Ascent And Jerusalem

Pervenit itaque vir iste ad tertium ascensionis gradum, id est in desiderium coelesis Hieusalem ad quam spe ascendere se gaudebat, licet adhuc hic in terrenis laboraret; ideo ait: Laetatus sum in his quae dicta sunt mihi, in domum Domini ibimus. Laetatus sum in prophetis, laetatus sum in apostolis, imo et in omnibus sanctis, qui mihi dicunt: In domum Domini ibimus; qui dicunt, currite, festinate in domum Domini, id est, in coelestem Hierusalem properate. Stantes erant pedes nostri in atriis tuis, Hierusalem. Stantes, id est permanentes; pedes nostri, id est, praemia bonorum operum: in atriis tuis, Hierusalem, id est, in coelestibus habitationibus. Atria dicit plurali numero, ipsa Veritate dicente: In domo Patris mei multae sunt mansiones. Quasi iste amator quaerat, quae sit ista Hierusalem, dictum est ei: Hierusalem quae aedificatur ut civitas, cujus participatio ejus in idipsum. Hierusalem, quae ex vivis lapidibus construitur; quae aedificatur ut civitas, non terreni regis, sed coelestis; non temporalis, sed aeterna Hierusalem. Cujus participatio ejus in idipsum. Quod semper idem est, idipsum est. Quis est, qui semper idem est, nisi Deus, qui dixit: Ego sum qui sum; qui descendit, ut ascenderemus; qui participavit nostrae mortalitati,nam Verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis, ut participare possemus suae aeternitati. Nam de plentitudine ejus omnes accepimus. Qui sunt autem qui ascensuri sunt in istam civitatem, ad istem participationem, consequenter exposuit, dicens, Illuc enim ascenderunt tribus, tribus Domini, testimonium Israel ad confitendum nomini Domini. Non tribus terrae, de quibus dicitur: Et plangent eum omnes tribus terrae, sed tribus Domini, quae duodecim apostoli judicaturi erunt, secernetnes eos ab illis quae sunt tribus diaboli: harum enim testimonium in Israel, id est, in illis qui vident Deum. Ad quid ascendunt? Ad confitendum nomini tuo, Domine: sicut dictum est: Confessio et pulchritudo in conspectu ejus. Alcuinus, Expositio in Psalmos Graduales, Psalmus CXXI Source: Migne PL 100.622c-623a

He comes to the third step of the ascent, that is, to the desire for the heavenly Jerusalem, in which hope of ascending to it he rejoices in himself, though he yet labours on the earth, and therefore he says, I rejoiced in those things that were said to me, we shall go into the house of the Lord. 1 I rejoiced in the prophets, I rejoiced in the apostles, and in all the saints, who say to me 'we shall go into the house of the Lord,' who say, run, hurry into the house of the Lord, that is, make haste to go into the heavenly Jerusalem. Our feet were standing in your courts, O Jerusalem. Standing, that is established, our feet, that is, in the rewards of good works, in your courts, O Jerusalem, that is, in the heavenly dwellings. Courts is in the plural, with the Truth Himself saying, 'In the house of my father there are many mansions.' 2 Then as if this lover asked what this Jerusalem might be, it was said to him, Jerusalem which is built up like a city closely fitted together, whose fellowship is united. Jerusalem, which is built up of living stones, 3 which is constructed as a city, not as some terrestrial kingdom, but a heavenly one; not a temporal but a heavenly Jerusalem. Because it is always the same, it is united. What is it that is always the same unless God, who says, 'I am who I am,' 4 who descended that we might ascend, who partook of our mortality, for 'the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,' so that we might be able to participate in His eternity? For from His fullness we have received everything. 5 And who they are who ascend into this city, to this participation, he then explains, saying, From there the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord, witness of Israel, to take joy in the name of the Lord. Not the tribes of the world, concerning whom it is said, 'And all the tribes of the earth cried out to Him,' but the tribes of the Lord, of whom the twelve Apostles will be the judges, separating them from those who are of the tribes of the devil. 6 For from these is the witness of Israel, that is, in those who see God. And to what do they ascend? To taking joy in your name, O Lord, as it has been said. 'Confession and beauty before Him.' 7 Alcuin of York, Commentary on the Gradual Psalms, from Psalm 121 1 Ps 121.1 2 Jn 14.2 3 1 Pet 2.5 4 Exod 3.14 5 Jn 1.14,16 6 Apoc 1.7, Mt 19.28 7 Ps 95.6

