The Lord's Comfort

At illi ut viderunt eum ambulantem super mare putaverunt fantasma esse et exclamaverunt, omnes enim eum viderunt et conturbati sunt. Et statim locutus est cum eis, et dixit illis: Confidete, ego sum, nolite timere. Et ascendit ad illos in navum, et cessavit ventus. Et tangitur hic consolatio timentium, et liberatio in periculo existentium: et de consolatione dicit consolator Dominus ut eum per vocem cognoscxerent, quem ambulantem in undis non cognoverunt. Sonet vox tua in auribus meis: vox enim tua dulcis. confidentia enim est amplitudo animi in spe periculum evadendi. Confidite, quia ego vici mundum, cuius pressuram significat tempastas exerta. Ut non simus fidentes in nobis, sed in Deo qui de tantis periculis nos eripuit et eruit: in quem speramus, quoniam et adhuc eripiet: in quem speramus, quoniam et adhuc eripiet, adiuvantibus vobis in oratione pro nobis, quia 'ego sum' haec enim est causa confidentiae, quod ipse est, qui vere est quia omnem saeculi motum sua comprimit immutabilitate: et omne quod apparet, et non vere est, eo quod mutabile est, sua certificate vertitate, et illuminatione. Qui solus habet immortalitate, et lucem habitat inaccessibilem. Ego sum qui sum. Nolite timere in periculis, vel phantasiis apparentibus: quia praesentia mea vobis erit causa salutis. Non timebis a timore nocturno, a negotio perambulante in tenebris. Et ascendit ad illos in navi, ut liberaret a periculo tempestatis sicut certificaverat contra phantasma. Et cessavit ventus, tentationis qui fuit causa turbantionis. Imperavit ventis et mari, facta est tranquillitas magna. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Divi Marci, Caput VI Source: Here p69

But seeing Him walking on the sea, they thought Him to be a ghost and they cried out, and all who saw were troubled. And immediately He spoke to them and said to them: Be of cheer, it is I, do not fear. And He came up into the boat and the wind stopped. 1 This touches on the comforting of those who fear and the liberation of those who live amid danger, and the Lord, the Comforter, speaks for comforting, that they know him by His voice, who they did not know walking on the waters. 'Your voice in my ears, indeed your voice is sweet.' 2 For confidence is an expansion of the soul in the hope of escaping danger. 'Be of cheer, because I have conquered the world.' 3 Which world is signified here by the pressure exerted by the storm. 'That we are not confident in ourselves but in God who seizes us and delivers us from such dangers, in whom we hope, because even yet He will deliver us, with your help in prayer for us.' 4 And 'It is I' is the cause of confidence, because He is the one who truly fixes fast every disturbance of the changeable world, even everything which appears and is not true because it is changeable He fixes with his truth and light. 'He who alone has immortality, and dwells in inaccessible light.' 5 'I am who I am.' 6 'Do not fear' amid danger, or because of the appearance of phantasms, since my presence shall be your salvation. 'You shall not fear night terrors, nor that which walks in darkness.' 7 'And He came up into the boat.' That He deliver them from the danger of the storm, just as he assured them against a phantom. 'And the wind stopped.' Of the trial which was the cause of distress. 'And He commanded the winds and the sea and there was a great calm.' 8 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Mark, Chapter 6 1 Mk 6.50-51 2 Song 2.14 3 Jn 16.33 4 2 Cor 1.9-11 5 1 Tim 6.16 6 Exod 3.14 7 Ps 90.5 8 Mt 8.26

Trials And Comfort

Ἐμνήσθην τῶν κριμάτων σου ἀπ' αἰῶνος, Κύριε, καὶ παρεκλήθην. Ἔλαβον γὰρ εἰς νοῦν τὰ κατὰ τὸν Ἄβελ, τὰ κατὰ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ, τὰ κατὰ τὸν Ἰσαὰκ, τὰ κατὰ τὸν Ἰὼβ, τὰ κατὰ τὸν Μωσῆ, ὅπως καὶ ποικίλοις περιπεσεῖν συνεχωρήθησαν πειρασμοῖς, καὶ περιφανεῖς αὐτοὺς ὕστερον καὶ περιβλέπτους ἀπέφηνας, ψυχαγωγίαν ἐντεῦθεν ἀποχρῶσαν ἐπορισάμην. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Ἑρμηνεία εἰς Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμός ΡΙΗ´ Source: Migne PG 80.1837b

I was mindful of your judgements from of old, O Lord, and I was comforted. 1 I brought to mind the things that befell Abel and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Job and Moses, how you allowed them to fall into various trials, and then you brought them forth illustrious and celebrated, for which reason I received consolation that strengthens the soul. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Interpretation of the Psalms, from Psalm 118 1 Ps 118.52

