The Entombed Soul

Nunquid enarrabit aliquis in sepulcro misericordiam tuam? Hoc negative legendum est, ut illud posuit intelligi, quia vivi homines et fideles misericordiam ejus narrare consuerunt. Sepulchrum enim significat infidelium mentes, de quibus supra dictum est: Sepulcrum patens est gutter eorum. Et meriot sepulcrum dicitur, ubi anima peccatis mortua continetur; id est, illos vult intelligi qui non sunt Domino credituri; quia nullus eis misericordia Domini videtur narrasse, quam non voluerunt devota mente percipere. Illic enim provenisse dicimus actum, ubi aliquem audiens praestat effectum. Tale est et istud quod sequitur, aut veritatem tuum in perditione; quia nemo putatur veritatem dixisse, quem videtur neligens praeterire. Perditio quippe juste vocata est, ubi veritas non admittitur, sed sola obstinatio custoditur. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus LXXXVII Source: Migne PL 70.626a-b

Shall someone in a tomb tell of your mercy? 1 This should be spoken negatively, as he set it down to be understood, because it is living and faithful men who are accustomed to speak of His mercy. The tomb signifies the minds of the faithless, concerning which it has been said, 'Their throat is an open tomb.' 2 And when sin encloses the soul it is rightly called a tomb. That is, he wishes them to be understood as those who will not believe in the Lord because none of them are seen to have spoken of the mercy of the Lord, that which they were not willing to receive with a devout mind. For so we say a word has had an effect when he who hears responds to it. Such is what follows, 'Or your truth in ruin.' Because no one is thought to have spoken the truth who appears to have negligently passed it by. It is rightly called ruin when the truth is not admitted but the only thing clung to is obstinacy. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 87 1 Ps 87.12 2 Ps 5.11

The Shadow Of Death

Quoniam autem ignorantia Dei umbra est mortis, testatur propheta dicens: Et declinasti semitas nostras a via tua, et cooperuit nos umbra mortis. Sine dubio enim operiet eum ignorantia Dei, cujus vita de via Dei fuerit declinata. Regio autem mortis mundus est iste. Sicut enim illa terra vivorum est, de qua dicitur: Credo videre bona Domini in terra viventium: sic terra haec regio mortis est. Propterea ad plenum Deo placere non possumus, degentes in ea, quia ipsi etsi vivi sumus propter opera viva et fidem Christi, teman quia in mundo vivimus, cui diabolus principatur, coinquinati sumus. Ideo et Paulus: Quis liberabit de corpore mortis hujus. Corpus enim hoc, corpus est mortis, quia non vitalibus, sed mortiferis voluptatibus est subjectum. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia VI Source: Migne PG 56.672

That the ignorance of God is the shadow of death, the prophet bears witness, saying, 'And you lower our paths from your way, and the shadow of death covers us.' 1 Without doubt the ignorance of God shall cover him whose life shall have declined from the way of God. And the realm of death is this world. For as there is a land of the living, concerning which it is said, 'I believe I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living, 2 so this earth is the realm of death. Whence we are not able to please God fully while we dwell in it, because even if we live according to the works of life and the faith of Christ, yet because we live in the world, of which the devil is the prince, we are defiled. Therefore even Paul says: 'Who will free me from this body of death.' 3 For this body is the body of death, because it is not subject to life giving but death bringing pleasures. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 6 1 Ps 43.19-20 2 Ps 26.13 3 Rom 7.24

