SERMON LXXII.
the meaning of the words 'the day breaks and the shadows flee away.' the various days in the lives of men expounded, that the righteous live in light, and that a brighter day awaits them; but that the wicked, who are devoted to works of darkness, can look forward only to eternal night.
THE last part only of these clauses remains to be treated, and I am in doubt, in entering upon it, to which of the two preceding ones it ought to be joined, for I may connect it indifferently with either. For whether you say, My Beloved is mine, and I am Hisy until the day break and the shadows flee away, interposing only, Be feedeth among the lilies, or following the literal order, He feedeth among the lilies, until the day break and the shadoivs flee away, you have in either case a sense perfectly good. There is only this difference, that if you join the ' until ' to the former sentence, the day is included in the sense; but if to the latter, the day is excluded from it. Are we to suppose that, in intimating that the Bridegroom will cease to feed among the lilies when the day shall have dawned, it is intended to declare that He will also cease to belong to the Bride and she to Him? By no means. Their relation shall endure for ever, with the sole difference that it shall then be as much happier as it shall be stronger, and as much stronger as it is freer and less impeded. It is necessary, then, to understand this word * until ' in the same way as that passage in the Gospel of St. Matthew where it is said that Joseph knew not Mary until she had brought forth her firstborn Son (Matt i. 25). For he knew her not afterwards. Or, as in that verse of a Psalm: Our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that He have mercy upon us (Ps. cxxiil 2); but not that they should be turned away from Him when He has begun to have mercy. Or, again, as that saying of our Lord to His Apostles: Lo, I am with you alway% even unto1 the end of the world, for He will not cease to be with them after that event has taken place. But now see how this word until is to be understood if you connect it with the words, My Beloved is mine, and I am His. For if you refer it to He feedeth among the lilies, another sense must be put upon it. Now, there will be a good deal of difficulty in showing in what manner the Beloved ceases to feed among the lilies when the day begins to break. Is the day spoken of that of the Resurrection? But, then, why should it not please Him much more to pasture among the lilies, seeing that there is then a much greater abundance of them? So much as relates to the connection of the clauses.
2. Consider, now, with me, how, although (after the consummation of all things), the Bridegroom is in the midst of a Kingdom which is glorious with lilies, in which He takes the greatest joy and delight, yet it is not said that He feeds [among] them, as He had been accustomed to do up to that time. For where, then, are those sinners whom Christ makes one with Himself, having, so to speak, ground and masticated them with the teeth of an austere discipline, that is to say, with affliction of the flesh and heartfelt contrition? Nor, again, will the Bridegroom, who is the Word, any longer require for Himself the food of various works or actions of obedience, where the only action will be to enjoy repose, and the occupation [of the blessed] to contemplate God and be fully satisfied in Him. His food is, indeed, to do the will of His Father; but this refers to the present state, not to the future: for how can He be engaged in doing that which is fully done? And it is clear that then it will be complete and perfected. It is in that state that all the saints will know clearly what 2 ewf, until; Matt, xxviii. 2a
'the day breaks and the shadows flee away' 443 is that Will of God which is good, and acceptable, and perfect (Rom. xii. 2). And assuredly nothing remains to be done of that which is fully perfected. The occupation that is left is to find enjoyment in it, not to bring it about; to experience it, not to carry it into effect; to live in that Divine Will, not to exercise one's self in accomplishing it Is it not of that very Will that we are taught of the Lord to pray earnestly that it may be done, as in heaven, so in earth (Matt. vi. 10), so that the carrying it out may not be a labour to us, but the fruits of it be then a delight? So, then, the Bridegroom, the Word, will no longer require the food of good works, because there every work will necessarily cease where all are filled with the abundance of wisdom. For they who are less in action shall receive wisdom (Ecclus. xxxviii. 25).