Angels And The City

Et ecce angelus qui loquebatur in me, egrediebatur; et angelus alius egrediebatur in occursum eius, et dixit ad eum: Curre, loquere ad puerum istum, dicens: Absque muro habitabitur Ierusalem, prae multitudine hominum et iumentorum in medio eius. Et ego ero ei, ait Dominus, murus ignis in circuitu, et in gloria ero in medio eius. LXX: Et ecce angelus qui loquebatur in me stabat, et angelus alius egrediebatur in occursum eius, et dixit ad eum dicens: Curre et loquere adolescentulo illi, dicens: Frugifera habitabitur Ierusalem a multitudine hominum et iumentorum in medio eius. Et ego ero illi, dicit Dominus, murus ignis in circuitu, et in gloriam ero in medio eius. Angelum qui loquebatur in propheta, et stabat, sive ut in Hebraico legitur, egrediebatur, hoc enim significat יצא, Hebraei Michaelem putant. Et alterum angelum qui egrediebatur et veniebat in occursum eius, Gabrielem suspicantur, qui loquitur ad Michaelem, ut loquatur prophetae, quantam rerum omnium abundantiam, et multitudinem hominum, et iumentorum, firmitatemque murorum habitura sit Ierusalem, quae in praesentiarum usque ad favillam, et cineres videatur esse destructa. Nos autem iuxta spiritualem sensum, haec omnia interpretemur in Ecclesia, quae absque muro, sive ut Septuaginta transtulerunt, κατάκαρπος, id est, frugum omnium abundantia habitetur, et habeat multitudinem hominum, ac iumentorum, et Dominus ignis sit in circuitu eius, et ipse in medio illius versetur in gloria. Ista est civitas de qua alibi legimus: Gloriosa dicta sunt de te, civitas Dei. Et rursum: Magnus Dominus et laudabilis nimis, in civitate Dei nostri, in monte sancto eius. In hac quicumque habitat, dicere potest: Ego autem sicut oliva frugifera in domo Dei. Et: Dominus regit me, et nihil mihi deerit: in loco pascuae ibi me collocavit Super aquas refectionis educavit me. Et habitabitur, inquit, Ierusalem prae multitudine hominum et iumentorum absque muro, sive frugum omnium abundantia. Quidam, homines et iumenta duos populos interpretantur, Iudaeorum atque Gentilium, quod illi qui in Lege versati venerint ad fidem Christi, homines appellati sint: nos autem qui post idololatriam quasi in deserto Legis et solitudine fuimus prophetarum, et eius recepimus passionem, iumenta dici debeamus. Alii autem rationabiles quosque et Scripturarum eruditos scientia, homines intelligi volunt: iumenta vero simplices quosque credentium, et de his dici: Homines et iumenta salvos facies, Domine. Haec iumenta, et haec animantia audiunt boni pastoris vocem, et cognoscunt, et sequuntur eum: qui ipse est et pastor, quia regit nos; et ostium, quia per illum in Ecclesiam, et ad Patrem ingredimur; et murus ignis in circuitu, ut credentes et habitantes in medio calefaciat, qui prius frigore charitatis intepuerant, et possint spiritu esse ferventes. Lupos autem et saevissimas bestias, de quibus scriptum est: Ne tradas bestiis animam confitentem tibi: et quorum fructus est, fenum, ligna, stipula, et afferunt tribulos et spinas suo igne consumat; et qui adversariis ignis est, sit in medio credentium gloria. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentariorum In Zachariam Prophetam, Liber I Cap II Source: Migne PL 25.1430c 1431d

And behold the angel who spoke to me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, and he said to him: 'Run, speak to this boy, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited without a wall, because of the multitude of men and beasts in the midst of her. And I will be to her, says the Lord, a wall of fire all around, and I will be in glory in the midst of her.' 1 The Septuagint has: And behold the angel who spoke to me stood by, and another angel went forth to meet him, and he said to him: 'Run, speak to this youth, saying, Jerusalem shall be fruitfully inhabited because of the multitude of men and beasts in the midst of her. And I will be to her, says the Lord, a wall of fire all around, and I will be in glory in the midst of her.' The Hebrews think that the angel who spoke with the prophet and stood by, or as the Hebrew reads, 'went forth,' for this is the meaning of 'Iasa,' is Michael. And they understand that Gabriel is the angel who went forth and came to meet him, who then speaks to Michael so that he might tell the prophet what great abundance of all things, even a multitude of men and of beasts, and what strength of walls, Jerusalem shall have, which in the present seems to have been destroyed down to embers and ashes. But we shall interpret all these things in a spiritual sense for the Church, which will be inhabited without a wall, or as the Septuagint has translated it, 'katakarpos' that is, with an abundance of crops, and shall have a multitude of men and beasts, and the Lord is its fire all around, and He himself lives in glory in the midst of her. This is the city of which we read elsewhere 'Glorious things are said of you, city of God,' 2 and again, 'Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, on His holy mountain.' 3 Whoever dwells in this city is able to say, 'But I was like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God,' 4 and, 'The Lord guides me, and there is nothing I shall lack, in a place of pasture He has set me, to refreshing waters He has led me.' 5 And Jerusalem shall be inhabited, it says, without a wall because of the multitude of men and beasts. Some interpret men and beasts to be the two peoples of the Jews and Gentiles, because the former who lived in the law will come to the faith of Christ and are called men, and we should be called beasts, who received His passion after our idolatry. We have been, as it were, in the desert of the Law and the wilderness of the prophets. But others wish to understand the men to be all rational creatures who are educated in the knowledge of the Scriptures, and they think beasts are the simple believers, and that it is said of them, 'You shall save men and beasts, O Lord.' 6 These beasts and these animals hear the voice of the good shepherd and recognise it and follow Him, for He is both the shepherd who guides us and He is the door, since we enter through Him into the Church and into the Father. 7 And He is the fire all around to keep them warm who believe and live in the midst, so that they are able to be fervent in spirit who had been lukewarm because of the coldness of their love. But He consumes with fire the wolves and the most savage beasts, of which it is written, 'Do not hand over to the beasts the soul that confesses you,' 8 and whose fruit is hay, wood, and stubble, and they bring forth thistles and thorns. 9 And the one who is fire to His adversaries shall be the glory in the midst of the faithful. Saint Jerome, Commentary on The Prophet Zechariah, Book 1, Chap 2 1 Zech 2.3-5 2 Ps 86.2 3 Ps 7.1 4 Ps 51.10 5 Ps 22.1 6 Ps 35.7 7 Jn 10.1-10 8 Ps 73.19 9 1 Cor 3.12, Gen 3.18

