Death's Defeat

Neutra igitur vel ad instans in statu permanet conditionis, quo vocatur ad esse, sed vitium originis redit ad non esse, eum incipit esse, ut mirabiliter et miserabiliter non prius inchoet esse quam non esse; venire quam redire; ascendere quam descendere, nec incipiat miserabiliter anima prius vitam dare quam mortem dare, ut sit et caro mortificans, a quo vivificatur, et anima vivificans, a quo mortificatur. Hic occurrunt lugubres illae nuptiae septem virae et toties homicidae filiae Raguelis, quam Tobis filius Tobia sine periculo ducere protuit, qui daemone fortiorem angelum comitem, imo ducem, habuit Tobias et Tobias, pater et filius, vetus et novus, caecus et videns: Adam et Adam, primus et secundus, pater et filius, vetus et novus, caecus et videns, homo et hominis filius. Sed de homine vel filio hominis aliquando secundum carnem, aliquando secundum animam, aliquando secundum utrumque sermo conficitur. Nunc ergo hic Tobias animam significat filii hominis, Sara vero communiter carnem hominis, angelus autem dux et comes Tobiae Dominum Dei Verbum, quam animae quam semel suscepit, sapienter ducatum praestitit, fideliter comitatum, fortiter auxilium, prudenter consilium. Septem vero viri morti magis quam mulieri conjugati, universas, praeter Christi animam, quae non prius carni quam morti unitae sunt, propter carnem tamen morti unitae, et propter mortem a carne separatae. Daemon suffocans, naturalis illa originalisque concupiscentia datur intelligi: quae de domo Raguelis et cubiculo Sarae, nisi fortior supervenerit, minime ejicitur. Superveniente itaque fortiore Verbi virtute fortis ejicitur, fugatur, ligatur, vasa ejus, id est naturalia, quae captiva tenebantur, diripiuntur. Ducitur captiva captivitas, thalamus purgatur; liberatur domus, Sara sine periculo ducitur, pater miratur, mysterium agnoscit, angelo gratias agit, epulas parat, vicina invitat. Plena sunt haec mysteriis, redundant sacramentis. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo VII, In Dominica Infra Octavas Epiphaniae I Source: Migne PL 194.1714d-1715c

Therefore not for an instant does either the soul or the body remain in its state which it is called to be, but Original Sin returns it to non-being, even as it begins, so that mysteriously and wretchedly there is no beginning of being without not being, no coming without going, no rising without falling, nor does, most miserably, the soul give life but it gives death, so that the flesh brings death from what gives it life, and the soul gives life from what brings death. Here there is a reminder of those woeful marriages of the seven murdered husbands of the daughter of Raguel, and how Tobit's son Tobias was able to take her in marriage without danger, since Tobias had an angel as a companion, and indeed guide, who was stronger than the demon. 1 These two, father and son, old and young, blind and seeing, are both Adam, the First Adam and the Second Adam, 2 father and son, old and new, man and the Son of Man. When we speak of the Son of Man, sometimes it refers to the flesh, sometimes to the soul, sometimes to both. Here with us now Tobias signifies the soul of the Son of Man, but Sara means the flesh of man in general, and the Angel, the guide and companion of Tobias, is the Lord, the Word Of God, which as soon as He takes up a soul, is the wise guide, the loyal companion, the strong helper, the prudent counsellor. As for the seven husbands who were joined to death rather than a wife, they are all souls, apart from Christ's, which as soon as they are united to the flesh are bound to death, and because of the flesh are joined with death and because of death are separated from the flesh. The choking demon is to be understood as the concupiscence natural to our fallen nature, that lurks in Raguel’s house and Sara's bed chamber unless someone stronger should come. 3 Therefore with yet stronger virtue the strong one is cast out and driven off, and bound, and the vessels of our nature which he held captive are stripped from him. 'Captivity is led captive,' 4 the marriage chamber is cleansed, the house is freed. Sara's marriage without peril amazes her father, and he recognizes the mystery and thanks the angel, and he prepares a banquet and invites the neighbours. All this abounds with mysteries and overflows with secrets! Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 7 On The Sunday Within the Epiphany Octave 1 Tobit 3.7-8, 6.14 2 1 Cor 15.45-47 3 Lk 11.22 4 Ephes 4.8

