbatus est a furore oculis meis; dereliquit me virtus mea, et lumen oculorum meorum, et ipsum non est mecum. Non possum videre faciem tuam nisi oculo mundi cordis. In immunditiis concepit me mater mea; et: Quis potest facere mundum de immundo conceptum semine? Nonne tu qui solus es? Cor mundum crea in me, Deus, Deus cordis mei, et pars mea Deus in aeternum. Tibi dixit cor meum; exquisivit te facies mea, faciem tuam, Domine, requiram. Quid enim mihi est in caelo, et a te quid volui super terram? Dominus illuminatio mea, et salus mea, quem timebo? Illumina oculos meas ne unquam obdormiam in morte: nequando dicat inimicus meus: Praevalui adversus eum. Tu es funiculus haerditatis meae, portio mea in terra viventium. In terra, quae promittitur mitibus; in terra consolationis, quae lugentibus offertur, in regno coelorum, quid patientibus et pauperibus datur; in haereditate sanctorum, et pace filiorum Dei; in pace Dei, quae exsuperat omnem sensum, quae filios Dei consortes beatiudinis facit. Beati, enim pacifici quoniam filii Dei vocabuntur. Petrus Blenensis, Sermo XLVII, In Festo Omnium Sanctorum Source: Migne PL 207.700d-701c

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. 1 There are six works of mercy, as we have said, which purify and cleanse a man. Were there not six jugs placed in Galilee for the purification of the Jews? 2 Water cleanses, alms cleanse. With faith, it is said, their hearts were clean. 3 And blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Is it not that eternal life is the seeing of you, God, and Him whom you sent, Jesus Christ? Blessed, O Lord, are those who have seen you and believed in you, not the mere hope of it. For even the pure of heart see you today, yet they are not blessed, but they see through a mirror, in a mystery, 4 and as beneath a cloud. There shall come a time when they shall see you face to face in the splendour of your holy ones, crowned with glory and honour, 5 though your majesty is not in a diadem, but as the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and majesty. Then our hearts shall exult and rejoice, 6 then shall be the Sabbath of Sabbaths, then there shall be a new song in the mouths of men, 7 and the sound shall be as a multitude rejoicing. There as Christ is the splendour and figure of the substance of God, so He shall appear in the figure of God and the glory of majesty. O guardian of men and our Redeemer, to you I lift up my eyes, certainly the eyes of my heart. For as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, so are our eyes turned to you, O Lord, until you are merciful to us. Truly my eyes were troubled with fury, my strength deserted me, and the light of my eyes was not with me. 8 I am not able to see your face, unless I have a pure heart. In uncleanliness my mother conceived me, and who is able to make me clean from the uncleanliness of the seed of my conception? Is it not you alone? Create a pure heart in me, O God, God of my heart, and my portion in eternity, O God. My heart has said to you, 'My face seeks you, your face, O Lord, I need. What is there for me in heaven, and what from you shall I wish on the earth? O Lord, my illumination and my salvation, whom shall I fear? Illuminate my eyes lest I ever sleep in death, lest my enemy ever say: 'I have prevailed over him.' 9 You are the portion of my inheritance, my gateway into the land of the living. 10 Into that land which is promised to the meek, into the land of consolation which is offered to those who weep, into the kingdom of heaven that is given to the patient and the poor, into the inheritance of the saints, and into the peace of the sons of God, into the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, which makes the sons of God associates of the blessing. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 11 Peter of Blois, from Sermon 47, On The Feast of All Saints 1 Mt 5.8 2 Jn 2.6 3 Acts 15.9 4 1 Cor 13.12 5 Ps 109.3, Ps 8.6 6 Prov 23.16 7 Ps 39.4 8 Ps 122.1,2 -3, Ps 6.8, Ps 37.11 9 Ps 50.7, Job 14.4, Ps 50.12, Ps 72.26, Ps 26.8, Ps 72.25, Ps 26.1, Ps 12.4-5 10 Ps 104.11, Ps 141.6 11 Mt 5.3-9, Phil 4.7

