Psalm 86 (Vulgate 85)

A Sermon to the people on the vigil of a festival, perhaps of St, Cyprian, delivered at Carthage,

No greater gift could God have given to men than in making His Word, by Which He created all things, their Head, and joining them to Him as His members: that the Son of God might become also the Sdti of man, one God with the Father, one Man with men; so that when we; speak to God in prayer for mercy, we do not separate the Son from Him; and when the Body of the Son prays, it separates not its Head from itself: and it is one Saviour of His Body, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who both prays for us, and prays in us, and is prayed to by us. He prays for us, as our Priest; He prays in us, as our Head; He is prayed to by us, as our God. Let us therefore recognise in Him our words, and His words in us. Nor when any thing is said of our Lord Jesus Christ, especially in prophecy, implying a degree of humility below the dignity of God, let us hesitate to ascribe it to Him Who did not hesitate to join Himself unto us. For unto Him all creation is subject, since by Him all creation was made. And, therefore, when we behold His sublime and divine nature, when we hear, in the beginning was the Word, and the Ward was with God, and the Word was God. The Same was in the begin* ning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made: gazing upon this divine nature of the Son of God, far surpassing and exceeding all the most sublime things of creation, we hear Him then in some part of Scripture groaning, praying, confessing; and we hesitate to ascribe unto Him these words, because our thoughts are reluctant to descend from that late contemplation of His divine nature, to this His humble condition, and seem almost to do Him injury, if they recognise in a man His words, unto Whom as to God they were directing words of prayer, they often remain doubtful, and try to change the understanding, and yet they meet with nothing in the Scripture but what reverts ever to Him, and suffers them not to turn aside from Him. They ought, there-

Words of our Lord as Man, and as One with His Body. 185 fore to rouse themselves, and thoroughly wake up in their faith; then they would see, that He Whom they were a little before contemplating in the form of God, took upon Himself the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of man; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death; and it was His will to make the words of the Psalm His own words, as He hung upon the Crdss, and said, My God, My God, why hagt Thou foisaken Me? He is prayed to in the form of God, in the1' form of a servant He pfayeth; there the Creator, here created; assuming unchanged the creature, that it might be changed, and making us with Himself one Man, Head and Body. Therefore we pray to Him, through Him, in Him; and we speak with Him, and He speaks with us; we speak in Him, He speaks in us the prayer of this Psalm, which is entitled, A Prayer of David. For our Lord was, according to the flesh, the Son of David; but according to His divine nature, the Lord of David, and his Maker; and not only before David, but also before Abraham, from whom David came; and also before Adam, from whom were all men; and also before heaven and earth, in which are all creatures. Let no one then, when he hears these words, say, Christ speaketh not; nor again say, I speak not; nay rather, if he own himself to be in the Body of Christ, let him say both, Christ speaks, and I speak. Be thou unwilling to say any thing without Him, and He saith nothing without thee. Have we not this in the Gospel? There where it is certainly written, In the beginning was the Wordy and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him; there certainly we have, Jesus was sorrowful, Jesus was wearied, Jesus slept, Jesus was hungry and was thirsty, Jesus prayed, and continued in prayer all night. He prayed, says the Gospel, and He continued in prayer; and there ran down over His body great drops of blood. What did that shew, when drops of blood ran down fromLufce,6, His body as He prayed, but that His body, which is the Church, was already flowing with the blood of martyrs?

2. Ver. I. Bow down Thine ear, O Lord, and hear me. He speaks in the form of a servant: speak thou, O servant, in the form of thy Lord: Bow down Thine ear, O Lord. He bows down His ear, if thou dost not lift up thy neck: for onto ^e humD]e |je (Jraweth near: from him that is exalted He removes afar off, except whom He Himself hath exalted from being humble. God then bows down His ear unto us. For He is above, we below: He in a high place, we in a lowly one, yet not deserted. For, God sheweth His love towards us: for while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Fqr scarcely for a just man will one die: yet for a good man peradventure one would even, dare to die: but our Lord died for the wicked. For no merits of ours had gone before, for which the Son of God should die: but the more, because there were no merits, was His mercy great. How sure then, how firm is the promise, by which for the righteous He keepeth His life, Who for the wicked gave His own death! Bow down Thine ear, O Lord, and hear me: for I am poor and in misery. To the rich then He boweth not down His ear: unto the poor and him that is in misery He boweth down His ear, that is, unto the humble, and him that confesseth, unto him that is in need of mercy: not unto him that is full, who lifteth up himself and boasteth,as if he wanted nothing, and saith, / thank Thee that lam not as this Publican. For ^e rjcj1 pharisee boasted of his merits: the poor Publican confessed his sins.

3. Yet do not take what I have said, my brethren, in such a way, as if God does not hear those who have gold and silver, and a household, and farms, if they happen to be born to this estate, or hold such a rank in the world: only let them remember the Apostle's words: Charge those who are rich in this world, that they be not highminded. For those that are not highminded are poor in God, and to the poor and needy and those in want He inclines His ear. For they know that their hope is not in gold and silver, nor in those things in which for a time they seem to abound. It is enough that riches ruin them not; it is enough that they do them no harm: for good they can do them none. What certainly profiteth is a work of mercy, done by a rich or by a poor man: by a rich man, with will and deed, by a poor man, with will alone. When therefore he is such an one as despiseth in himself every thing which is wont to swell men with pride, he is one of God's poor: He inclines unto him Abraham, though rich, humble before God. 187 His ear, for He knows that his heart is contrite. It is true, my brethren, that that poor man, who lay fall of sores before the rich man's door, was taken away by Angels into Abraham's bosom: so we read, so we believe: but that rich man who was clothed in purple and fine liuen, and who feasted in splendour every day, was taken away to hell to be tormented. Was it really for the merit of his poverty that the poor man was carried away by Angels, or was it for the sin of his riches that the rich man was sent away to be tormented? In that poor man is signified the honour which is paid to humility, in that rich man the condemnation which awaits pride. I will prove shortly that it was not riches but pride which was tormented in that rich man. It is certain that the poor man was carried into the bosom of Abraham: of Abraham himself Scripture saith that he had here very much gold and silver, and was rich on the earth. If every one2, that is rich is hurried away to be tormented, how could Abraham have gone before that poor man, so as to be ready to receive him when carried to his bosom? But Abraham in his riches was poor, humble, reverencing all commands, and obeying them. So true was it that he counted all those riches for nothing, that on God's command he was ready to sacrifice his son, for whom he was keeping his riches. Learn therefore ye to be poor and needy, whether ye have any thing in this world, or whether ye have not. For you may find a poor man proud, and a rich man you may find confessing. God resisteth the proud, both those clothed all in silk, and those in rags: to the humble He giveth grace,4'6' both those who have some of this world's goods, and those who have not. God looketh within: there He weigheth, there He trieth in the balance: thou seest not God's scales, thy mind is raised to behold it. See, the desert of his being heard, that is, the cause why he was heard he places herein, saying, For I am poor and in misery. Take care lest thou be not poor and in misery, if so thou art not, thou shalt not be heard. Whatever there is around thee, or in thee, for which thou mightest presume, cast it from thee: presume not thou in aught but in God: be thou in need of Him, that thou mayest be filled with Him. For 188 Chris? s Body holy by communication from Him. whatever else thou mayest have without Him, thou art the more entirely poor.