3. But let us now see if what we say is capable of standing with that sense of the words ' He feedeth among the lilies ' in which some interpret them; namely, that He rejoices in the excellence, and, so to speak, in the whiteness of virtues. For we, too, have not passed over that sense among others. Shall we say, then, either that there are no virtues, or that the Bridegroom does not take pleasure in them? Either alternative is altogether extravagant. But see whether He does not take delight in them in any other manner; and if, instead of their being food to Him, they do not perhaps, and so to speak, serve Him as drink. During this life, and in this mortal body, there is no virtue of ours which is so purified from mortal frailty, and rendered so pure and sweet as to serve for the use of the Word in this way. But He who wills that all men shall be saved overlooks many things, and devotes His efforts, as it were, with pains and skill, to extract from that which cannot be used as a beverage somewhat agreeable and worthy to be food. A time shall come when virtue shall be capable of being pure and clear, so that instead of being masticated with labour abd fatigue, or, rather, instead of wearying the eater, it shall give to him delight without weariness, but it is no longer as food that is eaten, but as a draught that is swallowed. It is that which the Lord promises in the Gospel: / will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Fathers Kingdom (Matt. xxvi. 29). And He makes no mention of food We read also in a Psalm: Like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine (Ps. lxxviii. 65); but here also food is not mentioned. The Bride is, then, conscious of this mystery when, having found and declared that her Beloved feedeth among the lilies, she names a time until which He deigns to do this, or, rather, has recognised and stated the time already fixed, saying, until the day break, and the shadows flee away. For she knew that after, He would rather drink (so to speak) of virtues than feed upon them. That, it may be said, agrees with the usual custom, that drink should follow food. He, then, who takes food here on earth shall taste of drink in heaven, and with as much greater sweetness as security; inasmuch as then He shall drink with ease, while now He partakes of them with labour, and, as it were, eats of them but in morsels.
4. Let us now set ourselves to consider what is that day and what are those shadows of which the Bride speaks: in what manner the one breaks, that is, appears, and by what power the others flee away. The expression here used is significant and singular, for it is only in this passage, I believe, that you will find the day spoken of as breathing.1 For the winds are said to breathe, not the times. Man breathes, other animals breathe; and it is the air continually breathed which enables them to live. And what is this but wind? The Holy Spirit also breathes, and hence His Name. In what way, then, is the day, which is not a spirit, nor a wind, nor, indeed, a living creature at all, said to breathe? Although it is not, indeed, said to breathe, but, which is still more remarkable, to aspire [spirans; aspirans\ Nor is it less extraordinary that it is said, and the shadows flee away% since, at the rising of this visible and material light the shadows do not flee away, but are dissipated. The explanation of these things is to be sought outside the sphere of things corporeal. If we shall be able to find a spiritual day and spiritual shadows, then what is meant by the aspiration of one and the \ fleeing away of the other will become clearer. If it be considered that the day of which the Psalmist says: A day in Thy courts is better than a thousand (Ps. lxxxiv. 10), is a literal one, I know not what ought not to be understood in a literal sense. There is a day also which is taken in an evil sense, and which is named with malediction by the Prophets (Job iii. 3 and Jer. xx. 14). But let us by no means think that it is one of those visible days which the Lord has made. It is a day in a spiritual sense.
5. Who can doubt also that the shadow which rested upon Mary when she conceived (Luke i. 35) was a spiritual one? And so was it with that which is thus mentioned in the Prophet: Under His shadow we shall live among the heathen (Lam. iv. 20). But I think, nevertheless, that in this place by 4 shadows* is meant those hostile powers which are called not * shadows ' only, but 4 darkness ' by an Apostle, where he speaks of the rulers of the darkness of this world (Eph. vi. 12); and that they designate also those of our race who are attached to these; who are children of the night, not of light, nor of the day. For when the day shall appear, these shadows shall not be entirely destroyed, while we see that material shadows not only disappear from the presence of the light of this world, but perish altogether. They shall not, then, be entirely destroyed, but shall be more miserable than if they were. They shall exist, but in a state degraded and subdued. Thus the Psalmist saith (and no doubt he refers to the prince of these shadows) 4 he will crouch and fall when he shall have power over the poor ' (Ps. ix. 10, Douay). His nature shall not, then, be annihilated, but his power taken away; his substance shall not perish, but the hour of darkness and its power shall pass. They are cast down that they may not see the glory of God; they are not blotted out of existence, that they may dwell for ever in the flame. Shall not the shadows be laid prostrate when the mighty
' THE DAY BREAKS AND THE SHADOWS FLEE AWAY*
are cast down from their seat, and have been made a footstool? Speedily shall that come to pass. It is the last time: the night is far spent, the day is at hand. The day shall wax, the night wane1 (Rom. xiii. 12). The night signifies the devil, the angel of Satan, though he transform himself into an angel of light. The night is Antichrist, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His Mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming (2 Thess. ii. 8). And is not the Lord the day? Evidently He is the Day, which breathes and brightens, which puts to flight the shadows ty the Breath of His Mouth, and destroys the phantoms [of the night] by the brightness of His coming. Or if you prefer to take the phrase 4 flee away ' in the sense of ' to be extinguished,' I do not oppose this. We see that the dark sayings and figures of Scripture are shadows; so also are those ambiguous modes of speaking, those subtle phrases, and involved arguments, which obscure the light of truth rather than discover it. For in part we know, and in part we prophesy. But when the day breaks the shadows shall flee away; for when the fulness of light is occupying every place, there is no spot left where shadows may linger. For when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away (1 Cor. xiii. 9, 10).