Considering The Dead

Ἀλλ' ἢ ὅτι οὐδὲ τὸν τυχόντα καιρὸν παραπολλύναι χρὴ, κἂν μυρία τὰ κατεπείγοντα ᾖ, ἀλλὰ πάντων καὶ τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων τὰ πνευματικὰ προτιθέναι, καὶ εἰδέναι, τί μὲν ζωὴ, τί δὲ θάνατος. Πολλοὶ γὰρ καὶ τῶν ζῇν δοκούντων νεκρῶν οὐδὲν διαφέρουσιν, ὅταν ἐν κακίᾳ ζῶσι· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἐκείνων οὗτοι χείρους. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἀποθανὼν, φησὶ, δεδικαίωται ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας· οὗτος δὲ δουλεύει τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ. Μὴ γάρ μοι τοῦτο εἴπῃς, ὅτι Ὑπὸ σκωλήκων οὐ κατεσθίεται, οὐδὲ ἐν λάρνακι κεῖται, οὐδὲ ἀπέκλεισε τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς, οὐδὲ κειρίαις δέδεται. Καὶ γὰρ ταῦτα χαλεπώτερα ὑπομένει τοῦ τετελευτηκότος, οὐ σκωλήκων αὐτὸν κατεσθιόντων, ἀλλὰ θηρίων σφοδρότερον τῶν παθῶν τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτὸν σπαραττόντων. Εἰ δὲ ἀνεῴγασιν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ, καὶ τοῦτο πολὺ χεῖρον πάλιν τοῦ μεμυκέναι. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ νεκροῦ οὐδὲν ὁρῶσι πονηρόν· οὗτος δὲ μυρίας ἑαυτῷ συνάγει νόσους, ἀνεῳγμένων αὐτοῦ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐν λάρνακι κεῖται, πρὸς πάντα ἀκίνητος ὤν· οὗτος δὲ ἐν τῷ τάφῳ τῶν μυρίων κατορώρυκται νοσημάτων. Ἀλλὰ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ σηπόμενον οὐχ ὁρᾷς; Καὶ τί τοῦτο; Πρὸ γὰρ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ ἡ ψυχὴ διέφθαρται καὶ ἀπόλωλε, καὶ πλείονα ὑπομένει τὴν σηπεδόνα. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ δέκα ὄδωδεν ἡμέρας· οὗτος δὲ ἅπαντα τὸν βίον δυσωδίας ἀποπνεῖ, στόμα ἔχων ὀχετῶν ἀκαθαρτότερον. Ὥστε τοσοῦτον αὐτοῦ διενήνοχεν ἐκεῖνος, ὅσον ὁ μὲν τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως ὑπομένει μόνον φθορὰν, οὗτος δὲ μετ' ἐκείνης καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀσωτίας ἐπεισάγει σηπεδόνα, μυρίας καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἐπινοῶν ὑποθέσεις διαφθορᾶς. Ἀλλ' ἐφ' ἵππου φέρεται; Καὶ τί τοῦτο; Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἐπὶ κλίνης· καὶ τὸ δὴ χαλεπὸν, λυόμενον μὲν ἐκεῖνον καὶ σηπόμενον οὐδεὶς ὁρᾷ, ἀλλ' ἔχει τὴν λάρνακα παραπέτασμα· οὗτος δὲ ὀδωδὼς πανταχοῦ περίεισι, καθάπερ ἐν τάφῳ τῷ σώματι νενεκρωμένην ψυχὴν περιφέρων. Καὶ εἴγε ἦν ψυχὴν ἀνδρὸς ἰδεῖν τρυφῇ καὶ κακίᾳ συζῶντος, εἶδες ἂν ὅτι πολὺ βέλτιον ἐν τάφῳ κεῖσθαι δεδεμένον, ἢ ταῖς τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν σφίγγεσθαι σειραῖς· καὶ λίθον ἔχειν ἐπικείμενον, ἢ τὸ βαρὺ τῆς ἀναισθησίας πῶμα. ∆ιὸ δὴ μάλιστα τοὺς τούτοις προσήκοντας τοῖς νεκροῖς, ἐπειδὴ οὗτοι ἀναλγήτως διάκεινται, προσιέναι δεῖ περὶ αὐτῶν τῷ Ἰησοῦ, καθάπερ ἡ Μαρία τότε ἐποίησεν ἐπὶ τοῦ Λαζάρου. Κἂν ὀδωδὼς ᾖ, κἂν τεταρταῖος ᾖ, μὴ ἀπογνῷς, ἀλλὰ πρόσελθε, καὶ τὸν λίθον ἄνελε πρῶτον. Καὶ γὰρ τότε ὄψει κείμενον, ὥσπερ ἐν τάφῳ, καὶ ταῖς κειρίαις δεδεμένον. Καὶ εἰ βούλεσθε, τῶν μεγάλων τινὰ καὶ περιφανῶν εἰς μέσον ἀγάγωμεν. Ἀλλὰ μὴ δείσητε· ἀνωνύμως γὰρ ἐρῶ τὸ ὑπόδειγμα· μᾶλλον δὲ, εἰ καὶ τὴν προσηγορίαν ἔλεγον, οὐδὲ οὕτω δεδοικέναι ἐχρῆν. Τίς γάρ ποτε νεκρὸν δέδοικε; Καὶ γὰρ ὅσα ἂν πράξῃ, μένει νεκρὸς ὤν· νεκρὸς δὲ ζῶντα οὐ μικρὸν, οὐ μέγα ἀδικῆσαι δύναται. Ἴδωμεν τοίνυν τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτῶν δεδεμένην. Καὶ γὰρ ὅταν μεθύωσι διηνεκῶς, καθάπερ οἱ νεκροὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐπιβλήμασιν ἐκείνοις καὶ ταῖς κειρίαις, οὕτω πάντα τὰ αἰσθητήρια ἀποκλείεται καὶ δεσμεῖται. Εἰ δὲ βούλει καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἰδεῖν, ὄψει καὶ ταύτας τῇ γαστρὶ προσδεδεμένας, καθάπερ τῶν οἰχομένων, καὶ περιεσφιγμένας, οὐ κειρίαις, ἀλλ' ὃ πολλῷ χαλεπώτερόν ἐστι, τοῖς τῆς πλεονεξίας δεσμοῖς. Οὐ γὰρ ἀφίησιν αὐτὰς ἐκταθῆναι πρὸς ἐλεημοσύνην ἐκείνη, οὐδὲ πρὸς ἄλλο τι τῶν τοιούτων κατορθωμάτων, ἀλλὰ τῶν νενεκρωμένων ἀχρηστοτέρας ἐργάζεται. Βούλει καὶ τοὺς πόδας ἰδεῖν συνδεδεμένους; Ὅρα αὐτοὺς πάλιν περιεσφιγμένους φροντίσι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐδέποτε δυναμένους εἰς οἶκον Θεοῦ δραμεῖν. Εἶδες τὸν νεκρόν; βλέπε καὶ τὸν ἐνταφιαστήν. Τίς οὖν ἐστιν ὁ ἐνταφιαστὴς τούτων; Ὁ διάβολος, ὁ ἀκριβῶς αὐτοὺς περισφίγγων, καὶ οὐκ ἀφιεὶς λοιπὸν τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἄνθρωπον φαίνεσθαι, ἀλλὰ ξύλον ξηρόν. Ὅπου γὰρ οὐκ ὀφθαλμὸς, οὐ χεῖρες, οὐ πόδες, οὐκ ἄλλο τῶν τοιούτων οὐδὲν, πῶς ἂν ὁ τοιοῦτος ἄνθρωπος φανείη; Οὕτω καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῶν ἐσπαργανωμένην ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, καὶ εἴδωλον μᾶλλον ἢ ψυχὴν οὖσαν. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Υπόμνημα Εἰς τὸν Ἅγιον Ματθαίον Εὐαγγέλιον, Ὁμιλία ΚΖ´ Source: Migne PG 59.348-9