4. Ver. 2. Preserve Thou My Soul, for lam holy. I know not whether any one could say this, / am holy, but He Who was in the world without sin: He by Whom all sins were not committed but remitted K We own it to be His voice saying, Preserve Thou My Soul, for I am holy; of course in form of a servant which He had assumed. For in that was flesh, in that was also a Soul. For He was not, as have said, only Flesh and the Word: but Flesh and 'Soul also, and the Word, and all this, One Son of God, One Christ, One Saviour; in the form of God equal to the Father, in the form of a servant the Head of the Church. When therefore I hear, for I am holy, I recognise His voice: yet do I exclude my own? Surely He speaks inseparably from His body when He speaks thus. Shall I then dare to say, For I am holy? If holy as making holy, and as needing none to sanctify, I should be proud and false: but if holy as made holy, as it is written, Be ye holy, for J am holy, then the body of Christ may venture, and that one crying from the end of the earth, may venture with his Head, and under his Head, to say, For I am holy. For he hath received the grace of holiness, the grace of Baptism, and of remission of sins. And such were ye, saith the Apostle, enumerating many sins, light ones and heavy, customary and horrible; And such were ye: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified. If then he calls them sanctified, each one of the faithful may say, / am holy. This is not the pride of one puffed up, but the confession of one not ungrateful. For if thou sayest that thou art holy of thyself, thou art proud: on the other hand, thou who art faithful in Christ, and a member of Christ, if thou sayest that thou art not holy, thou art ungrateful. The Apostle rebuking pride, saith not, Thou hast not; but he saith, What hast thou that thou didst not receive? Thou wast not rebuked for saying that thou hast what thou hast not, but for wishing that what thou hast should be of thyself. Do thou then own both that thou hast, and that of thyself thou hast nothing, so as to be neither proud nor ungrateful. Say uuto thy The. unholy wrong Him. The crying of His Body. 189 God, I am holy, for Thou hast sanctified me: because I received, not because I had: because Thou gavest, not because I deserved. For on another side thou art beginning to do an injury to our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. For if all Christians who are faithful and have been baptized in Him have put Him on, as the Apostle saith, As many as are baptized in Christ have put on Christ: if they have27, been made members of His body, and say that they are not holy, they do injury to their Head, of Whom they are members, and yet not holy. Look thou where thou art, and from thy Head assume dignity. For thou wert in darkness, but now tight in the Lard. Ye were sometime darkness, he saith: but did ye remain darkness? Was it for this the8, Enlightener came, that ye might still remain darkness, or that in Him ye might become light? Therefore, every Christian by himself, therefore also the whole body of Christ, may say, it may cry every where, while it suffers tribulations, various temptations and offences, it may say, Preserve Thou my soul, for I am holy: my God, save Thy servant, that putteth his trust in Thee. See thou, that holy man is not proud, since he putteth his trust in God.

5. Ver. 3. Be merciful unto me, O Lord, for I have cried unto Thee all day. Not one day: understand all day to mean continually: from the time that the body of Christ groans being in afflictions, until the end of the world, when afflictions pass away, that man groaneth and calleth upon God: and each one of us after his measure hath his part in that cry in the whole body. Thou hast cried in thy days, and thy days have passed away: another hath come after thee, and cried in his days: and thou here, he there, another elsewhere: the body of Christ crieth all the day, its members departing and succeeding one another. One Man it is that reaches to the end of the world: the same members of Christ cry, and some members already rest in Him, some still cry, some when we shall be at rest will cry, and after them others will cry. It is the whole body of Christ whose voice He hears, saying, Unto Thee have I cried all the day. Our Head on the right hand of the Father intercedes for us: some members He recovereth, others He scourgeth, others He cleanseth, others He comforteth, others He is creating, 190 The soul needs lifting up to rejoice in Qod. others calling, others recalling, others correcting, others restoring.

6. Ver. 4. Make glad the soul of Thy servant: for unto TJiee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul. Make it glad, for unto Thee have I lifted it up. For it was on earth, and from the earth it felt bitterness: lest it should wither away in bitterness, lest it should lose all the sweetness of Thy grace, I lifted it up unto Thee: make Thou it glad with Thyself. For Thou alone art gladness: the whole world is full of bitterness. Surely with reason He admonishes His members to lift up their hearts. May they hear and do it: may they lift up unto Him what on earth is ill. There the heart decayeth not, if it be lifted up to God. If thou hadst corn in thy rooms below, thou wouldest take it up higher, lest it should grow rotten. Wouldest thou remove thy corn, and dost thou suffer thy heart to rot on the earth? Thou wouldest take thy corn up higher: lift up thy heart to heaven. And how can I, dost thou say? What ropes are needed? what machines? what ladders? Thy affections are the steps: thy will the way. By loving thou mountest, by neglect thou descendest. Standing on the earth thou art in heaven, if thou lovest God. For the heart is not so raised as the body is raised: the body to be lifted up changes its place: the heart to be lifted up changes its will. For unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