Tobias And The Fish

Mansit Tobias, duce angelo profectus, prima mansione juxta fluvium Tigrin; et exivit ut lavaret pedes suos, et ecce piscis immanis exivit ad dovorandum eum. Hic denuo passionis dominicae sacramentum manifestius significatur. Piscis enim immanis, qui a Tobia, cum eum devorare appeteret, angelo docente occisus est, antiquum generis humani devoratorem, hoc est diabolum designat, qui dum in Redemptore nostro mortem carnis appeteret, captus est potentia divinitatis. Fluvius Tigris, qui propter rapidissimum cursum a tigride bestia velocissima nomen accepit, decursum nostrae mortis ac mortalitatis indicat. In quo piscis latebat immanis, quia invisibilis humani generis seductor mortis habebat imperium. Mansit Tobias juxta Tigris fluenta, quia Dominus in mundo apparens inter peccatores ac mortales vitam duxit, sed eum nec peccati unda tetigit, neque in illo suum aliquid adveniens princeps tenebrarum reperit. Exivit autem Tobias in fluvium, ut lavaret pedes suos; et Dominus mortem, cui nihil debebat, suscepit, ut fideles omnes, sua videlicet membra, a contagio peccati et mortis ablueret. Occurit Tobiae piscis, devorare illum cupiens; et Domino passo in cruce venit diabolus, qui eum crucifigi docuerat, quaerens si quid forte in ejus anima sceleris inveniret. Expavescens piscem Tobias clamavit voce magna, dicens: Domine, invadit me. Et Dominus, imminente mortis articulo, coepit pavere et taedere, non diabolum pertimescens, sed mortem, quae invidia diaboli intravit in orbem terrarum, naturali carnis fragilitate perhorresens; unde et orabat, ut si fieri posset, transiret ab eo hora. Et dixit: 'Abba Pater, omnia tibi possibilia sunt, transfer calicem hunc a me; sed non quod ego volo, sed quod tu. Dixit angelus Tobiae, Apprehende branchiam piscis, et trahe eum ad te. Apprehendit Dominus diabolum, et eum qui se in morte capere voluit, moriendo cepit and vicit. Apprehendit autem branchiam ejus, ut caput nequissimum a corpore decepto, potentiae suae dextera separaret, id est, nequitiam hostis antiqui ab eorum quos sibi male conjunxerat, et quasi unum corpus secum fecerat, corde auferret, et hos ecclesiae suae corpori pius Redemptor insereret. Branchiam quippe habet piscis in confinio capitis et corporis sui. Sicut autem Dominus noster caput Ecclesiae vero corpus et ejus; ita diabolus caput omnium iniquorum, et omnes iniqui corpus et membra sunt ejus. Apprehendit ergo Dominus branchiam piscis immanissimi, et traxit eum ad se, projecitque in siccum, quia potentiam diaboli comminuens, traduxit palam confidenter, eruitque de potestate tenebrarum, quos filios lucis esse praescivit. Sanctus Beda, In Librum Beati Partis Tobiae Allegorica Interpretatio Source: Migne PL 91.928a-929a

'When the angel had gone Tobias remained in the first house next to the river Tigris, and he went out to wash his feet, and behold a great fish came out to devour him. 1 Here again the sacrament of the passion of the Lord is openly manifested. For the great fish, which was slain by Tobias by the guidance of the angel, when it sought to devour him, is the old devourer of the human race, that is, it is the devil that is designated here, he who while seeking the death of the flesh of our Redeemer was seized by the power of His Divinity. The river Tigris, which on account of its rapid flow has received its name after that most swift beast the tiger, indicates the downward flow of our death and mortality in which the fearful fish hides, because the invisible seducer of the human race has the rule of death. Tobias remains next to the flowing Tigris because the Lord appeared in the world among sinners and led a mortal life, but neither did sin touch Him, nor did the prince of darkness find anything in Him. 2 Tobias went to the river to wash his feet and the Lord took up death, to whom He owed nothing, that He might cleanse all the faithful, His members, from the contagion of sin and death. The fish comes to Tobias, desiring to devour him, and the devil comes to the suffering Lord on the cross, whose crucifixion he has counselled, seeking if there might be some crime in his soul. 'And fearing the fish, Tobit cried out with a great voice, saying, 'Lord, help me.' Even the Lord, in the imminent moments of death, began to fear and be weary, not through fear of the devil, but death, which the envy of the devil had brought into the world. 3 Because of the natural fragility of the flesh He feared, whence even He prayed, that if it were possible that this hour might pass Him by. And He said, 'Abba, Father, with you all things are possible, take this cup from me, but let it be not as I wish, but what you wish.' 4 The angel said to Tobias, seize the gills of the fish and drag him to you. The Lord seized the devil and He drew into death the one who wished to drag Him into death, and triumphed. He even seized on its gills, so that the most wicked head might be detached from the body by the right hand of His power, that is, the body that is those whom the old enemy had joined to himself in evil and made them as one body with himself. So the holy Redeemer drew out the heart and inserted it into the body of His Church. For as our Lord is the head of His body the Church, so the devil is the head of all who are wicked, and everyone who is evil is a member of his body. Therefore the Lord seized the gills of the fearful fish and dragged it toward Himself, and He threw it on to dry land, because by thus shattering the power of the devil, He confidently drew him into the open, and tore from the power of darkness those He foresaw as sons of light. Saint Bede, An Allegorical Interpretation of the Book of Tobit 1 Tob 6.22 2 Jn 14.30 3 Wisd 2.24 4 Mk 14.35-36