Tribulation And Rest

Et unus de senioribus dixit mihi: Hi qui amicti sunt stolis albis, qui sunt? Ad hoc interrogat, ut doceat. Et dixit mihi: Hi sunt qui venerunt ex magna tribulatione. Per multas tribulationes oportet nos introire in regnum Dei.'Quis autem nesciat tribulationem Antichristi caeteris futuram esse majorem? Et laverunt stolas suas in sanguine Agni. Non de solis martyribus dicit. Illi enim sanguine proprio lavantur. Ecclesiam autem totam sanguis Jesu Filii Dei mundat ab omni delicto, ideo sunt ante thronum Dei. Illi enim digni habentur illic in Dei consistere ministerio, qui hic inter adversa fideles nominis ejus confessores existunt. Et serviunt ei die ac nocte in templo ejus. More nostro loquens, aeternitatem significat. Et qui sedet in throno habitabit super illos. Thronus Dei, sancti sunt, super quos et in quibus in saecula habitat Deus. Non esurient neque sitient amplius. Hoc est quod Dominus ipse promisit: 'Ego sum,' inquiens, 'panis vitae: qui venit ad me, non esuriet, et qui credit in me, non sitiet unquam'. 'Beati enim qui esuriunt et sitiunt justitiam, quoniam ipsi saturabuntur.' Neque cadet super illos sol, neque ullus aestus. Transivimus, inquit, per ignem et aquam, et induxisti nos in refrigerium. Quoniam Agnus, qui in medio throni est, reget illos. Agnum in medio dicit esse throni, qui superius Agnum a sedente in throno librum dixerat accepisse, docens Ecclesiam unum esse Patri et Filio thronum, in qua per fidem inhabitat unus, tota Trinitas, Deus. Et deducet eos ad vitae fontes aquarum. Ad consortium utique sanctorum, qui fontes sunt doctrinae coelestis. Potest et ipsa Dei visio significari, in quo sunt thesauri sapientiae et scientiae absconditi. Juxta quod David ait: 'Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te Deus.' Et absterget Deus omnem lacrymam ab oculis eorum. Immortalium adepta plenitudine gaudiorum, omnis moeror penitus oblivioni mandabitur. Beati enim qui lugent, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur. Potest autem visio hujus turbae stolatae de praesenti etiam tempore intelligi, ubi spe salvi facti sumus, et quod non videmus sperantes, per patientiam exspectamus. Sanctus Beda, Explanatio Apocalyspsis, Caput VII Source: Migne PL 93.153b-154b

And one of the elders said to me, 'Who are these who are clothed in white robes?' 1 He asked that he might teach. And he said to me: 'These have come through great tribulation' Through many tribulations we shall enter into the kingdom of God. 2 And who does not know that the tribulation of the Antichrist in the future shall be great? And they washed their garments in the blood of the Lamb. This is not said of the martyrs alone. It is right that they wash in the blood, but also the whole Church is cleansed from every sin by the blood of Jesus the Son of God, and so they too are before the throne of God, and they indeed are worthy to enter into the service of God who here in adversity have stood as faithful confessors of His name. And they serve him day and night in His temple. In our manner of speaking this signifies eternity. And He who sits on the throne shall dwell over them. The throne of God are the saints, over whom and in whom God dwells through the ages. They will not hunger or thirst anymore. This is what the Lord promised. 'I am,' He said, 'the bread of life. He who comes to me shall not hunger and he who believes in me shall not thirst.' And, 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.' 3 Nor shall the sun strike them, nor any heat. 'We passed,' it says, 'through fire and water, and you led us into rest.' 4 Because the lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, shall rule them. The lamb is said to be in the midst of the throne, and before this it was said that the lamb took the book from one seated on the throne, 5 which teaches that the Church is the one throne of the Father and the Son, in which through faith they dwell as one, the whole Trinity, God. And he shall lead them to springs of flowing water. To the gathering of the saints who are the springs of heavenly teaching. The same image can also signify God, in whom the treasuries of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. Whence David says, 'Like the hart that desires springs of water, so my soul desires you, O God.' 6 And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. On receiving the fullness of immortal joy all sorrow shall be consigned to oblivion. 'Blessed are those who weep, for they shall be comforted.' 7 This scene can also signify the troubles of the present time when we hope for salvation, and not seeing that for which we hope, we wait patiently. Saint Bede, Commentary on the Apocalypse, Chapter 7 1 Apoc 7.14 2 Acts 14.21 3 Jn 6.35, Mt 5.6 4 Ps 65.12 5 Apoc 5.6-7 6 Ps 41.2 7 Mt 5.5