7. Ver. 5. For Thou, Lord, art good and gracious. Therefore make Thou me glad. As though wearied with the bitterness of earthly things he wished to be sweetened, and sought the fount of sweetness, and found it not on the earth. For wherever he turned himself, he found offences, fears, troubles, temptations. In what man was there safety? in whom could he securely rejoice? Certainly not in himself: how much less in others? Either men are bad, and we must bear with them, and hope that they will be changed; or they are good, and we ought to love them so as to fear at the same time, lest (as they are changeable) they should become bad; in one case their wickedness causes bitterness of soul, in the other it is caused by anxiety and fear, lest he who walks well should slip. Wherever therefore he turns himself, he finds bitterness in earthly things: he has not

Qod 'gracious' in taking well our ill performed devotions. 191 whereby he may be sweetened, unless he lift himself up to God. For Thou, Lord, art good and gracious. What is gracious? Bearing me until Thou hast inade me perfect. I will speak truly, my brethren, like a man among men, and sprung from men: let each one endure to look into his own heart without flattery, and without false soothing. For nothing is more foolish than for a man vainly to soothe and seduce himself. Let him attend then and see what things pass in man's heart: how even prayers are often hindered by vain thoughts, so that the heart scarcely remains fixed on God: and it would hold itself so as to be fixed, and somehow flees from itself, and finds no frames in which it can inclose itself, no bars by which it may keep in its flights and wandering movements, and stand still to be made glad by its God. Scarcely does one such prayer occur amongst many. Each one might say that this happened to him, but that it happened not to others, if we did not find in the holy Scripture David praying in a certain place, and saying, Since I have found my heart, O Lord, so that I might pray* unto Thee. He said that he had found his heart, as if it were wont to flee from him, and he to follow it like a fugitive, and not be able to catch it, and to cry to God, For my heart hath deserted me. Therefore, my brethren, thinking over what he saith here, Thou, O Lord, art good and gracious,! think I see what he meaneth by "gracious" Make glad the soul of Thy servant, for unto Thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul: for Thou art good and gracious: I seem to feel that for this reason he calls God gracious, because He bears with those failings of ours, and yet expects prayer from us, in order to make us perfect: and when we have given it to Him, He receives it gratefully, and listens to it, and remembers not those many prayers which we pour out unthinkingly, and accepts the one which we can scarcely find. For what man is there, my brethren, who, on being addressed by his friend, when he wishes to answer his address, sees his friend turn away from him and speak to another, who is there who would bear this? Or if you appeal to a judge, and set him up to hear you, and all at once, while you are speaking to him, pass from him, and begin to converse with your friend, who would endure this? Yet God 192 They call not truly upon God, who call in vain. endures the hearts of so many persons who pray and think Q£ (11^,.^ things: I am not now speaking of evil things, such are sometimes perverse and at enmity with God; to think of any thing that is superfluous is an injury to Him with Whom you have begun to speak. Thy prayer is a speech. addressed to God: when thou readest, God speaks to thee: when thou prayest, thou speakest to God. What then? Must we despair of mankind^ and say that every man is already condemned into whose prayers any wandering thoughts have crept and interrupted them? If we say this, my brethren, I know not what hope remains. Therefore because there is some hope before God, because His mercy is great, let us aay unto Him, Make glad the soul of Thy servant: for unto Thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my souL And how have I lifted it up? As I could, as Thou gavest me strength, as I could catch it when it fled away. " And hast thou forgotten," imagine God to say, " that as often as thou didst stand before Me, thou didst think of so many vain and useless things, and didst scarcely pour out unto Me an earnest and steady prayer?" For Thou9 Lord, art good and gracious: gracious art Thou, enduring me. From infirmity I sink: heal Thou me, and I shall stand: strengthen Thou me, and I shall be strong. But until Thou do this, Thou bearest with me: For Thou, Lord, art good and gracious.

8. And of great mercy.

That is, not only of mercy, but of great mercy: for as our iniquity abounds, so also aboundeth Thy mercy. And of great mercy art Thou unto all that call upon Thee. What is it then which Scripture saith in many places; They shall call, and I will not hear them? (yet surely Thou art merciful to all that call upon Thee;) but that some call, yet call not upon Him, of whom it is said, They have not called upon God. They call, but not on God. Thou callest upon whatever thou lovest: thou callest upon whatever thou callest unto thyself, whatever thou wishest to come unto thee. Therefore if thou callest upon God for this reason, in order that money may come unto thee, that an inheritance may come unto thee, that worldly rank may come unto thee, thou callest upon those things which thou desirest may come unto thee: but thou makest God the helper of thy desires, How it is that some prayers are not granted. 1 93 not the listener to thy needs. God is good, if He gives what thou wishest. What if thou wishest ill, will He not then be more merciful by not giving? Then, if He gives not, then is God nothing to thee; and thou sayest, How much I have prayed, how often I have prayed, and have not been heard! Why, what didst thou ask? Perhaps that thy enemy might die. What if he at the same time were praying for thy death? He Who created thee, created him also: thou art a man, he too is a man; but God if? the Judge: He hears both, and He grants their prayer to neither. Thou art sad, because thou wast not heard when praying against him; be glad, because his prayer was not heard against thee. But thou sayest, I did not ask for this; I asked not for the death of my enemy, but for the life of my child; what ill did I ask? Thou askedst no ill, as thou didst think. What if he was taken away, lest wickedness should alter his under* standing. But he was a sinner, thou sayest, and therefore11, I Vished him to live, that he might be corrected. Thou wishedst him to live, that he might become better; what if God knew, that if he lived he would become worse? How then couldest thou know what was good for him, to die or to live? If then thou knewest not, return into thy heart, leave it to God to take counsel for thee. What am I to do then, dost thou say? what am I to pray for? What art thou to pray for? What the Lord has taught thee, what thy heavenly Master has taught thee. Call upon God as God, love God as God: there is nothing better than He is; long for Him, Him desire. See how he calls on God in another Psalm: One thing have I required of the Lord, this I will ask. What is it which he required? That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. For what reason? That I may behold the delightfulness of the Lord. If then thou wouldest be a lover of God, with thy innermost marrow and with pure sighings love Him, desire Him, for Him burn, long for Him, than Whom thou shalt find nothing more pleasant, nothing better, nothing more joyful, nothing more lasting. For what so lasting as that which is everlasting? Thou needest not fear, lest He should ever be lost to thee, Who causes that thou be not lost thyself. If, therefore, thou callest on God as God, be confident thou shalt be J 94 God withholds what we ask, to give our chief desire, Himself. heard: thou hast part in that verse; And of great mercy unto all that call upon Thee.