It is needful that no time be lost, though a thousand things press, but before everything, before even the most necessary things, let us attend to what is spiritual, even that we might know both what is life and what is death. For many, even though they seem to live, are no different from the dead, since they live in wickedness. Or rather they are worse than the dead, 'For he that is dead,' it is said, 'is freed from sin,' 1 but this man is a slave to sin. For do not say this to me, that he is not worm-eaten, nor does he lie in a coffin, nor are his eyes closed, nor is he bound in cerements. He suffers these things more wretchedly than the dead, for though no worms devour him, yet the passions of his soul tear him to pieces more fiercely than beasts. And if his eyes are open, this again is much worse than having them closed up. For the eyes of the dead man see no evil, but this man, with his eyes wide open, gathers to himself a thousand infections. And while one man lies in a coffin, unmoved by anything, this man is buried in a tomb of countless diseases. You do not see his body rotting? What of that? Before his body his soul is corrupted and destroyed, and it suffers from a worse rottenness. The body stinks for several days, but for the whole of his life his soul breathes out evil odors, with a mouth more unclean than any sewer. So the one differs from the other, by just so much as this, that the one man suffers that decay that comes of nature, but the other, along with that, brings in that rottenness born of intemperance, every day fashioning a thousand causes of corruption. Is he carried along on horseback? What of that? So the other man is carried along on a bier. And this is worse, that while the one man is not seen by anyone in his rotting state and his decay, but he has a coffin covering him up, the other is going about everywhere with his foul stench, bearing about, as in a tomb, a dead soul in his body. If you could see the soul of a man who is living amid luxury and vice, you would know that it is far better to lie bound up in a tomb than to be wrapped tightly in the chains of sins, and to have a stone laid over you rather than the heavy weight of senselessness. Therefore, above all things, it very much befits the associates of these dead folk who have themselves passed beyond feeling, to approach Jesus on their behalf, as Mary once did for the sake of Lazarus. 2 Though he stinks, though he has been dead for four days, do not despair, but approach and first remove the stone, for then you will see him lying as in a tomb, and bound in cerements. And if you will have it, let it be someone who is great and celebrated whom we present to you in such a manner. But do not fear, for I will speak the example without a name, or rather, if I may mention a name, there need be no fear, for who fears a dead man? Whatever one may do, he remains dead, and the dead cannot harm the living, neither a little or much. Let us then behold the head which has been bound up. For indeed when such folk are always drunk, so are all their senses closed and bound up, just as the dead with their many cloths and cerements. And if you will look to their hands, you shall see these again fixed to their belly, like the departed, and fastened not by the cerements, but with what is far worse, the bonds of covetousness, for they have no allowance to reach their hands out for the giving of alms, or for any other good deed, but rather their hands are made more useless than the hands of the dead. Will you also look to see their feet tied together? See them again fastened with cares, because of which they are never able to hurry to the house of God. Do you see the dead? Look also to the embalmer. Who embalms these folk? It is the devil who carefully binds them up, he who does not allow a man to seem to be a man, but a dried up lump of wood. For where there are no eyes, nor hands, nor feet, nor any other such thing, how can one appear to be a man? Thus see the soul bound up, or rather an image, not a real soul. Saint John Chrysostom, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, from Homily 27 1 Rom 6.7 2 Jn 11.17-