Victory And The Spirit

Et erit in die illa: quaeram conterere omnes gentes quae veniunt contra Jerusalem. Et effundam super domum David et super habitores Jerusalem spiritum gratiae et precum. LXX: Et erit in die illa: quaeram auferre omnes gentes quae veniunt contra Jerusalem, et effundam super domum David: et super habitores Jerusalem spiritum gratiae et misericordiae In die illo quando proteget Dominus habitatores Jerusalem, quaeret Dominus conterere omnes gentes, quae veniunt contra Jerusalem. Conteret autem non in perditionem, sed emendationem, ut adversum Jerusalem militare desistant, et esse incipiant de Jerusalem. Si enim de nihilo creavit omnia, non idcirco, fecit ut perderet quae creavit; sed ut illius misericordia quae creata sunt salvarentur. Unde et in Sapinetia, quae Salomonis inscribitur, si cui tamen placet librum recipere, scriptum reperimus: Creavit ut essent omnia, et salutares generationes mundi: et non erit eis venenum mortiferum. Sicut enim venit Dominus ut quaereret quod perierat, et salvavit humanum genus: sic et gentes in eo perdidit, quod gentes erant adversariae. Denique sequitur: Effundam super domum David et super habitatores Jerusalem spiritum gratiae et misericordiae. De hac gratia scribit et Paulus: Charitas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per Spiritum sanctum, qui datus est nobis. Et in superadicto volumine continetur: Quae in coelo sunt, quis investigabit? nisi quod tu dedisti sapientiam, et Spiritum sanctum tuum misisti de excelsis: et sic correctae sunt semitae eorum qui versantur in terra: et quae tibi placent, eruditi sunt homines. Et in Isaia loquitur Deus: Dedi spiritum meum super te. Et rursum de eodem Scriptura commemorat: Dedi spiritum meum super eum. Verbum autem effusionis, sensum largitatis ostendit: sicut manifestum est in eo quod diximus: Charitas Dei diffusa est in cordibus vestris. Et in alio loco ex persona Dei: Effundam de spiritu meo super omnem carnem. Qui sit autem spiritus gratiae, idem Apostolus loquitur ad Hebraeos: Quanto magis putatis deteriora mereri supplicia eum qui Filium Dei conculcaverit, et sanguinem testamenti pollutum duxerit, in quo sanctificatus est, et spiritui gratiae contumeliam fecerit. Unde et Spiritus Sancti diversae gratiae esse dicuntur. Et salutatio Apostolis: Gratia vobis et pax multiplicetur: ut postquam nobis peccata donaverit, tunc pax per misericordiam consequatur. Hac Judaei ex parte jam facta, et plenius in consummatione mundi futura commemorant. Nos autem post adventum Christi quotidie impleri intelligimus et probamus. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentariorum In Zachariam Prophetam, Liber II, Cap XII Source: Migne PL 25.1513b-1514b

'And it shall be on that day that I shall seek to crush all the peoples which come against Jerusalem. And I shall pour out on the house of David and on the dwellers in Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayers.' The Septuagint reads: ' And it shall be on that day, that I shall seek to bear away all the peoples who come against Jerusalem, and I shall pour out on the house of David and on the dwellers in Jerusalem a spirit of grace and mercy. 1 On that day when the Lord protects the dwellers in Jerusalem, the Lord shall seek to crush all the peoples, who come against Jerusalem. Yet He shall crush not to ruin but to improve, that they desist warring against Jerusalem, and these things shall begin from Jerusalem. If indeed He created all things from nothing, He did not do so that he might destroy that which He had created, but that by His mercy those things which have been created might by saved. Whence in the book of Wisdom, which Solomon wrote, if it pleases one to receive this work, we find it written: 'He created all things that they might be, and salutary are the creative forces of the world, and there is no poison of death in them.' 2 So indeed the Lord came that He might seek what would perish and He saved the human race. So in that way He destroys the Gentiles, the peoples who were hostile. And then it follows: 'And I shall pour out of the house of David and on the dwellers of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and mercy.' Concerning which grace Paul writes: 'The love of God is diffused in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which is given to us.' 3 And in the aforementioned work it is said: 'Who shall discover the things in the heavens unless you give wisdom, and the Holy Spirit you send from on high, and so correct their paths which wind about on the earth, and the things which please you are learned by men?' 4 And in Isaiah God says, 'I have bestowed my spirit upon you.' 5 And again in the same book it is written, 'I have bestowed my spirit upon him.' 6 The word poured out, proclaims the sense of bounty, as is manifest when it is said: 'The love of God is diffused in your hearts.' And in other place, in the person of God: 'I shall pour out my spirit on all flesh.' 7 He who is the spirit of grace, which the Apostle spoke of in Hebrews: 'How much worse the punishment do you think will be deserved by him who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which He was sanctified, and outraged the spirit of grace?' 8 Whence the graces of the Holy Spirit are said to be many. And the greeting of the Apostle is: 'Grace to you and peace multiplied,' 9 which after sin He gives to us, whence peace follows on mercy. Now here in part it is done for the Jews, and more fully until the end of the world shall it be recalled. For we indeed after the coming of Christ every day shall understand and approve it to be fulfilled. Saint Jerome, Commentary on The Prophet Zechariah, Book 2, Chap 12 1 Zech 12.9-10 2 Wisdom 1.14 3 Rom 5.5 4 Wis 9.16 5 Isaiah 42.1 6 Isaiah 42.1 7 Joel 2.29 8 Heb 10.29 9 1 Tim 1.1

Son Of My Suffering

Egressus autem inde, venit verno tempore ad terram quæ ducit Ephratam: in qua cum parturiret Rachel, ob difficultatem partus periclitari cœpit. Dixitque ei obstetrix: Noli timere, quia et hunc habebis filium. Egrediente autem anima præ dolore, et imminente jam morte, vocavit nomen filii sui Benomi, id est, Filius doloris mei: pater vero appellavit eum Benjamin, id est, Filius dextræ. Euphrata vero et Bethlehem unius urbis vocabulum est, sub interpretatione consimili, siquidem in frugiferam et domum panis vertitur, propter eum panem qui de coelo descendisse se dicit. Et factum est cum dimitteret eam anima, siquidem moriebatur, vocavit nomen ejus filius doloris mei, Pater vero vocavit nomen ejus Benjamin. In Hebraeo similitudo omnis resonat. Filius doloris mei, quod nomen moriens mater imposuit, dicitur Ben oni: filius vero dexterae, hoc est virtutis, quod mutavit Jacob, appellabatur. Unde erant qui putant Benjamin filium dierum interpretari. Cum enim dextera appelletur iamin, ימין et finiatur in n litteram, dies quidem appellantur et ipsi iamim, ימים, sed in m litteram terminantur. Sed quid sibi vult quod cum eumdem Benjamin Rachel pareret, vocavit nomen ejus filius doloris mei, nisi futurum prophetans ex ea tribu Paulum, qui affligeret filios Ecclesiae persecutionis suo tempore? Aliter, per Benjamin terrestis figurabatur Jerusalem, quae est in tribu ejusdem Benjamin, cujus populus gravi matrem dolore afflicit, effundendo sanguinem prophetarum, insuper etiam in necem Christi impiis acclamando vocibus. Sanguinus eius super nos et super filios nostros. Rabanus Maurus, In Genesim Libri Quatour, Liber III, Caput XXIV Source: Migne PL 107.617a-c