9. Say not thou then, He did not give me that which I prayed for. Return thou into thy conscience1: weigh it, question it, spare it not. If thou calledst on' God truly, be sure that that which perhaps thou wishedst to have as a temporal blessing He gave thee not, for this reason, because it was not good for thee. Let your heart, my brethren, be builded up on this, a Christian heart, a faithful heart: begin not, when ye are sad as if defrauded of your wants, begin not to be angry against God: for it is not good to kick against the pricks. Look back to the Scriptures. The devil is heard, and not the Apostle: what think ye? How are the devils heard? They prayed that they might go into the swine, and it was allowed them. How was the devil heard? He asked for Job, that he might tempt him, and received permission. How was the Apostle not heard? Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abutidance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the Jlesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. He heard him whom He ordained to damnation, and did not hear him whom He willed to heal. So a sick man asketh many things of the physician; but the physician giveth them not: he heareth not for' his desire, that he may hear for his cure.

Make God then thy Physician: seek of Him health, and He Himself will be thy health: seek not as if thou wouldest gain salvation from any other source, but so that He Himself may be salvation unto thee: not so as again to love any other salvation besides Him, but as thou hast it written in the Psalm: Say unto my soul9 I am thy salvation. What is it to thee what He saith unto thee, so that He give Himself unto thee? Wouldest thou that He should give Himself unto thee? What if that which thou wouldest have He wills not that thou shouldest have, that He may give Himself unto thee? He removes hindrances, that he may enter into thee. Think, brethren, and reflect what good things God God's best gifts are for His own. His healing to be trusted. 195 giveth unto sinners: and learn hence what He keepeth for His own servants. To sinners who blaspheme Him every day He giveth the sky and the earth, He giveth springs, fruits, health, children, wealdt, abundance: ail these good things none giveth but God. He who giveth such things to sinners, what thinkest thou He keeps for His faithful ones? Is this to be believed of Him, that He Who giveth such things to the bad, keepeth nothing for the good? Nay verily He doth keep, not earth, but heaven for them. Too common a thing perhaps I say when I say heaven; Himself rather, Who made the heaven. Fair is heaven, but fairer is the Maker of heaven. But I see the heavens, Him I see not. Because thou hast eyes to see the heavens: a heart thou hast not yet to see. the Maker of heaven: therefore came He from heaven to earth, to cleanse the heart, that He may be seen Who made heaven and earth. But wait thou with full patience for salvation. By what treatment to cure thee, He knoweth: by what cutting, what burning, He knoweth. Thou hast brought sickness on thyself by sinning: He comes not only to nurse, but also to cut and to burn. Seest thou not how much men suffer under the hands of physicians, w hen a man promises them an uncertain hope? Thou wilt be cured, says the physician: thou wilt be cured, if I cut. It is a man who speaks, and to a man that he speaks: neither is he sure who speaks, nor he who hears, for he who is speaking to the man hath not made man, and knows not perfectly what is passing in man: yet at the words of a man who knows not what is passing in man, man sooner believeth, submits his limbs, suffers himself to be bound, often without being bound is cut or burned; and receives perhaps health for a few days, even when just healed not knowing when he may die: perhaps, while being healed, dies; perhaps cannot be healed. But to whom hath God promised any thing, and deceived him?

10. Ver. 6. Fix my prayer in Thy ears, O Lord* Great earnestness of him who prays! Fix my prayer in Thine ears9 O Lord: that is, let not my prayer go out of Thine ears, fix it then in Thine ears. How did he travail that he might fix his prayer in the ears of God? Let God answer and say to us; Wouldest thou that I fix thy prayer in My ears? Fix My The present life a * day of trouble* law in thy heart. Fix my prayer in Thine ears, O Lord; attend to the voice of my prayer.

11. Ver. 7. In the day of my trouble 1 have cried unto Thee,for Thou hast heard me*.* The cause that Thouheardest me was, that in the day of my trouble I cried unto Thee. A little before he had said, All the day have I cried, all the day have I been troubled. Let no Christian then say that there is any day in which he is not troubled. By all the day we have understood the whole of time. What then, is there trouble even when it is well with us? Even so, trouble. How is there trouble? Because as long as we are in the body we are absent from the Lord. Let what will abound here, we are not yet in that country whither we are hastening to return. He to whom foreign travel is sweet, loveth not his country: if his country is sweet, travel is bitter; if travel is bitter, all the day there is trouble? When is there not trouble? When there is joy in one's country. At Thy right hand are delights for erermore' 'Thou shall fill me with joy,' he saith, 'with Thy countenance: that I may see the delight of the Lord' There toil and groaning shall pass away: there shall be not prayer but raise; there Alleluia, there Amen, the voice in concord with Angels; there vision without failing and love without weariness. So long therefore as we are not there, ye see that we are not in that which is good. But do all things abound? If all things abound, see if thou art assured that all things perish not. But I have what I had not: more money is come to me which I had not before. Perhaps more fear too is come, which thou hadst not before: perhaps thou wast so much the more secure as thou wast the poorer. In fine, be it that thou hast wealth, that thou hast redundance of this world's affluence, that thou hast assurance given thee that all this shall not perish; besides this, that God say unto thee, Thou shalt remain for ever in these things, they shall be for ever with thee, but My face thou shalt not see. Let none ask counsel of the flesh: ask ye counsel of the Spirit: let your heart answer you; let hope, faith, charity, which has begun to be in you, answer. If then we were to receive assurance that we should always be in affluence of worldly goods, and if God were to say to us, My face ye shall not see, would ye rejoice in these goods? Some one might perhaps choose None of the gods like unto God. Excuses of idolaters. 197 to rejoice, and say, These things abound unto me, it is well with me, I ask no more. He hath not yet begun to be a lover of God: he hath not yet begun to sigh like one far from home. Far be it, far be it from us: let them retire, all those seductions: let them retire, those false blandishments: let them be gone, those words which they say daily unto us, Where is thy God? Let us pour out our soul1 over us, let us confess in tears, let us groan in confession, let us sigh in misery. Whatever is present with us besides our God, is not sweet: we would not have all things that He hath given, if He gives not Himself Who gave all thing6. Fix my prayer, O Lord* in Thy ears, and attend to the voice of my prayer. In the day of my trouble I have cried unto Thee, /or Thou hast heard me.