6. That would suffice, if the Scripture said simply that the day 'breathes/ and not that it 'aspires.'2 But now I think it needful to add a few words to explain the reason of this small addition, and of the distinction which it indicates. For I, to speak truly, have long been persuaded that in the sacred and precious text of the Scripture not the smallest particle is without meaning and importance. Now, we are accustomed to make use of this word, to express the seeking something with eager desire, as, for example, when we say that such and such a person ' aspires ' to this honour, or that dignity. There is denoted, then, by this word a marvellous abundance and power of the Holy Spirit to be manifested hereafter in that day when not only our souls, but even our bodies shall become spiritual, according to their manner, and when those who shall be found worthy shall be inebriated with the fulness of the House of the Lord, and shall drink to the full of the river of His pleasures.
7. There is still another way in which this passage may be taken. The sanctified day has already shone upon the holy Angels, breathing upon them, like a mighty wind, the sweetly flowing secrets of the eternal Divinity. For the Psalmist says: The river of the flood thereof makelh glad the City of God (Ps. xlvi. 4); but he refers to that City, to which it is said: Like as the habitation of all that rejoice is in thee (Ps. lxxxvii. 7). But when that day shall have breathed upon us also who dwell on the earth, it shall be not only a day of breathing, but also a day of aspiring, because it shall, as it were, open its bosom and admit us also. Or rather (that we may go farther back and treat of the course of events more at length) after the Creator had made man of the dust of the earth, He, as the truthful history narrates, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (Gen. ii. 7). That then became for him a day of inspiration. But, lo, an envious night, pretending to be light, dashed against this day, for in promising to man a light of knowledge far more brilliant than he had, it enveloped our first parents, by the perfidious counsel given to them, with sudden darkness, with a deep and terrible obscurity. Woe! woe to them! they have not known nor understood; they walk on ignorantly in obscurity, taking darkness for light, and light for darkness. For the woman ate of the tree which the serpent had suggested (dederat) to her, which God had forbidden, and gave of it to her husband, and a new day, as it were, began to shine for them. For then the eyes of them both were opened, and that day became for them a day of conspiring, which destroyed the day of inspiration, and substituted for it an expiring day. Assuredly the subtlety of the serpent, the blandishments of the woman, and the weakness of the man, conspired and assembled together against the Lord, and against His Christ. Wherefore also the Lord and His Christ spake together: Behold, the man is become as otie of us (Gen. iii. 22), because he had assented to the enticements of sinners, to the injury of each.
8. In this day we all are born. We all bear, in fact, impressed upon us as by cautery, the brand of that ancient conspiracy: Eve still lives in our flesh, and the serpent strives without ceasing, through the concupiscence which we derive from birth, to make us consenting parties to his rebellion. It is for that reason, as I have said, that the saints of the ancient law cursed that day, wishing that it might be short, and speedily turned to night, because it is a day of contention and contradiction, in which the Mesh does not cease to revolt against the spirit, and during which the contrary law which abides in our members is in continual and unwearied contradiction to the law of our spirit. That is why it has become an expiring day. For then and thenceforth, what man is there who shall live and never see death? (Ps. lxxxix. 48). Let anyone say that pleases, that this is an effect of the wrath of God; I should nevertheless say that it is the effect of His mercy; so that the elect, on account of wliom all things are done, should not so long be tormented by a contradiction full of trouble by which they also are led captive by the law of sin, which is in their members. For they abhor and endure with great reluctance that shameful captivity, that melancholy contradiction.