And leaving there in the spring he came into the land that lies towards Ephrata, in which place when Rachel was to give birth, the difficult labour she had put her life in peril. But the midwife said to her, 'Do not be afraid, for you will give birth to a son.' But with her life ebbing away from her in her suffering, already close to death, Rachel called her son Benoni, that is, 'Son of my suffering.' His father’s name for him was Benjamin, the son of my right hand.' 1  Euphrata and Bethlehem is the name of one city, which when translated are similar, that is, they mean 'fruit bearing' and 'house of bread', on account of that bread which is said to have descended from heaven. And when Rachel's soul was leaving her, when she was dying, she called his name 'Son Of My suffering,' but his father named him Benjamin. In Hebrew the names are very similar, Son Of My Suffering, which name the dying mother gave, is 'Ben Oni' and 'Son Of My Right Hand,' that is, my strength, to which Jacob changed it. And there are some who think that Benjamin is to be translated 'Son of Days'. But right hand is iamin ימין  and ends in the letter 'n', and that which is called days is iamim  ימים and ends in the letter 'm'. But why did Rachel wish, bearing this same Benjamin, to call him by the name 'Son Of My Suffering,' unless as a prophecy of the future and that tribe from which Paul arose, who afflicted the sons of the Church with persecution in his time. Otherwise, Benjamin is a figure of the terrestrial Jerusalem, which is in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin, which people afflicted that mother with grave grief, pouring out the blood of the Prophets, 2 and beyond this even clamouring with impious voices for the death of Christ: 'His blood be on us and our sons.' 3  Rabanus Maurus, from the Commentary On Genesis, Book 3, Chapter 24  1 Gen 35. 16-18  2 Mt 23.37, Lk 13.34  3 Mt 27.25

The One Church

Περὶ τῆς νοητῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ, τουτέστι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, γέγραπται τό· Ἧς ἡ μετοχὴ αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό. Πάντες γὰρ οἱ πιστεύοντες, ἔν σῶμα, καὶ ἔν πνευμα, μία πόλις τῷ τρόπῳ ὑπάρχοντες, συνερχόμενοι ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ, ἐν τῷ συνδέσμῳ τῆς εἰρήνης, καὶ τῆς ἀγάπης, ὁμοθυμαδὸν μετέχομεν τῶν χαρισμάτων τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΣΝΗ' Σαβουριῳ Κομητι Source: Migne PG 79.177d

Concerning the celestial Jerusalem, that is, the Church, it is written, 'being one in fellowship.' 1 For all the faithful, in one body, and one spirit, and one city, are gathered as one, in a bond of peace and of charity, with one soul participating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 258 To Count Saburius 1 Ps 121.3

Grief And Blessings

Ἐκάθισεν Ἰερεμίας κλαίων. Τὸν ἐξ ἀγάπης κλαυθμὸν μακαριζόμενον. Τοῦ γὰρ ἀγίου ἐστὶ, κλααιειν μετὰ κλαιόντων, καὶ χαίρειν μετὰ χαιρόντων. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ  Ἐγγίζων τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὁ Κύριος ἔκλαυσε καὶ εἴπεν·  Ἰερουσαλὴμ Ἰερουσαλήμ ἡ ἀποκτείνουσα τοὺς προφήτας καὶ λιθοβολοῦσα τοὺς ἀπεσταλμένους πρὸς αὐτήν, ποσάκις ἠθέλησα ἐπισυναγαγεῖν τὰ τέκνα σου, ὃν τρόπον ὄρνις ἐπισυνάγει τὰ νοσσία αὐτῆς ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας, καὶ οὐκ ἠθελήσατε. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ.  Εἰ τοίνυν μακάριοι οἱ κλαίοντες, ὅτι γελάσετε, ἔδει Ἰερεμίαν τὸν μυστικὸν τοῦτον κλαῦσαι κλαυθμὸν, καὶ κατὰ τὸ Μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες, πενθῆσαι τοὺς τοῦ πενθεῖσθαι ἀξίους. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαι Εἰς Θρηνους Source: Migne PG 13 608c-d

Jeremiah sat and wept. 1 He who grieves on account of love is blessed. It is of the holy man to weep when others weep, to rejoice when they rejoice. 2 On the same:  Nearing Jerusalem the Lord wept and said, 'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, still murdering the prophets, and stoning those sent out to her, how often have I wished to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings; and you did not wish it.' 3 If they are blessed who grieve because they will laugh, 4 thus it befits Jeremiah to bring forth this holy weeping, and according to 'Blessed are those who weep,' so it is to lament those things worth lamenting. Origen, Commentary On Lamentations, Fragment 1 Lam 1.Prologue 2 Rom 12.13 3 Mt 23. 37 4 Lk 6.21