12. Ver. 8. Among the gods there is none like unto Thee, O Lord. What did he say? Among the gods there is none like unto Thee, O Lord. Let the Pagans make for themselves what gods they will; let them bring workmen in silver and in gold, furbishers, sculptors; let them make gods. What kind of gods? Having eyes, and seeing not; and the other things which the Psalm mentions in what follows. But we do not worship these, he says; we do not worship them, these are symbols. What then do ye worship? Something else that is worse: for the gods of the gentiles are devils. What then? Neither, say they, do we worship devils. Ye have certainly nothing else in your temples, nothing else inspires6, your prophets than a devil. But what do ye say? We worship Angels, we have Angels as gods. Ye know not altogether what Angels are. Angels worship the one God, and favour not men who wish to worship Angels and not God. For we find Angels of high rank* forbidding men to adore them, and com-*honomanding them to adore the true God. But when they say Angels, suppose they mean men, since it is said, / have said, Ye are Gods, and all the children of the Most Highest. Among the gods there is none like unto Thee, O Lord. Whatever man8 thinks to the contrary, that which was made is not like Him Who made it. Except God, whatever else there is in the universe was made by God. What a difference there is between Him Who made, and that which was made, who can worthily imagine? Therefore this man said, Among the gods there is none like unto Thee, O Lord: but how much- 198 God is ineffable. Conversion of nations foretold. God is unlike them he said not, because it cannot be said. Let your Charity attend: God is ineffable: we more easily say what He is not than what He is. Thou thinkest of the earth; this is not God: thou thinkest of the sea; this is not God: of all things which are in the earth, men and animals; this is not God: of all things which are in the sea, which fly through the air; this is not God: whatever shines in the sky, the stars, sun and moon; this is not God: the heaven itself; this is not God: think of the Angela, Virtues, Powers, Archangels, Thrones, Seats, Principalities; this is not God. What is He then? I could only tell thee, what He is not. Askest thou what He is? What the eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, nor hath risen up into the heart of man. Why seekest thou that that should rise up to the tongue, which hath not risen up into the heart? Among the gods there is none like unto Thee, O Lord; there is not one that can do as Thou doesL

13. Ver. 9. All nations that Thou hast made shall come and worship before Tliee, 0 Lord. He has announced the Church: All nations that Thou hast made. If there is any nation which God hath not made, it will not worship Him: but there is no nation which God hath not made; because God made Adam and Eve, the source of all nations, thence all nations sprang. All nations therefore hath God made; all nations, therefore, that Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, 0 Lord. When was this said? When before Him there worshipped none but a few holy men in one people of the Hebrews, then this was said: and see now what it is which was said: All nations that Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord. When these things were spoken, they were not seen, and they were believed: now that they are seen, why are they denied? All nations that Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord, and shall glorify Thy Name.

14. Ver. 10. For Thou art great, and doing wondrous things: Thou alone art the great God. Let no man call himself great. Some were to be who would call themselves great: against these it is said, Thou alone art the great God. For what great thing is ascribed to God, when it is said that He alone is the great God? Who knows not that He is the great God? But because there were to be some who would call themselves great and make God little, against these it is said. Thou alone art the great God. For what Thou sayest is fulfilled, not what those say who call themselves great. What hath God said by His Spirit? All nations that Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord. What saith he, whoever he is, who calleth himself great? Far from it: God is not worshipped in all nations: all nations have perished, Africa alone remains. This thou sayest, who callest thyself great: another thing He saith Who alone is the great God. What saith He, Who alone is the great God? All nations that Thou hast made shall come and worship. before Thee9 O Lord. I see what the only great God hath said: let man be silent, who is falsely great; great only in appearance, because he disdains to be small. Who disdains to be small? He who saith this. Whoever will be great among you, said the Lord, shall be your servant. If thatMat.20, man had wished to be the servant of his brethren, he would not have separated them from their mother: but when he wishes to be great, and wishes not to be small, as would be for his welfare, God, Who resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble, because He alone is great, fulfilleth all things6' which He predicted, and contradicteth those who blaspheme. For such persons blaspheme against Christ, who say that the Church has perished from the whole world, and is left only in Africa. If thou wert to say to him, Thou wilt lose thy villa, he would perhaps scarcely keep from laying his hand upon thee: and yet he says, that Christ has lost His inheritance, redeemed by His own Blood! See now what a wrong he does, my brethren. The Scripture says, In a tcidepTOy. nation is the king's honour; but in the domination of the14* people is the * affliction of a prince. This wrong then thou dost2 unto Christ, to say that His people is diminished to that small trUio* number. Was it for this thou wast born, for this thou callest thyself a Christian, that thou mayest grudge Christ His glory, Whose sign thou sayest that thou bearest on thy forehead, and hast lost out of thy heart? In a wide nation is the king's honour: acknowledge thy King: give Him glory, give Him a wide nation. What wide nation shall I give Him, dost thou say? Choose not to give Him from thy own heart, and thou wilt give aright. Whence am I to give? thou wilt say. Lo,:give from hence: All nations that Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord. Say this, confess this, and thou hast given a wide nation: for all nations in One are one i this is very oneness. For as there is a Church and Churches, and those are Churches which also are a Church, so that is a nation which was nations: formerly nations, many nations, now one nation. Why one nation? Because one faith, one hope, one charity, one expectation. Lastly, why not one nation, if one country? Our country is heavenly, our country is Jerusalem: whoever is not a citizen of it, belongs not to that nation: but whoever is a citizen of it is in that one nation of God. And this nation, from the east to the west, from the north and the sea, is extended through the four quarters of the whole world. This God saith: From the east and west, from the north and the sea, give glory to God. This He foretold, this He fulfilled, Who alone is great. Let him therefore who would not be little cease from saying this against Him Who alone is great: for there cannot be two great, God and Donatus.