Flight And Prayer

Προσεύχεσθε δὲ, ἵνα μὴ γένηται ἡ φυγὴ ὑμῶν χειμῶνος, μηδὲ ἐν Σαββάττῳ. Τοῦτο αἰνίττεται ὁ Χριστός· εὔχεσθαι ἡμᾶς μὴ γενέσθαι ἐν ἐκδυμίᾳ τοῦ σώματος, μήτε ἐν ἀργίᾳ ὄντας τῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἔργῶν, ὃ ὑποσημαίνει τὸ Σάββατον· μήτε ἐνοχλουμένους ἐν ταῖς βιωτικαῖς τύρβαις τε καὶ ταραχαῖς· ὅπερ δηλοῖ ὁ χειμών. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Source: Migne PG 72.441a

But pray that your flight is not in winter, nor on the Sabbath. 1 Christ means this: pray that in the departure from the body the works of virtue are not wanting, which is what the Sabbath indicates. And that one is not embroiled in worldly confusions and tribulations, which is what winter signifies. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 24.20

Exaltation And Downfall

Kαὶ σύ, Καφαρναούμ, μὴ ἕως οὐρανοῦ ὑψωθήσῃ; ἕως ᾅδου καταβήσῃ ὅτι εἰ ἐν Σοδόμοις ἐγενήθησαν αἱ δυνάμεις αἱ γενόμεναι ἐν σοί, ἔμεινεν ἂν μέχρι τῆς σήμερον. Πλὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι γῇ Σοδόμων ἀνεκτότερον ἔσται ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως ἢ σοί. Ἡ Καπερναοὺμ ὑψώθη διὰ τὸ εἶναι πόλις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἐδοξάζετο γὰρ ὡς δῆθεν πατρὶς αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' οὐδὲν ὠφελήθη, διὰ τὸ μὴ πιστεῦσαι. Τούναντιον γὰρ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μᾶλλον κατακέκριται ἕως ᾅδου, ὅτι τοιοῦτον ἔχουσα οἰκήτορα, οὐδὲν ὠφελήθη ἐξ αὐτοῦ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ Καπερναοὺμ ἑρμηνεύται χωρίον παρακλήσεως, βλέπε ὅτι κᾶν ἀξιωθῇ τις γενέσθαι χωρίον τοῦ Παρακλήτου, τοῦ ἁγίου δηλαδὴ Πνεύματος, εἴτα ὑψηλοφρονήσῃ, κιὰ ἐπαρθῇ ἄχρις οὐρανοῦ, καταπίπτει λοιπὰν διὰ τὴν ὑψηλοφροσύνην. Φρίξον οὖν, ὦ ἄνθρωπε. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον, Κεφαλὴ ΙΑ' Source: Migne PG 123.256b-c