9. Let us hasten, then, to respire free from that old and injurious conspiration, because the days of man are few and brief (Job xiv. 1). Let the day of free respiration receive us and enlighten us, before a night of deep horror (suspirans) swallow us up, wrapping around us the thick glooms of the outer and everlasting darkness. Do you ask to what does this phrase (of respiration) refer, and in whom is it found? It consists in this, that the spirit begins in turn to mortify the deeds of the flesh. If you feel repugnance to these, you are breathing; if you are mortifying them by the spirit; if you crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts, you have breathed. / keep under my body, says St. Paul, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (1 Cor. ix. 27). That is the utterance of a man who is breathing the free breath of the spirit; yea, rather who had already done so. Go thou, and do likewise (Luke x. 37), that you may show that you have breathed this inspiring air, and know that this day of inspiration has shone upon you. The night of death shall not prevail against this day of revival; it shines in the darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not. This light of life shall not fail even when life departs, and I think that to no one more fitly, than to him who dies thus, can these words be assigned: Even the night shall be light about me (Ps. cxxxix. 11). Why should he not see more clearly,, being delivered from the shadow, or rather from the corruption of the body? When freed from corporeal bonds, he will doubtless be as free among the dead, and as one who sees among the blind. For like as once in former times, when throughout Egypt none could see clearly, the people of Israel alone had light amid the universal gloom, and beheld [the great work of] God; for the Scripture says: All the children of Israel had light in their dwellings (Exod. x. 23), so the righteous shall shine among the sons of darkness, and in the midst of the thick shadow of death, and shall have so much the clearer power of vision, as they are delivered from the shadows of the body. But as for those who have not previously breathed that inspiring air, nor sought for the light of that day, and on whom, therefore, the Sun of Righteousness has not risen; they shall pass from these shadows into deeper shadows still, so that those who are in darkness shall be in darkness still; while those who see, shall see more and more.
10. To this may be applied, not unfitly, the words spoken by Our Lord, that whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath (Matt. xiii. 12). Thus it is also in death: for new light is added to those who already see, while from those who do not see is taken away the little which they seemed to have. For in proportion as the one class see less and less, so do the other see more and more clearly, until the night of sighs receives the one, and the day of light and aspiration the other; and these are the two extremes; that is, total blindness, and perfect sight Then there will be nothing more to be taken away from those who have already been emptied of all, nor anything to be added to those who are filled; unless, indeed, the latter may expect to receive something more even beyond fulness, according to the promise made to them by the Saviour: Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom (Luke vi. 38). Does it not appear to you that the vessel which runs over must be something more than full? But you will hear calmly of this fulness superabounding, when you remember that you have read: [The Lord shall reign] for ever and beyond (Exod. xv. 18). He then shall be the increase and crown of the day of aspiration. That day shall add, I say, to the measure of the fulness inspired, as to the abundance of the day inspiring; working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, so that the superabounding addition of honour should redound upon bodies also. For this cause it is, and to signify this, that the Holy Spirit has said, not ' spirans,1 but ' aspirans,1 adding the proposition ' ad,' because those whom that day enlightens inwardly, it also adorns outwardly, and clothes them with a robe of glory.
n. I believe that will be sufficient by way of giving a reason for the word 1 aspiring.' And if you wish to know, the day of aspiration is the Saviour Himself, for whom we wait; who shall change the body of our humility, that it may be fashioned like unto the Body of His glory (Phil. iii. 20, 21). He is also the day of inspiration, and by His operation makes us to respire previously in the light which He inspires, so that we also may be in Him a day of respiration, inasmuch as our inward man is renewed from day to day, and is renewed in the spirit of its mind according to the likeness of Him who created it, becoming day from the day and light from the light. There are, then, two days, one succeeding the other, in us: the day of inspiration, which is for the life of the body, and that of respiration, which is the sanctification by grace; and there remains a third, which shall be in the glory of the resurrection: it is manifest that the great mystery of the Divine goodness, which has been accomplished in the Head, shall be accomplished also sometime in the members of His Body, and the testimony of the prophet shall be fulfilled, who says: After two days will He revive us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight; then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord (Hosea vi. 2, 3). It is He whom the Angels desire to contemplate, the Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever. Amen.