15. Ver. 11. Lead me9 0 Lord, in Thy way, and Twill walk in Tliy truth. Thy way, Thy truth, Thy life, is Christ. Therefore belongeth the Body to Him, and the Body is of Him. am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. Lead me, O Lord, in Thy way. In what way? And I will walk in Thy truth. It is one thing to lead to the way, another to guide in the way. Behold man every where poor, every where in need of help. Those w ho are beside the way are not Christians, or not yet Catholics: let them be guided to the way: but when they have been brought to the way and made Catholics in Christ, they must be guided by Him iu the way itself, lest they fall. Now assuredly they walk in the way. Lead me, O Lord, in Thy way: surely I am now in Thy way, lead me there. And I will walk in Thy truth: while Thou leadest I shall not err: if Thou let me go, I shall en*. Pray then that He let thee not go, but lead thee even to the end. How doth He lead thee? By always admonishing, always giving thee His hand. And the arm of the Lord, to whom is it revealed? For in giving His Christ He giveth His hand: in giving His hand, He giveth His Christ. He leadeth to the way, in leading to His Christ: He leadeth in the way, by leading in His Christ, and Christ is truth. Lead me,—^ therefore, O Lord, in Thy way, and I will walk in Thy truth: in Him verily Who said, / am the Way, and thetohnu, Truth, and the Life. For Thou Who leadest in the way and6, the truth, whither leadest Thou, but unto life? In Him then, unto Him Thou leadest. Lead me, O Lord, in Thy way, and I will walk in Tliy truth.

16, Let my heart be made glad, so that it may fear Thy name. There is then fear in gladness. How can there be gladness, if fear? Is not fear wont to be painful? There will hereafter be gladness without fear, now gladness with fear; for not yet is there perfect security, nor perfect gladness. If there is no gladness, we faint: if full security, we rejoice wrongly. Therefore may He both sprinkle on us gladness, and strike fear into us, that by the sweetness of gladness He may lead us to the abode of security; by giving us fear, may cause us not to rejoice wrongly, and to withdraw from the way. Therefore saith the Psalm: Serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice unto Him with trembling: so also saith the Apostle Paul; Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God that worketh in you. Whatever12,13, prosperity comes then, my brethren, is rather to be feared: those things which ye think to be prosperous, are rather temptations. An inheritance cometh, there cometh wealth, there is an abundant overflow of some happiness: these are temptations: take care that they corrupt you not. Whatever prosperity also there is according to Christ, and the true love of Christ: if perhaps thou hast gained thy wife, who was of the party of Donatus: if thy sons have been made believers who were pagans: if perhaps thou hast gained thy friend who wished to draw thee away to the theatres, and thou hast drawn him to the church: if some hostile opponent of thine who was furiously mad against thee, laying aside his fury, has become gentle, and owned God, and now barks at thee no more, but cries with thee against wickedness: these things are pleasant. For what do we rejoice for, if we do not rejoice for these things? Or what other are our joys, buti these? But because tribulations also abound, and temptations, and dissensious, and schisms, and other evils1, without which this world cannot be, until iniquity pass away: let not '■ that rejoicing make us secure, but let our heart be so made glad, as to fear the name of the Lord, lest it be made glad on one side, be stricken on another. Expect not security in journeying: if ever we wish for it here, it will be the birdlime of the body not the safety of the man. Let my heart be made glad, so that it may fear Thy name.

17. Ver. 12, 13. / will con/ess unto Thee, O Lord my God, in my whole heart 9 and I will glorify Thy name for ever: for great is Thy mercy toward me, and Thou hast delivered my soul from the nethermost hell. Do not be angry, brethren, if I do not explain what 1 have said as though I were certain. For I am a man, and as much as is granted to me concerning the sacred Scriptures, so much I venture to speak: nothing of myself. Hell' I have not yet seen, nor have you: and there will be perhaps another way for us, and not through hell. These things are uncertain. But because Scripture, which cannot be gainsaid, says, Thou hast delivered my soul from the nethermost hell, we understand that there are as it were two hells, an upper one and a lower one: for how can there be a lower hell, unless because there is also an upper? The one would not be called lower, except by comparison with that upper part. It appears then, my brethren, that there is some heavenly abode of Angels: there is there a life of ineffable joys, there immortality and incorruption, there all things abiding according to the gift and grace of God. That part of the creation is above. If then that is above, but this earthly part, where is flesh and blood, where is corruptibleness, where is nativity and mortality, departure and succession, changeableness and inconstancy, where are fears, desires, horrors, uncertain joys, frail hope, perishable existence; I suppose that all this part cannot be compared with that heaven of which I was just now speaking; if then this part cannot be compared with that, the one is above, the other below. And whither do we go after death, unless there is a depth deeper than this depth b in which we are in the flesn an(* in this mortal state f For the body is dead, saith the Apostle, because of sin. Therefore even here are the dead; that thou mayest not wonder because it is called hell, if it abounds with the dead. For he saith not, the body is about to die: but, the body is dead. Even now surely our body hath life: and yet compared with that body which is to be like the bodies of Angels, the body of man is found to be dead, although still having life. But again, from this hell, that is from this part of hell, there is another lower, whither the dead go: from whence God would rescue our souls, even sending thither His own Son. For it was on account of these two hells, my brethren, that the Son of God was sent, on all sides setting free. To this hell he was sent by being born, to that by dying. Therefore it is His voice in that Psalm, not according to any man's conjecture, but an Apostle explaining, when he saith, For Thou unit not leave my soul in hell. Therefore it is here also either His voice, Tliou hast delivered my saul from the nethermost hell: or our voice by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself: for on this account He came even unto hell, that we might not remain in hell.