And you, Capernaum, shall you be lifted up to heaven? You shall fall even to hell. For if the miracles that were done in you were done in Sodom, it would have stood to this day. I say this to you, that it shall be less hard for Sodom on the day of judgement than for you. 1 Capernaum was exalted because it was the city of Jesus, it was glorified as His fatherland, but it received no benefit from that because it did not believe, and therefore on the contrary it was condemned, even to hell, because though such wonders were done there, it was not improved by them. But because Capernaum has been interpretated by some to mean 'field of consolation,' let it be observed that if someone merits to be a field of the Paraclete, that is, the Holy Spirit, and thus comes to know high things, and is exalted even to heaven, so he may yet be cast down on account of pride. Be fearful, then, O man. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 11 1 Mt 11.25

The Two Gates Of Death

Qui cupiditate peccant sumant David exemplum, ut resurgent. Qui timore peccant sumant Petrum exemplum, ut resurgent. Uterque cecidit, et uterque resurrexit, quia Christus utrumque respexit, alterum per se, alterum per prophetam suum. Istae sunt duae portae mortis: cupiditas et timor; quae si cui clauduntur, non erit quo mundus ingrediatur. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber I, Tit CXXXIII, De mortis duabus portis Source: Migne PL 177.549d-550a

They who sin because of desire may take up David as an example, so that they may rise. They who sin because of fear may take up Peter as an example, that they may rise. For both fell, and both rose, because Christ looked upon both, one through himself, another through his prophecy. 1 Desire and fear, these are the two gates of death, and to whom they are closed the world shall not find a way to enter. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 1, Chapter 133, On The Two Gates Of Death 1 Lk 22.61-62, 2 Kings 11-12

Four Types Of Tears

Beati qui lugent, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur. Notandum autem quod quattor modis fit planctus sanctorum, cum priora peccata deplorant cum in infernum cadentes plangunt, cum in peccatis viventes, cum pro desiderio regni coelestis admodum tristes fiunt, et quatuor species lacrymarum natura continet. Sunt quidem lacrymae humidae, ut abluant sordes peccatorum, et restituant perditum baptismum; sunt salsae et amarae, ut restringant carnis fluxum, et terent dulcedinem voluptatum; sunt calidae, ut praevaleant contra infidelitatis frigus. Sunt purae, ut a pristinis erroribus mundatos, in pura constituant conversatione. Hae ergo pro amissis charis saepius fiunt, ut nos admoneant quatenus amissa bona opera reparemus, et ad desertam a nobis propter praevaricationem paradisi patriam per mandatorum Dei custodiam redeamus. Semper enim luctus inter duas laetitias consistit, id est, inter mundi praecedentem, et coelestis regni appropinquantem, et beatus cui temporalis tristitia aeternam parturiet laetitiam. Rabanus Maurus, Commentariorum In Matthaeum, Liber II, Cap V Source: Migne PL 107.796a-b

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 1 It should be noted that there are four ways of weeping for those who are holy, first when they deplore sins once committed, then when they weep over the descent to hell, then when there is living in sin, and then when they are made tearful because of longing for the kingdom of heaven. And these four types of tears are found in nature. There are tears of water, so that the filth of sins may be washed away and the ruin of baptism restored. There are salty and bitter tears that restrain the urges of the body and wear away the sweetness of pleasures, There are warm tears that prevail against the frigidity of faithlessness. And there are pure ones that cleanse from old errors and establish one in a wholesome way of living. And all these most frequently come from a lack of love and admonish us to look to the repair of a lack of good deeds, that from the waste made by us because of sin we may return to the fatherland of paradise by the keeping of the commandments of God. For grief is always found between two joys, between the preceding things of the world and the approaching things of the kingdom of heaven, and blessed is he who in temporal sorrow gives birth to eternal joy. Rabanus Maurus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 2, Chapter 5 1 Mt 5.5