An Angel's Promise

Introduxit Tobias angelum ad patrem suum, qui salutavit eum, dicens, Gaudium tibi sit semper. Cui respondenti: Quale mihi gaudium erit, qui in tenebris sedeo, et lumen coeli non video? Forti, inquit, animo esto, in proximo est ut a Domino cureris. Et Dominus noster per miracula quae fecit in carne, ostendit populo Judaeorum, ex quo carnem susceperat, quia ipse est Filius Dei, et angelus, id est, nuntius paternae voluntatis. Cui etiam gaudium perpetuae salutis praedicavit, dicens: Poenitentiam agite, appropinaquabit enim regnum coelorum. Et desperantibus de acquirendo lumine coelesti: Ego sum, inquit lux mundi; qui sequitur me, non ambulat in tenebris, sed habebit lumen vitae. Promittit angelus Tobiae ducere filium ejus in Rages civitatem Medorum, et reducere ad eum.   Promittit Dominus credentibus ex populo Judaeorum, quamvis idem populus ex magna sit parte caecatus, quod incarnationis suae sacramenta plebi gentilium aperiat, rursuque in fine temporum, eadem suo populo ex quo carnem assumpserat, latius pandat, comitante ubique simul et cuncta operante fide divinitatis ipsius. Dicit ipse de ductu ad Medo: Et alias oves habeo, quae non sunt ex hoc ovili, et illas oportet me adducere, etc. Dicit Apostolus de reditu: Donec plenitduo gentium introiret, et sic omnis Israel salvus fieret. Sanctus Beda, In Librum Beati Partis Tobiae Allegorica Interpretatio Source: Migne PL 91 927a-c

Tobias brought the angel to his father who greeted him, saying, 'Joy to you always.' To whom he replied. 'What sort of joy shall I have who sits in darkness and does not look on the light of heaven?' 'Be strong of soul,' he said, 'For the time is near when you shall be cured by the Lord.' 1 And our Lord by the miracles he did in the flesh, shows to the people of the Jews, from who he assumed His flesh, that He is the son of God, and an angel, that is, a herald of the will of the Father. To whom he preached the joy of eternal salvation, saying, 'Repent, for near is the kingdom of heaven.' 2 And to those despairing of acquiring the heavenly light: 'I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.' 3 The angel promised to lead the son of Tobias into Rages, a city of the Medes, and to return to him. 4 The Lord promises to the believers of the people of the Jews, although a large part of that people were blind, that He shall reveal the mystery of His Incarnation to the people of the Gentiles, and again at the end of those times, to the same people from whom he assumed his flesh, reveal more broadly, with everyone everywhere at the same attending to the work of faith, His divinity. He says concerning the leading to the Medes: 'And other sheep I have, which are not of this flock, that should be led in by me.' 5 The Apostle says concerning the return 'Until the fulness of the Gentiles has entered, and so all Israel shall be saved.' 6 Saint Bede, from An Allegorical Interpretation of the Book of Tobit 1 Tob 5.11-13 2 Mt 4.11 3 Jn 8.12 4 Tobit 5.15 5 Jn 10.16 6 Rom 11.25-26

Raphael And The Wedding

Assumens Raphael quatuor ex servus Raguelis, et duos camelos, in Rages Medorum perrexit, et indicans ei cuncta de Tobia, recepit pecuniam, cumque secum ad nuptias fecit venire. Servi Raguel et cameli praedictores sunt de gentibus electi, per quos Dominus et alios colligit. Servi, quia serviunt necessitati eorum quibus evangelizant. Cameli, quia et onera infirmitatis eorum fraternae subjectione charitatis portant. Quare autem quatuor servi et cameli sint duo, supra monstratum est, ubi vaccae duae, et quatuor occiduntur arietes. [Sunt duae vaccae occisae, quia quicunque pro Christo, vel ipsi corpus suum sponte mortificant, ut hostia viva fiant, vel in manus infidelium tradunt occidendum: tales nimirum per arma justitiae, a dextris et sinistris, id est, in prosperis et adversis, contra hostem stare didicerunt. Sunt quatuor aristes occisi, quia sancti doctores et martyres quatuor libros sancti Evangelii fide et operatione conservant, quia quatuor virtutibus primis, prudentia, fortitudine, temperantia, justitia, muniuntur.] Tales adjuvante Raphael producunt Gabelum ad nuptias Tobiae, cum in unitatem Ecclesiae Christi novos populos, ipso divinitus opitulante, sancti praedictores aggregant. Sanctus Beda, In Librum Beati Partis Tobiae Allegorica Interpretatio