18. I will mention another opinion also. For perhaps even in hell itself there is some lower part where $re thrust the ungodly who have sinned most1. For whether in hell thereto were not some places where Abraham was, we cannot define sufficiently. For not yet had the Lord come to hell that Hel. might rescue from thence the souls of all the saints who had*" gone before8, and yet Abraham was there in repose. Andst. a certain rich man when he was in torments in hell, when he saw Abraham, lifted up his eyes. He could not have seen him by lifting up his eyes, unless the one was above, the other below. And what did Abraham answer unto him, when he said, Father Abraham, send Lazarus, that he may{^^— dip the tip of his finger and drop it upon my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame? My son, he said, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is at rest, but thou art tormented. And besides this, he said, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that neither can we go to you, nor can any one come from thence to us. Therefore between these two hells, perhaps, in one of which the souls of the just have gotten rest, in the other the souls of the ungodly are tormented, one waiting and praying 204 ' Deliverance from HelV may be from going there. here, placed here in the body of Christ, and praying in the ' voice of Christ, said that God had delivered his soul from the nethermost hell, because He delivered him from such sins as might have been the means of drawing him down to the torments of the nethermost hell. As if a physician were to see an illness threatening thee perhaps from some laborious work, and were to say, Spare thyself, treat thyself thus, rest, use this food; for if thou doest it not thou wilt be sick; and thou, if thou doet so and art made well, sayest rightly to the physician, Thou hast set me free from sickness: not sickness in which thou wast, but in which thou wast likely to be. Some one having a troublesome cause was to be sent to prison: another comes and defends him; what does he say when he thanks him f Thou hast delivered my soul out of prison. A debtor was to be hanged upc: his debt is paid; he is said to be delivered from being hanged up. They were not in all these evils: but because they were in such due course towards them1, that unless aid had been brought, they would Dave been in them, they rightly say that they are delivered froip thence, whither they were not suffered by their deliverers to be taken. Therefore, brethren, whether it be this or that, consider me to be herein an inquirer into the word of God, not a rash assertor. And thou hast delivered my soul from the nethermost hell.

19. Ver. 14. 0 God, the transgressors of the law have arisen up against me. Whom calleth he transgressors of of the law? Not the Pagans, who have not received the law: for no one transgresseth that which he hath not received; the Apostle saith clearly, For where there is no law, there is no prevarication. Transgressors of the law he calls 6 prevaricators.' Whom then do we understand, brethren? If we take this word from our Lord Himself, the transgressors of the law were the Jews. The transgressors of the law rose up against Me: they did not keep the law, and accused Christ as if He transgressed the law. The transgressors of the law rose up against Me. And we know what the Lord suffered. of Aptungis, Opp. S. Aug. t, ix. AppenThinkest thou His Body suffers no such thing now? How can this be? If they called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more those of his household? The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. The body also suffereth transgressors of the law, and they rise up against the Body of Christ. Who are the transgressors of the law? Do the Jews perchance dare to rise up against Christ f No: for it is not they that cause us much trouble. For they have not yet believed: they have not yet owned their salvation. Against the Body of Christ bad Christians rise up, from whom the Body of Christ daily suffereth trouble. All schisms, all heresies, all within who live wickedly and engraft their own character on those who live well, and draw them over to their own side, and with evil communications corrupt good manners; these persons transgressing the law rose up against Me. Let every pious soul speak, let every Christian soul speak. That one which suffers not this, let it not speak. But if it is a Christian soul, it knows that it suffers evils: if it owns in itself its own sufferings, let it own herein its own voice; but if it is without suffering, let itMOxf. also be without the voice; but that it may not be without suffering, let it walk along the narrow way, and begiu to ^ve^^ godly in Christ: it must of necessity suffer this persecution. For ally saith the Apostle, who will live godly in Christy suffer persecution.

O God, the transgressors of the law have risen up against Me, and the synagogue of the powerful have sought after My soul. The synagogue of the powerful is the congregation of the proud. The synagogue of the powerful rose up against the Head, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, crying andjsaying with one mouth, Crucify Him, crucify Him: of whom it is said, The sons of men, their teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. They did not strike, but cried: by crying they struck, by crying they'crucified Him. The will of those who cried was fulfilled, when the Lord was crucified: And the synagogue of the powerful sought after my soul. And they did not place Thee before their eyes. How did they not place Him before them? They did not know Him God. They should have spared him as Man: what they saw, according to this they should have walked. Suppose that He was not God, He was man: was He therefore to be slain? Spare Him a man, and own Him God.

20. Ver. 15. And Thou, Lord God, art One Who hast compassion and merciful, longsuffering, and very pitiful, and true. Wherefore longsuffering and very pitiful, and One Who hast compassion? Because hanging on the Cross He said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Whom prayeth He to? for whom doth He pray? Who prayeth? Where prayeth He? The Son prays to the Father, crucified for the ungodly, in the midst of very insults, not of words but of death inflicted, hanging on the Cross; as if for this He had His hands stretched out, that thus He might pray for them, that His ' prayer might be directed like incense in the sight of the Father, and the lifting up of His hands like an evening sacrifice. Longsuffering, and very pitiful, and