Men And Mountains

Οἱ πεποιθότες καὶ Κύριον ὡς ὄρος Σιὼν, κ.τ.ἑ. Οἱ προσερχόμενοι Σιὼν ὄρει καὶ πόλει Θεοῦ ζῶντος, Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ, φοροῦσι τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου, καὶ πεποιθότες ἐπὶ Κύριον γίνονται ὡς ἐκεῖνο τὸ Σιὼν ὄρος. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ. Εἰ ἐκ τοῦ πεποιθέναι ἐπὶ Κύριον γίνεται τις ὡς ὄρος Σιὼν, ἄλλος ἂν ἐξ ἄλλου τινὸς γένοιτ' ἂν ὡς ὄρος Χωρὴβ, καὶ ἄλλος ὡς ὄρος Σινά· καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων εἴη ἄν τις ὡς ὄρος Αἰγύπτου, καὶ ὄρος Βαβυλῶνος, καὶ τοιούτων τῶν παρὰ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ὄρον. Ἥ ὥσπερ οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπὶ Κύριον ὡς ὄρος εἰσὶ Σιὼν, οὕτως οἱ ὑποδεέστεροι ὡς τὰ κύκλῳ αὐτῆς ὄρη. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος ΡΛΗ' Source: Migne PG 12 1637

'Those who trust in the Lord are like mount Zion.' 1 Those who come to mount Zion and the city of the living God, the celestial Jerusalem, are those who bear the heavenly image, and trusting in the Lord they become like mount Sion. On the same. If by faith in God a man may be made like mount Sion, another from other things may be made like Mount Horeb and another like Mount Sinai, and in opposition a man may be made like a mountain of Egypt and a mountain of Babylon, and likewise with all those who are hostile. For as those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Sion, so those who fall short of this are like the mountains which surround it. 2 Origen, Excerpta On the Psalms, from Psalm 124 1 Ps 124.1 2 Ps 124.2

Gathering In Jerusalem

In tempore illo vocabunt Jerusalem solium Domini et congregabuntur ad eam omnes gentes in nomine Domini in Jerusalem, et non ambulabunt post pravitatem cordis sui pessimi. Nequaquam Dominus sedebit super arcam Testamenti et Cherubim, cui prius ab illo populo dicebatur: Qui sedes super Cherubim, manifestare;  sed omnes perfecta mente credentes, erunt thronus Dei. Vel certe melius totum de Ecclesia intelligendum: quando congregantur omnes gentes in nomine Domini in Jerusalem, in qua est visio pacis: et nequaquam ambulant post pravitatem cordis sui pessimi, ut faciunt quae desiderant, nec suos sequuntur errores: sed dicunt cum Propheta: Adhaesit anima mea post te: me suscepit dextera tua. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Jeremiam Prophetam, Caput III Source Migne PL 24 703

At that time they will call Jerusalem  the throne of the Lord and all the nations shall be gathered to it, in the name of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall walk no more after the depravity of their base hearts. 1 It shall not be that the Lord will sit above the ark of the testament and the Cherubim, concerning which the people have said, 'You who are enthroned above the cherubim shine forth,' 2  but rather all those believing with a perfect mind will be the throne of God. Or even better, one should understand this as being about the whole Church, when all the nations are gathered in the name of the Lord in Jerusalem, in which is the vision of peace, and they shall no more stubbornly walk after the depravity of their base hearts, that they do what they desire, nor shall they follow their own errors, but they will say with the Prophet, 'My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.' 3 Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on Jeremiah, Chapter 3 1 Jer 3.17 2 Ps 79.2 3 Ps 62.9

The Nations And Salvation

Gloriosa dicta sunt de te, civitas Dei. Quasi intuebatur civitatem illam Ierusalem in terra. Nam videte quam civitatem dicit, de qua dicta sunt quaedam gloriosissima. Nam illa destructa est in terra; hostes passa cecidit in terram, iam non est quod erat: expressit imaginem, transivit umbra. Unde igitur: Gloriosa dicta sunt de te, civitas Dei? Audi unde: Memor ero Raab et Babylonis, scientibus me. In illa civitate, inquit iam ex persona Dei, memor ero Raab, et memor ero Babylonis. Raab non pertinet ad populum Iudaeorum; Babylon non pertinet ad populum Iudaeorum. Nam sequitur: Etenim alienigenae, et Tyrus, et populus Aethiopum, hi fuerunt ibi. Merito gloriosa dicta sunt de te, civitas Dei: ubi non solus est ille populus Iudaeorum natus ex carne Abrahae; sed ibi omnes gentes, quarum quaedam nominatae sunt, ut omnes intellegantur. Memor ero, inquit: Raab: quae ista est meretrix, illa in Iericho meretrix quae suscepit nuntios et alia via eiecit; quae praesumpsit in promissione, quae timuit Deum, cui dictum est ut per fenestram mitteret coccum, id est, ut in fronte haberet signum sanguinis Christi. Salvata est ibi, et Ecclesiam Gentium significavit. Unde Dominus superbientibus Pharisaeis: Amen dico vobis, publicani et meretrices praecedunt vos in regnum coelorum. Praecedunt, quia vim faciunt: impellunt credendo, et ceditur fidei, nec obsistere potest quisquam; quia qui vim faciunt, diripiunt illud. Ibi enim positum est: Regnum coelorum vim patitur, et qui vim faciunt, diripiunt illud. Hoc fecit ille latro, fortior in cruce quam in fauce. Memor ero Raab et Babylonis. Babylon civitas dicitur secundum saeculum. Quomodo una civitas sancta, Ierusalem; una civitas iniqua, Babylon: omnes iniqui ad Babyloniam pertinent; quomodo omnes sancti ad Ierusalem. Sed delabitur de Babylone in Ierusalem. Unde, nisi per eum qui iustificat impium? Piorum civitas Ierusalem; impiorum civitas Babylon. Sed venit ille qui iustificat impium; quia: Memor ero, inquit, non solum Raab, sed etiam Babylonis. Sed quorum memor erit Raab et Babylonis? Scientibus me. Ideo quodam loco dicit Scriptura: Effunde iram tuam in gentes quae te non cognoverunt. Hic ait: Effunde iram tuam in gentes quae te non cognoverunt; et alibi: Praetende misericordiam tuam scientibus te. Et ut noveritis quia in Raab et Babylone Gentes significavit; quasi diceretur: Quid est quod dixisti: Memor ero Raab et Babylonis, scientibus me? quare hoc dixisti? Etenim alienigenae, inquit, id est, pertinentes ad Raab, pertinentes ad Babylonem, et Tyrus. Sed quousque Gentes? Usque ad fines terrae. Elegit enim populum qui in fine terrae est: Et populus, inquit: Aethiopum, hi fuerunt ibi. Si ergo ibi Raab, ibi ex Babylone, quia ibi alienigenae, ibi Tyrus, ibi populus Aethiopum; merito, gloriosissima de te dicta sunt, civitas Dei. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, Enarratio in Psalmum LXXXVI Source: Migne PL 37 1105-1106