Death And Judgement And Perfection

Εἴπε πάλιν· Μέμνησο διαπαντὸς τῆς ἐξόδου σου, καὶ μὴ ἐπιλάθῃ κρίσεως αἰωνίου· καὶ οὐκ ἔσται πλημμέλεια ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ σου. Ἀποφθέγματα Των Ἁγίων Γερόντων, Παλλάδιος Γαλατίας Source: Migne PG 65.173d

Again Father Evagrius said: 'Always be mindful of your death and do not forget eternal judgement, and there will be no defect in your soul' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

The Time Of Sowing

Ergo, dum tempus habemus, operemur bonum ad omnes, maxime autem ad domesticos fidei. Tempus sementis, ut diximus, tempus est praesens, et quam currimus. In hac licet nobis quod volumus seminare; cum ista vita transierit operandi tempus aufertur. Unde et Salvator ait: Operamini dum dies est: veniet nox, quando jam nullus poterit operari. Ortus est nobis Dei sermo, sol verus, et congregatae sunt bestiae recedentes in cubilia sua: procedamus ut homines ad opus nostrum, et usque ad vesperam laboremus, sicut mystice cantatur in psalmo: Posuisti tenebras, et facta est nox. In ipsa pertransibunt bestiae silvae, catuli leonum rugientes, ut rapiant, et quaerant a Deo escam sibi. Ortus est sol, et congregatae sunt, et in cubilibus suis dormierunt. Egredietur homo ad opus suum, et ad operationem suam usque ad vesperam. Sive aegrotamus, sive sani sumus, humiles, vel potentes, pauperes, divites, ignobiles, honorati, esurientes, sive vescentes, omnia in nomine Domini cum patientia et aequanimitate faciamus, et implebitur in nobis illud quod scriptum est: Diligentibus autem Dominum, omnia cooperantur in bonum. Ira ipsa et libido, et injuria quae desiderat ultionem, si me refrenem: si propter Deum taceam: si per singulos commotionis aculeos, et incentiva vitiorum, Dei desuper me videntis recorder, fiunt mihi occasio triumphorum. Ne dicamus in largiendo: Ille est amicus, hunc nescio: hic debet accipere, iste contemni. Imitemur Patrem nostrum, qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos et malos, et pluit super justos et injustos. Fons bonitatis omnibus patet. Servus et liber, plebeius et rex, dives et pauper, ex eo similiter bibunt. Lucerna cum accensa fuerit in domo, omnibus lucet aequaliter. Quod si in cunctos indifferenter liberalitatis frena laxantur, quanto magis in domesticos fidei, et in Christianos, qui eumdem habent Patrem, ejusque magistri appellatione censentur! Videtur autem mihi locus iste posse et superioribus cohaerere, ut domesticos fidei, magistros nominet, quibus supra omnia quae putantur bona, ab auditoribus suis jusserat ministrari. Breve est vitae istius curriculum. Hoc ipsum quod loquor, quod dicto, quod scribo, quod emendo, quod relego, de tempore meo mihi aut crescit, aut deperit. Titus, filius Vespasiani, qui in ultionem Dominici sanguinis, subversis Jerosolymis, Romam victor ingressus est, tantae dicitur fuisse bonitatis, ut cum quadam nocte sero recordaretur, in coena, quod nihil boni die illa fecisset, dixerit amicis: Hodie diem perdidi. Nos putamus non perire nobis horam, diem, momenta, tempus, aetates, cum otiosum verbum loquimur, pro quo reddituri sumus rationem in die judicii? Quod si hoc ille sine Lege, sine Evangelio, sine Salvatoris, et apostolorum doctrina, naturaliter et dixit, et fecit: quid nos oportet facere, in quorum condemnationem habet et Juno univiras, et Vesta virgines, et alia idola continentes? Beatus Joannes evangelista cum Ephesi moraretur usque ad ultimam senectutem, et vix inter discipulorum manus ad ecclesiam deferretur, nec posset in plura vocem verba contexere, nihil aliud per singulas solebat proferre collectas, nisi hoc: Filioli, diligite alterutrum. Tandem discipuli et fratres qui aderant, taedio affecti, quod eadem semper audirent, dixerunt: Magister, quare semper hoc loqueris? Qui respondit dignam Joanne sententiam: Quia praeceptum Domini est, et si solum fiat, sufficit. Hoc propter praesens Apostoli mandatum: Operemur bonum ad omnes: maxime autem ad domesticos fidei. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Galatas, Liber III, Cap VI Source: Migne PL 26.432b-433c