The Mourning Of Salvation

Accedit et tetrius: Beati qui lugent, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur. Quis nobis iste luctus intelligendas est salutaris? Utique non ille, qui ex rerum detrimentis, non qui ex amissione charorum, nec qui ex jactura saecularium dignitatum: quae utique omnia jam pauper factus spiritu non dolebit. Hic est luctus salutaris, qui agitur pro peccatis, pro recordatione divini judicii. Nam quia prius inter innumeras saeculi occupationes et asperitates animus constituis, de se ipse cogitare non poterat; jam securus et mitis effectus, incipit se ipsum propius intueri, examinare actus suos diurnos atque nocturnos: et sic praeteritorum criminum vulnera incipiunt apparere, et tunc luctus ac lacrymae subsequuntur salutares, et adeo salubres, ut mox coelestis consolatio occurrat: verus enim qui dixit: Beati qui lugent, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur Sanctus Chromatius Aquileiensis, Sermo De Octo Beatitudinibus

He comes to the third: Blessed are those who mourn, because they shall be comforted. 1 Who among us has understanding of the mourning of salvation? Certainly not the one who mourns for things lost, or for the taking away of moveables, or for being cast out of worldly honours, all things which certainly the one who has already been made poor of spirit shall not grieve. This is the mourning of salvation: the one who on account of sin recalls the Divine judgement. For since before amid innumerable worldly occupations and troubles the soul was placed, concerning oneself one was not able to think, but now secure in meekness, one begins to study oneself, to examine one's acts day and night, and so begin to appear the wounds of past criminality, and then follows salutary grieving and tears, and so comes the benefit, that soon the consolation of the heavens draws near, for truly He said: 'Blessed are those who mourn because they shall be comforted.' Saint Chromatius of Aquileia, Sermon on the Eight Beatitudes 1. Mt 5.5