Glorious things are said of you, city of God. 1 He was, as it were, contemplating that city of Jerusalem on earth. For consider what city he speaks of, of which are spoken certain most glorious things. For the earthly city has been destroyed; suffering the enemy, it fell to the earth; now it is not what it was; it has shown the image and the shadow has passed away. How then is it said: 'Glorious things spoken of you, city of God'? Listen how: 'I will be mindful of Rahab and Babylon, with those who know me' 2. In that city, he says in the person of God, 'I will be mindful of Rahab and I will be mindful of Babylon.' Rahab does not belong to the Jewish people, Babylon does not belong to the Jewish people. For it follows: 'Even a foreign people, and Tyre, and the people of Ethiopia, they were there.' With good reason then, 'Glorious things are spoken of you, city of God,' where not only is found the Jewish people, born of the flesh of Abraham, but all nations, some of which are named that all may be understood. 'I will be mindful,' he says, 'of Rahab.' She who is that harlot, that harlot in Jericho who received the spies and conducted them out of the city by a different road, who trusted beforehand in the promise, who feared God, who was told to hang out of the window a scarlet thread, that is, to bear upon her brow the sign of the blood of Christ. She was saved there, and thus signified the Church of the Gentiles, whence our Lord said to the proud Pharisees, 'Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go before you into the kingdom of God.' 3 They go before, because they act vigorously. They are driven by faith, and to faith there is yielding, nor can any resist, since they who are forceful seize it. For it is written, 'The kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent seize it' 4 Such was the conduct of the thief, more courageous on the cross than at ambush. 'I will be mindful of Rahab and Babylon.' And by Babylon he speaks of the city of this world. As there is one holy city, Jerusalem, so there is one unholy one, Babylon. All the wicked belong to Babylon, even as all the holy do to Jerusalem. But he slips from Babylon to Jerusalem. How, but by Him who justifies the impious? The city of the pious is Jerusalem, Babylon is the city of the impious, but He comes who justifies the impious, since it is said, 'I will be mindful' not only 'of Rahab,' but even 'of Babylon.' And then of whom shall he be mindful? 'Those who know me.' Whence it is said in Scripture, 'Pour out your anger on the people who have not known you.' 5 Here then he says: Pour out your anger on a people who have not known you. And elsewhere: 'Give your mercy to those who know you.' 6 And that you know that by Rahab and Babylon the Gentiles are signified, it is as if it were said, 'What is this that you say, 'I am mindful of Rahab and Babylon with those who know me of me? Why do you say this?' Even a foreign people, he says, belonging to Rahab, to Babylon, to Tyre. 'And how many people?' Even to the ends of the earth. For indeed he chooses a people who are at the end of the earth, and the people of Ethiopia, he says, these shall be with me. If then there is Rahab, and there is the people of Babylon, and there is a foreign people, and there is the people of Ethiopia, rightly it is said, 'Most glorious things are said of you, city of God.' Saint Augustine of Hippo, Enarrations on the Psalms, from Psalm 86 1 Ps 86.3 2 Ps 68.4 3 Mt 21.31 4 Mt 11.12  5 Ps 78.6  6 Ps 35.11

Kings And Sacrifice

A templo tuo in Jerusalem tibi afferent reges munera Templum in Jerusalem est, in quo hostiarum legitima offerebantur: nunc autem a templo in Jerusalem a regibus sunt munera afferenda. Quod utique contra locorum significationem rationemque gestorum est: ut illic quo inferri magis oporteret, id est de templo, offerenda sint munera. Sed quia est coelestis illa nobis mater Jerusalem, et primitivorum conscriptorum, et frequentantium coetus  omnisque in Christo renatus Dei templum est, maxime in quo non mors magis sit regnatura, sed vita; et qui ipse rex sit ejus, cujus servus fuerat ante, peccati, hostiam se ipsum vivam et rationabilem et placentem Deo offerens: tum ergo ab hoc templo, id est, ab hac sancta corporis sui habitatione, in illo conventu angelorum frequentantium, id est in illa coelesti Jerusalem, si qui reges sint, id est, qui peccato ultra non serviant, offerent se ipsos Deo munus. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum LXVII Source: Migne PL 9 464-5

From your temple in Jerusalem kings shall offer gifts to you. 1 The temple is in Jerusalem, in which rightly they offered sacrifice; now however from the temple in Jerusalem gifts must be brought by kings, and this seems opposed to the usage of the places and the reason of the acts, for they should rather bring in, that is, into the temple, the gifts they offer. But because the celestial Jerusalem is our mother, and in the earliest writers there is a gathering of throngs, 2 and all who are reborn in Christ are the temple of God, in whom death reigns no more, but life, and he is now a king who was before a servant of sin, there is an offering living, rational and pleasing to God, and so from this temple, that is, the sacred habitation of the body, in that gathering of throngs of angels, that is, in that celestial Jerusalem, if they are kings, that is, if they are no longer slaves of sin, they shall offer themselves as a gift to God. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 67 1 Ps 67.30 2 Heb 12.22