Therefore while we have time, let us do good to everyone, especially to the servants of the faith. 1 The time of sowing, as we have said, is the present time, in which we run. In this we are permitted to sow what we will, and when this life shall have passed by the time of such labouring is finished. Whence the Saviour says: 'Work while it is still day. The night shall come when no one will be able to work.' 2 The sun of the word of God has risen on us, the true sun, and the beasts have been gathered up and withdrawn into their lairs, and so let us as men go to our work, and even to the evening let us labour, as is spiritually sung in the Psalm: 'You set down darkness and it was night. In it pass all the beasts of the wood, the roaring of lion whelps, that they might seize, and they seek from God food for themselves. The sun has risen, and they have been gathered up and in their lairs they sleep. Man goes out to his work, and to his labour until the evening.' 3 Whether we are sick or healthy, humble or powerful, poor or rich, obscure or honoured, hungry or full, let us do everything in the name of the Lord in patience and contentment, and we shall fulfill in ourselves what has been written: 'But for the lovers of the Lord everything works together for goodness.' 4 If I restrain myself from anger and lust and the injury that seeks vengeance, if for the sake of God I am silent, if through every sharp disturbance and incentive for vice I remind myself that God watches from above, there shall be for me an occasion of triumph. Let us not say in plenty, 'That fellow is a friend, this one I do not know. This one should be received, that one scorned.' Let us imitate our Father who makes the sun rise over the good and the wicked, and makes it rain upon the righteous and the unrighteous. 5 He opens the fount of kindness to all and from that slave and free, commoner and king, rich and poor, all likewise drink. A lamp that has been lit in a house shines equally on everyone, 6 whence if the reign of generosity is loosed impartially for everyone, how much more for those who are servants of the faith and Christians, who have the same Father, and those who are reckoned to be His teachers? It seems to me that it is possible to join this passage with those before, so that from hearers he exhorts service of those he names servants of the faith and teachers, whom are thought as goods above all. Brief is the time of this life. This which I say, and dictate, and write, and correct, and review, grows or perishes in my time. Titus, the son of Vespasian, who in revenge for the blood of the Lord, overthrew Jerusalem, entered Rome as victor, and it is said that such was his benevolence, that when late one night at a feast he remembered that he had done no good that day, he said to his friends, 'Today I have wasted a day.' Shall we not think that we have wasted an hour, a day, a moment, a year, an age, when we speak worthless words, for which we shall have to give a reason on the day of judgement? 7 If this fellow without the Law, without the Gospel, without the Saviour and the teaching of the Apostles, naturally said this and acted so, what is needful for us to do, for the condemnation of whom he had Juno of one husband, and the Vestal Virgins, and a collection of other idols? Blessed John the Evangelist, while he remained in Ephesus until final old age, had to be carried to the church by the hands of his followers, and unable to compose his voice for many words, he was accustomed to offer nothing else to the congregation but this: 'Little children, love one another.' 8Then when his pupils and brothers drew near, and being troubled with the repetition of what they always heard, said, 'Master, why do you always say this?' John replied with a worthy statement: 'Because it is the teaching of the Lord, and if this alone is done, it is enough.' Hence the command of this Apostle: 'Let us do good to everyone, especially to the servants of the faith.' Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Letter to the Galatians, Book 3, Chapter 6 1 Galat 6.10 2 Jn 9.4 3 Ps 103.20-23 4 Rom 8.28 5 Mt 5.45 6 Mt 5.15 7 Mt 12.36 8 cf 1 Jn 3.18

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, Psalmus 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