Consoling A Widow

Εἰ μὲν μόνην τοῦ συμβεβηκότος ὑμῖν πάθους ἐλογιζόμην τὴν φύσιν, τῶν ψυχαγωγούτων ἄν ἐδεήθην κἀγὼ, οὐ μόνον τῷ τὰ ὑμέτερα οἰκεῖα κρίνειν, καὶ τὰ θυμήρη, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὁποῖά ποτ' ἂν ᾗ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ τὴν θαυμασίαν ἐκείνην καὶ ὅντως αξιέπαινον κεφαλήν διαφερόντως ἠγαπηκέναι. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὅπος αὐτὸν θεῖος ἐνθένδε μετέστησε, καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀμείνω μετέθηκε βιοτὴν, καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἑμαυτοῦ ψυχῆς ἀποσκεδάννυμι τῆς ἀθυμίας τὸ νέφος, καὶ τὴν σὴν παρακαλῶ σεμνοπρέπειαν νικῆσαι τῆς ἀθυμίας τὸ πάθος τῷ λογισμῷ, καὶ εἰς καιρὸν προσενεγκεῖν τῇ ψυχῇ τῶν θείων λόγων τὴν ἐπῳδήν· τούτου γὰρ δὴ χάριν εὐθὺς ἐκ σπαργάνων οἶόν τινα θηλὴν ἔλκομεν τῆς ἱερᾶς Γραφῆς τὴν μελέτην, ἴν' ὅταν ἡμῖν προσπέσῃ πάθος, προσενέγκωμεν ἀλεξίκακον φάρμακον τὴν διδασκαλίαν τοῦ Πνεύματος. Οἴδαμεν δὲ ὡς παγχάλεπον, καὶ λίαν ἐστὶν ἀλγεινὸν, ἀξιεράστου τινὸς ἐν πείρᾳ γεγενημένον ἔρημον ἐξαπίνης τοῦ ποθουμένου γενέσθαι, καὶ ἐν εὐκληρίᾳ γενόμενον δυσκληρίᾳ περιπεσεῖν. Ἀλλὰ τοῖς γε νοῦν ἔχουσι, καὶ σώφρονι λογισῷ κεχρημένοις, οὐδὲν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἀδόκητον· οὐδὲν γὰρ τούτων σταθερὸν, ούδε βέβαιον ού καλλος, οὐ πλοῦτος, οὐκ εὐεξία σώματος, οὐκ ἀξιώματος ὅγκος· οὐκ ἄλλο τι τῶν παρὰ τοῖς πλείστοις θαυμαζομένων. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ἄκρας εὐπορίας εἰς πενίαν ἐσχάτην μετέπεσον· οἱ δὲ τὴν ὑγίειαν ἀποβαλόντες, παντοδαποῖς παλαίουσι πάθεσιν· ἀλλοι περιφανείᾳ συμνυνόμενοι γένους, τὸν βαρύτατον ἔλκουσι τῆς δουλείας ζυγόν. Τῷ δὲ κάλλει τοῦ σώματος καὶ νόσος λωβᾶται, καὶ γῆρας λυμαίνεται. Μάλα δὲ σοφῶς τῶν ὅλων ὁ Πρύτανις οὐδὲν τούτων εασε διαρκὲς, οὐδὲ μόνιμον· ἵνα τὰς μεταβολὰς δεδιότες οἱ τούτων τετυχηκότες, καταστέλλωσι τὴν ὀφρὺν, καὶ τὸν τούτων εὔριπον ἐπιστάμενοι, μὴ τοῖς προσκαίροις θαῥῥῶσιν, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸν τῶν ἀγαθῶν χορηγὸν ἔγωσι τὰς ἐλπίδας. Ταῦτα τὴν σὴν εἰδῦαν θαυμασιότητα, τὴν ἀνθρωπείαν φύσιν καταμαθεῖν αξιῶ· εὐρήσεις γὰρ αὐτὴν θνητὴν οὔσαν, καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς δεξαμένην τοῦ θανάτου τὸν ὅρον. Πρὸς γὰρ τὸν Ἀδὰμ ὁ τῶν ὅλων ἔφη Θεος· 'Γη εἴ καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ.' Ἀψευδὴς δὲ ὁ τὴν ψῆφον ἐξενεγκὼν, καὶ μάρτυς ἡ πεῖρα. Μία γὰρ πάντων εἴσοδος εἰς τὸν βίον, κατὰ τὴν  θείαν Γραφὴν, ἔξοδός τε ἴση, καὶ πᾶς γεννώμενος προσμένει τὸν τάφον. Καὶ οὐδὲ ἴσον ἂπαντες βιοτεύουσι χρόνον· ἀλλ' οἱ μὲν πρόωροι τελευτῶσιν, οἱ δὲ εἰς ἄνδρας τελέσαντες, οἱ δὲ καὶ τῶν τοῦ γήρως ἀνιαρῶν πειραθέντες· οὕτω καὶ οἱ τοῦ γάμου δεξάμενοι τὸν ζυγὸν διαζεύγνυνται· ἀνάγκη γὰρ ἢ τὸν ἂνδρα προαπελθεῖν, ἢ τὴν γυναῖκα προτέραν δέξασθαι τοῦ βίου τὸ τέλος. Καὶ οἱ μὲν εὐθὺς μετὰ τὴν παστάδα τοὺς θρήνους ἐδέξαντο· οἱ δὲ ὀλιγον συμβιώσαντες χρόνον. Ἀπόχρη τοίνυν καὶ τὸ κοινὸν τοῦ πάθους ἀφορμὴν τῷ λογισμῳ παρασχεῖν εἰς τὸ νικῆσαι τὸ πάθος. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Ἐπιστολή ΙΔ', Ἀλεξάνδρᾳ Source: Migne PG 83.1185d-1188d

If I had only considered the character of your suffering, I also would have been in need of consolation, not only because I think that what concerns you, be it agreeable or otherwise, concerns me, but because I dearly loved that worthy and wonderful man. But since the Divine decree has taken him from here and translated him to the better life, I therefore scatter the cloud of sorrow from my soul, and call on you to vanquish grief's pain by the power of reason, and in this hour to bring your soul under the spell of God's word; for why from the very cradle do we suck the instruction of the Sacred Scriptures, like milk from the breast, but that when suffering falls on us we may be able to apply the teaching of the Spirit as a balm for our pain? I know how sad and how very grievous it is when one has experienced the worth of some loved object, suddenly to be deprived of it, and in a moment to fall from happiness to misery. But to them who have good good sense, and employ prudent reason, no human event is unexpected; for nothing human is stable, nothing lasting; neither beauty, nor wealth, nor health, nor high dignity; nor any of all those things that most consider wonderful. Some tumble from height of opulence to lowest poverty, and some lose their health and struggle with various forms of disease, and some proud of the splendour of their lineage come to drag the crushing yoke of slavery. Sickness mars the beauty of the body and old age destroys it, and very wisely has the supreme Ruler not allowed any of these things to continue nor be stable forever, so that their possessors, in fear of change, may restrain proud looks, and, knowing how all such things flow away, may cease to put their confidence in what is transient, and found their hopes upon the One who gives all that is good. These things knowing, most excellent lady, consider human nature; for you will find that it is mortal and from the beginning received the doom of death . It was to Adam the God of all said 'Dust you are and to dust you shall return.' 1 Truthful is He who gave the sentence, and experience is witness. 'All have one entrance into life and one is the exit,' 2 Divine Scripture tells us, and for every one born the grave waits. And all do not live an equal length of time; some men come to an end too soon; some in their manhood, and some after they have experienced the trials of old age; and likewise they who have taken on the marriage yoke are released from it, and it must be that either husband depart first or wife reach life's end before him. And some have just entered the bridal chamber when comes lamentation, and some live together a little while. Enough, then, to remember that the grief is common to give reason space to conquer grief. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Letter 14, To Alexandra 1 Gen 3.19 2 Wis 7.6