Builders And Bearers

Super quem erat quasi aedificium civitatis vergentis ad Austrum.  Notandum est quod non dicitur, Super quem erat aedificium, sed quasi aedificium, ut videlicet ostenderetur quod non de corporalis, sed de spiritalis civitatis aedificio cuncta dicerentur. Qui enim non se aedificium, sed quasi aedificium vidisse perhibet, cor audientium ad spiritalem fabricam mittit, sicut per Psalmistam dicitur: Jerusalem quae aedificatur ut civitas. Quia etenim illa internae pacis visio ex sanctorum civium congregatione construitur, Jerusalem coelestis ut civitas aedificatur. Quae tamen in hac peregrinationis terra dum flagellis percutitur, tribulationibus tunditur, ejus lapides quotidie quadrantur. Et ipsa est civitas, scilicet sancta Ecclesia, quae regnatura in coelo adhuc laborat in terra. Cujus civibus Petrus dicit: Et vos tanquam lapides vivi superaedificamini. Et Paulus ait: Dei agricultura, Dei aedificatio estis. Quae videlicet civitas habet hic in sanctorum moribus magnum jam aedificium suum. In aedificio quippe lapis lapidem portat, quia lapis super lapidem ponitur; et qui portat alterum, portatur ab altero. Sic itaque, sic in sancta Ecclesia unusquisque et portat alterum, et portatur ab altero. Nam vicissim se proximi tolerant, ut per eos aedificium charitatis surgat. Hinc enim Paulus admonet, dicens: Invicem onera vestra portate, et sic adimplebitis legem Christi. Cujus legis virtutem denuntians, ait: Plenitudo legis charitas. Si enim ego vos portare negligo in moribus vestris, et vos me tolerare contemnitis in moribus meis, charitatis aedificium inter nos unde surgit, quos vicaria dilectio per patientiam non conjungit? In aedificio autem, ut praediximus, lapis qui portat portatur, quia sicut ego jam mores eorum tolero qui adhuc in conversatione boni operis rudes sunt, ita ego quoque ab illis toleratus sum, qui me in timore Domini praecesserunt et portaverunt, ut portatus portare discerem. Sed ipsi quoque a majoribus suis portati sunt. Lapides vero qui in summitate atque extremitate fabricae ponuntur, ipsi quidem portantur ab aliis, sed alios nequaquam portant, quia et hi qui in fine Ecclesiae, id est in extremitate mundi nascituri sunt, tolerantur quidem a majoribus, ut eorum mores ad bona opera componantur; sed cum non eos sequuntur qui per illos proficiant, nullos super se fidelis fabricae jam  lapides portant. Nunc itaque alii portantur a nobis, nos vero portati sumus ab aliis. Omne autem pondus fabricae fundamentum portat, quia mores simul omnium solus Redemptor noster tolerat. De quo Paulus ait: Fundamentum enim aliud nemo potest ponere praeter id quod positum est, quod est Christus Jesus. Portat fundamentum lapides, et a lapidibus non portatur, quia Redemptor noster omnia nostra tolerat, sed in ipso malum non fuit quod tolerari debuisset. Unde bene nunc dicitur: Dimisit me super montem excelsum nimis, super quem erat quasi aedificium civitatis, quia mores et culpas nostras solus ille sustinet, qui totam sanctae Ecclesiae fabricam portat. Qui per prophetae vocem de perverse adhuc viventibus dicit: Laboravi sustinens. Non autem sustinendo Dominus laborat, cujus divinitatis potentiam nulla fatigatio contingit; sed, verbis humanis loquens, ipsam suam circa nos patientiam laborem vocat. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Secundus, Homilia I Migne PL 76 938-939

'On which there was as a city built situated to the south.' 1  It should be noted that it does not say, 'On which there was a city built,' but 'as a city built', that it evidently be shown that it speaks not of a material but of a spiritual building of a city. For not as a thing built, but as if built it is presented, that the heart of the hearers be turned to spiritual building, as it said by the Psalmist: 'Jerusalem which is built up like a city'. 2 Since because that vision of eternal peace is made from the gathering of the holy, the heavenly Jerusalem is 'like' a city built up. Which though on its journey on this earth it is struck with whips, and buffeted by tribulations, its stones are lain down everyday. And this city is the Church which shall reign in heaven while it labours on earth. Concerning which city Peter says, 'And you are as living stones built up,' 3 And Paul says, 'Cultivated by God, you are the building of God.' 4 And certainly the city has already had here by the ways of the saints a great building up. For in a building a stone bears a stone, for stone is placed on stone, and that which bears another, is borne by another. And as it is, so it is in the holy Church that everyone bears another, and he is borne by another. For each must bear his neighbours that through them rises up the building of love. Whence Paul admonishes, saying, 'Bear one another's faults, and so you fulfill the law of Christ.' 5 And announcing the virtue of the law, he says, 'The Fullness of the law is love.' 6 For if I bear you in overlooking your ways, and you bear me in contempt of my ways, how does the building of love between us rise, which by mutual diligence though patience is bound together? In the building, however, as we have said, he who bears a stone is borne, because as I bear their ways who are yet reluctant to turn to good works, so I was borne by them who preceded me in the fear of the Lord and bore me, that borne we learn to bear. But they also were by their elders borne. Yet the stones which are placed at the heights and at the extremities are borne by another but do not bear anyone else, because these are they who are on the borders of the Church, that is, those who are born far out in the world should be borne by the greater, that the ways of them might be composed to good works, but when they do not follow those by whom they would be improved, they do not bear stones for the building of faith. So now others are borne by us, and we are borne by others, but the whole weight of the building the foundation bears, because the Redeemer alone bears the ways of all. Concerning which Paul says, 'No other foundation is anyone able to place apart from the one that has been placed, which is Jesus Christ.' 7 The foundation bears the stones, and by the stones it is not borne, because our Redeemer bears all, but in Him there was no evil that he would bear. Whence it is well said above: 'He placed me on an excessively high mountain, on which there was as a city built up,' because our ways and faults He alone bears, He who bears the whole fabric of the Holy Church. He who through the voice of the Prophet concerning the error of the living says, 'I have laboured bearing.' 8 However the Lord does not labour in His bearing, for no weariness touches the power of His Divinity, but since this is spoken of in human words, he speaks of it in the manner of the weariness of our labour. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 2, from Homily 1 1 Ezek 40.2 2 Ps 121.3 3 1 Pet 2.5 4 1 Cor 3.9 5 Galat 6.2 6 Rom 13.10 7 1 Cor 3.11 8 Jerem 6.11