Raphael, taking four servants from Raguel and two camels, travelled to Rages in Media and telling him everything concerning Tobias, he received the money and brought him back with him to the wedding. 1 The servants and camels of Raguel are the preachers which are chosen from the nations, by which the Lord gathers others. And they are servants because they serve the needs of those whom they evangelize. And they are camels because they bear their weaknesses in the service of fraternal charity. 2 And why there are four servants and two camels we have shown above in the sacrifice of the two cows and the four rams. 3 That is, the two cows are those who for Christ either readily mortify their bodies that they be a living sacrifice, or give them into the hands of the infidels to be killed. And such folk certainly, by the arms of righteousness, in the right and left hand, that is, in prosperity and adversity, have been taught to stand against the enemy. And four rams are slain because the holy teachers and martyrs cherished four books for the working of faith, because with the four cardinal virtues, prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice, they are fortified. Such was the help that Raphael gave for the wedding of Tobias, that is, when the holy preachers with the Divine wealth gather a new people into the unity of the Church of Christ. Saint Bede, from An Allegorical Interpretation of the Book of Tobit 1 Tobit 9.6 2 cf Gal 6.2 3 Tobit 8.22

Over Whom Does My Spirit Rest?

Et adjuravit Raguel Tobiam, ut duas hebdomadas moraretur apud eum.  Adjuramus et nos Dominum nostrum, orantes ut nobiscum maneat, donec perfectionem sanctae requiei per Spiritus sancti gratiam consequamur, qua requiescamus a servilibus actibus, id est, peccatis in corpore, et a pravis cogitationibus in mente; et requiescat in nostro corde et corpore ipse qui ait, Super quem requiscet spiritus meus, nisi super humilem et quietam et trementem sermones meos? Sanctus Beda, In Librum Beati Partis Tobiae Allegorica Interpretatio

And Raguel adjured Tobias that he stay with him for two weeks. 1 And let us adjure our Lord, praying that He remain with us, until we acquire the perfection of sacred rest through the grace of the Holy Spirit, in which we rest from servile acts, that is, the sins of the body, and from depraved thoughts of the mind, and that He rest in our hearts and body who said, 'Over whom does my spirit rest unless over the humble and quiet and he who fears my words?' 2 Saint Bede, An Allegorical Interpretation of the Book of Tobit 1 Tob 8.23 2 Is 66.2 vers. antiq.

The Perils of Relaxation

Fatigatus a sepultura Tobias venit in domum suam ... et factus est caecus.  Ne mireris, lector, quae aliquando bona typice malum, aliquando bonum mala hominum facta significant. Quod si non liceret, nunquam nigro atramento, sed auro semper lucido scriberetur Deus, quia lux est. Sed etsi nomen diaboli in calculo scribas candido, nihilominus tenebras significat profundas. Caecatus ergo Tobias designat quia, sicut Apostolus ait, 'Caecitas ex parte contigit in Israel.' Fatigatus est a sepultura, et caecatus, quia qui infatigabilis in bonis operibus persistit, nunquam fidei luce privatur. Jacet spiritualiter, et dormit fatigatus, qui vigilare et stare in fide, viriliter agere, confortari negligit. Cui bene congruit illud apostolicum: Surge qui dormis, et exsurge a mortuis, et illuminabit te Christus.  Sanctus Beda, In Librum Beati Partis Tobiae Allegorica Interpretatio

'Weary from the tomb Tobias came into his house ... and he was made blind.' 1 Do not wonder, reader, that sometimes by a good type the evil of men is signified and sometimes by an evil one the good. That it should not be allowed to write 'God' in jet black but that the name should always be written in pure gold because he is light. Even if you should write the name of the devil in blazing white nevertheless it signifies utter darkness. Blind then is Tobias designated because, like the Apostle says, 'Blindness touched a part of Israel.'2 'Weary from the tomb and blind' because he who persists without respite in good works never lacks the light of faith, but here he lays down spiritually and he sleeps exhausted, he neglects vigilance and steadfastness in faith and firm action. With this the Apostle agrees, saying: 'Rise up you who sleep, rise up from the dead, and Christ shall illuminate you.'3 Saint Bede, An Allegorical Interpretation of the Book of Tobit 1 Tob 2.10-11  2 Rom 11.25 3 Eph 5.14