Driven Away By Grief

Ambrosius Faustino salutem. Acerbo te doliturum dolore obitum germanae tuae no ignorabam; non tamen ut a nobis te ablegares, sed ut nobis te redderes: nam et si minus iucunda solatia moerentibus, tamen nonnumquam necessaria sunt. Tu autem abiisti in secreta montium et inter ferarum diversaris spelaea, omni humanae conversationis usu abdicatio, et quod gravius est iudicio tuo.Tantumne de te commeruit germana tua, ut proper quam excellere apud te debuit conditio humana, quae tam egregiam feminam tulit, propter eam apud te minoris praerogativae sit? Illa certe vita excedens, hoc se mulcebat solatio, quos te sibi superstitem derelinqueret, parentem nepotibus, praesulem parvulis, auxiliatorem destitutis: tu ita te et nepotibus et nobis abnegas, ut consaltionis illius fructum non sentiamus. Illa te chara pignora vocant non ad dolendum, sed ad consolandum; ut cum te vident, matrem sibi non credant obiisse: in te eam recognoscant, in te eius praesentiam teneant, in te vitam eius sibi manere arbitrentur.Sed doles quod dudum florentissima repente occiderit. Verum hoc nobis commune non solum cum homniibus, sed etiam cum civitatibus, terrisque ipsis est. Nempe de Bononiensi veniens urbe a tergo Claternam, ipsam Bononiam, Mutinam, Rhegium derelinquebas, in dextera erat Brixillum, a fronte occurrebat Placentia, veterem nobilitatem ipso adhuc nomine sonans, ad laevem Apennini inculta miseratus, et florentissimorum quondam populorum castella considerabas, atque affectu relegebas dolenti. Tot igitur semirutarum urbium cadavera, terramque sub eodem conspectu exposita funera non te admonent unius, sanctae licet et admirabilis feminae, decessionem consolabiliorem habendam; praesertim cum illa in perpetuum prostrata ac diruta sint: haec autem ad tempus quidem erepta nobis, meliorem illic vitam exigat?Itaque non tam deplorandam, quam prosequendam orationibus reor: nec moestificandam lacrymis tuis, sed magis oblationibus animam eius Domino commendandam arbitror. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Epistula XXXIX, Faustino Source: Migne PL 16.1098d-1099d

Ambrose to Faustinus, greetings. That you would mourn with bitter grief the death of your sister I was not ignorant, however you should not go into exile, but rather return yourself to us, for although mourners are little inclined to receive consolation, it is sometimes necessary for them. But you have gone away to the hidden places of the mountains, and made your dwelling amid the lairs of wild beasts, abandoning all human converse and, what is worse, the use of your judgement. Is it in accordance with your admiration for your sister, that human nature, which ought to be much esteemed by you for producing a woman so honorable, should on her account be of less worth to you? Certainly in leaving this life it was a comfort to her that she left you alive, a parent to nephews, a guardian of little ones, a succour to their destitution; but you spurn your nephews and us, so we do not know the fruit of consolation. These dear pledges call on you not to grieve but to consolation, that seeing your nephews may believe their mother to be still alive. In you may they recognize her, in you may them enjoy her presence, in you may they think her life remains. But you lament that she has been lately cut off in the flower of her age. Truly this is the common fate not only of men, but of cities and countries themselves. Certainly coming from the town of Bononia you left behind you Claterna, Bononia itself, Mutina, Rhegium; on your right was Brixillum, in front of you Placentia, its very name resounding with ancient nobility, on the left the wastes of the Apennines grieved you, and considering the fortresses of once flourishing tribes, you remembered them with sorrowful affection. Do not then the carcases of so many half-ruined cities and lands stretched on their bier beneath your eyes remind you that the death of one woman, holy and excellent as she was, is much less deplorable? Certainly the former are for ever laid prostrate and destroyed, but she for a time is taken from us and is passing a more blessed life elsewhere.Thus I think that you ought not so much to lament, as to offer prayers; I judge that you should not grieve with tears but rather commend her soul to the Lord. Saint Ambrose, from Letter 39, to Faustinus