The Temple And The Spirit

Et egressus de templo ibat: et accesserunt discipuli ejus, ut ostenderent ei structuram templi.   Post comminationem deserendae Jerusalem, tamquam commovendus ambitione templi esset, magnificentia ei exstructionis ostenditur. Qui ait destruenda omnia esse, et dispersis totius substructionis lapidibus diruenda. Templum enim aeternam ad habitationem sancti Spiritus consecrabatur: homo scilicet per agnitionem Filii et confessionem Patris et praeceptorum obedientiam Deo fieri dignus habitaculum. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Cap XXV

And He went out from the Temple and His disciples came to Him that they show him the structure of the temple...  1 After the warning of the destruction of Jerusalem, as one moved by the ostentation of the temple, He taught that its magnificence would be thrown down, saying that it would be utterly destroyed and all its bricks scattered right down to its foundations. For He was consecrating the eternal temple and habitation of the Holy Spirit, that is, man, who by the knowledge of the Son and the confession of the Father, and obedience to the commandments, would become a worthy little dwelling place of God Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 25 1 Mt 24.1

Babylon And Salvation

Παραγγείλατε ἐπὶ Βαβυλῶνα πολλοῖς.  Οἱ μὲν ἐν Βαβυλῶνι πολλοὶ, οἱ δὲ ἐν Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἑλάχιστοι· εἴρηται γάρ· Οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο ἠγὰπσεν ὑμᾶς Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν παρὰ τὸ εἴναι πολλοστούς· ὑμεῖς γάρ ἐστε ὀλιγοστοὶ παρὰ πάντα τὰ ἔνθη. Ὀλίγοι ὄντως οἱ σωζόμενοι καὶ διὰ τῆς στενῆς εἰσερχόμενοι θύρας. Παραγγέλλεται δὲ πᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν πλατεῖαν καὶ εὐρύχωρον βαβυλῶνα τόξον ἐκτείνειν, καὶ μηδένα ταύτης περιποιεῖσθαι. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαι Εἰς Ἱερεμαιν

Announce it to the multitudes of Babylon. 1 Those of Babylon are many, those of Jerusalem few. For it is said: 'Not account of this does the Lord love you, that you are many, for you are the smallest of all the peoples.' 2 For truly they are few who are saved, who enter through the narrow gate. 3 And it is announced to everyone to draw their bows against the broad and easy Babylon, that no one in it escape. 4 Origen, Commentary On Jeremiah, Fragment 1 Jer 50.2 2 Deut 7.7 3 Mt 7. 13-14 4 cf Jer 50. 14-16

A Feast Of Saints

Hi vero qui secundum apostolorum sensum theoriam Scriptuarum recipiunt, sperant manducaturos quidem esse sanctis, sed panem vitae qui veritatis et sapientiae cibis nutriat animam, et illuminet mentem, et potet eam divinae sapientiae poculis, sicut dicit Scriptura divina: Quia spaientia praeparavit mensam suam, jugulavit victimas suas, miscuit in cratere vinum suum, et summa voce clamat: Divertite ad me, manducate panes quos paravi vobis, et bibite vinum quod miscui vobis. Quibus sapientiae escis nutrita mens ad integrum et perfectum, sicut ex initio factus est homo, ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei reparetur; ut etiamsi quis ex hac vita minus eruditis abierit, probabilia tamen opera detulerit, instrui poterit in illa Jerusalem sanctorum civitate, id est edoceri et informari, et effici lapis vivus, lapis pretiosus et electus, pro eo quod fortiter et constanter pertulerit agones vitae, et certamina pietatis; ibique hoc quod jam hic praedictum est, verius manifestiusque cognoscet, quod non in pane solo vivit homo, sed in omni verbo quod procedit de ore Dei. Origenes, De Principiis, Liber II, Cap XI

Those, however, who receive the insights of Scripture according to the understanding of the Apostles, have hope the saints will eat indeed, but that it will be the bread of life which with the food of truth and wisdom nourishes the soul, and enlightens the mind, and it will be given to drink from the cup of divine wisdom, as Holy Scripture says: 'Wisdom has prepared her table, she has killed her beasts, she has mingled her wine in her cup, and she cries with a loud voice, Come to me, eat the bread which I have prepared for you, and drink the wine which I have mixed.' 1 Which food of wisdom nourishes the mind to a complete and perfect condition, like that in which man was made at the beginning, being restored to the image and likeness of God, so that, although someone may leave this life less perfectly instructed, but who has performed commendable works, he will be capable of receiving instruction in that Jerusalem which is the city of the saints, that is, he will be educated and shaped, and made a living stone, a stone elect and precious, because he has undergone with firmness and constancy the struggles of life and the trials of holiness, and he will there come to a truer and clearer knowledge of that which here has already been proclaimed, 'That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God.' 2 Origen, On First Principles, Book 2, Chap 11 1 Prov 9 1-2,3-5 2 Deut 8.13, Mt 4.4

War And Peace

'Tempus belli et tempus pacis' Quandiu in praesenti saeculo sumus, tempus est belli: cum autem migraverimus de hoc saeculo, pacis tempus adveniet. In pace enim locus est Dei, et civitas nostra Jerusalem, de pace sortita est vocabulum. Nemo ergo se nunc putet esse securum: in tempore belli accingendum est, et arma tractanda, ut victores quondam requiescamus in pace. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius Ecclesiasten, Liber I

'A time of war and a time of peace.'1 While we are in the present world, it is a time of war. When we leave this world, there comes the time of peace. Peaceful is the place of God, and our city of Jerusalem, which is named peace chosen. 2 None therefore should think himself secure now. In time of war one must wear armor, and take up weapons, so that victors we may rest in peace.   Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Book 1 1 Eccl 3.8  2. Ps 75.3