21. Ver. 16. If therefore Thou art true, Look upon me, and have mercy upon me: give power unto Thy servant. Because Thou art true, give power unto Thy servant. Let the time of patience pass away, the time of judgment come. How, give power unto Thy servant? The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. He rising again will come even to earth Himself to judge: He will appear terrible Who appeared despicable. He will shew His power, Who shewed His patience; on the Cross was patience; in the judgment will be power. For He will appear as Man judging, but in glory: because ' as ye saw Him go,' said the Angels, 'so He will come/ His very form shall come to judgment; therefore the ungodly also shall see Him: for they shall not see the form of God. For blessed are the n heart, for they shall see God. Appearing in the form of Man, He will say, Go into everlasting fire; that it may be fulfilled which Isaiah said, Let the ungodly man be taken away, that he may not see the glory of the Lord. Let him be taken away, that he may not see the form of God. The form of Man then they shall see. Who when He was in the form of God, equal with God: this the ungodly shall not see. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God: this the ungodly shall not see. For if the Word is God, and, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God; but the ungodly are impure in heart: beyond doubt they shall not see God. And wherefore is it, 17iey shall look on Him Whom they pierced, except because it appears that they wilf see the form of?jJ^ Man, that they may be judged, the form of God none will see, but those who shall be separated to the right hand? For when they are separated on the right hand, this shall be said unto them: Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom which is prepared for you, from the beginning of the world. But what to the ungodly on the left? Go into everlasting fire, which My Father hath prepared for the devil and his angels. But when the judgment is ended, how did He finish? So the wicked shall go into everlasting burning; but the righteous into life eternal. Then from^)41' the sight of the form of Man those shall go on to the sight of the form of God. For this, He saith, is eternal life, thai they may know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ*' Whom Thou hast sent: thou understandest, Himself also the only true God: because the Father and the Son are One True God: so that is the sense, that they may kuow Thee, and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent, One True God. For they shall not go on to the sight of the Father without therein seeing the Son also. If the Son also were not in the vision of His Father, the Son Himself would not say unto His disciples, that the Son is in the Father, and the Father in the Son. The disciples say to Him: Shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. IJe saith unto them, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have ye not known Me, Philip? he who hath seen Me hath seen the Father* You see that in the vision of the Father there is also the vision of the Son: and in the vision of the Son there is also the vision of the Father. Therefore He adds a consequence, and says; Know ye not that lam in the Father, and the Father in Me? that is, both in Me seen the Father is seen, and in the Father10' seen the Son too is seen. The vision of the Father and the Son cannot be separated: where nature and substance is not separated, there vision cannot be separated. For that ye may know that the heart ought to be made ready for that place, to see the Divinity of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, in Which though not seen we believe, and by believing cleanse the heart that there may be able to be sight: the Lord Himself saith in another place, He that hath My commands and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved by My Father: and I will love him, and will manifest Myself unto him. Did they not see Him, with whom He was talking? They both saw Him, and did not see Him? they saw something, they believed something: they saw Man, they believed in God. But in the Judgmeut they shall see the same Lord Jesus Christ as Man, together with the wicked: after the Judgment, they shall see God, apart from the wicked. Give power unto Thy servant.

22. And save the Son of Thine handmaid. The Lord is the Son of the handmaid. Of what handmaid? Her who when He was announced as about to be born of her, answered and said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it unto me according to Thy word. He saved the Son of His handmaid, and His own Son: His own Son, in the Form of God; the Son of His handmaid in the form of a servant. Of the handmaid of God, therefore, the Lord was born in the form of a servant; and He said, Save the Son of Thine handmaid. And He was saved from death, as ye know, His flesh, which was dead, being raised again. But that ye may see that He is God, and that He was not so raised by the Father as that He was not raised by Himself, ye have it said in the Gospel, that He Himself raised His own flesh; Destroy this temple, and in three days J will raise it again: and lest we should suspect any other meaning, the Evangelist goes on to say, ^l*S ^6 Sa^ conce^ning the temple of His Body. Therefore the Son of the handmaid was saved. And each several Christian placed in the Body of Christ may say, Save the son of Thine handmaid. Perhaps he cannot say, Give power unto Thy servant: because it was He, the Son, Who received power. Yet wherefore saith He not this also? Was it not said to servants, Ye shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the tod™ tribes of Israel? and the servants say, Know ye not that we shall judge Angels? Each one therefore of the saints receiveth also power, and each several saint is the son of His handmaid. What if he is born of a pagan mother, and has become a Christian? How can the son of a pagan be the son of His handmaid: He is indeed the son of a pagan mother after the flesh, but the son of the Church after the Spirit. And save the son of Thine handmaid.

23. Ver. 17. Shew me a sign for good. What sign, but that of the Resurrection? The Lord says: This wicked awc^at4*J3» provoking generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of the Prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so the Son of Man shall be in the heart of the earth. Therefore in our Head a sign has been shewn already for good; each one of us also may say, Shew me a sign for good: because at the last trumpet, at the coming of the Lord, both the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. This will be a sign for good. Shew me a sign for good, that they who hate me may see it, and be ashamed. In the judgment they shall be ashamed unto their destruction, who will not now be ashamed unto their healing. Now therefore let them be ashamed: let them accuse their own ways, let them keep the good way: because none of us liveth without being ashamed, unless he first be ashamed and live anew. Now God grants them the approach of a. healthy shame, if they despise not the medicine of confession: but if they will not now be ashamed, then they shall be ashamed, when their iniquities shall convince them to their face. How shall they be ashamed? When they shall say,3,4,5. These are they whom we had sometimes in derision, and a parable of reproach. We fools counted their life madness: how are they numbered among the children of God / What hath pride profited us? Then shall they say this: let them say it now, and they say it to their health. For let each one turn humbly to God, and now say, What hath my pride profited me? and hear from the Apostle, For what glory had ye in those things of which ye are now ashamed? Ye21, see that there is even now a wholesome shame while there is a place of penitence: but then one which will be late, useless, fruitless. What hath pride profited us? or what good hath the vaunting of riches brought us? All are passed8' away like a shadow. What? When thou livedst here, didst thou not see that all those things were passing away like a 210 This is the land of the dead, we hope for that of the living. shadow? Then thou wouldest leave the shadow, and be in t^e lighj.. nor wouldest thou afterwards say, All things are passed away like a shadow, when thou wert about to go into darkness from the shadow. Shew me a sign for good, that those who hate me mag see it, and be ashamed,

24. For Thou, Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me. Hast holpen me, in struggle; and comforted me, in sorrow. For no one seeketh comfort, but he who is in misery. Would ye not be consoled? Say that ye are happy, and ye hear, My people, (now ye answer, and I hear a murmur, as of persons who remember the Scriptures. May God, Who hath written this in your hearts, confirm it in your deeds. Ye see, brethren, that those who say unto you, Ye are happy, seduce O Mg people, they that catlyou happy cause you to err,* disturb the way of your feet. So also from the Epistle of the Apostle James: Be afflicted, and mourn: let your laughter be turned to mourning. Ye see what ye have heard read: when would such things be said unto us in the land of security? This surely is the land of offences, and temptations, and of all evils, that we may groan here, and deserve to rejoice there; here to be troubled, and there to be comforted, and to say, For Thou hast delivered mine eyes from tears, n%y feet from falling: 1 wiU please the Lord in the land of the living. This is the land of the dead. The land of the dead passeth, the land of the living cometh. In the land of the dead is labour, grief, fear, tribulation, temptation, groaning, sighing: here are false happy ones, true unhappy, because happiness is false, misery is true. But he that owneth himself to be in true misery, will also be in true happiness: aud yet now because thou art miserable, hear the Lord saying, Blessed are they that mourn. O blessed they that mourn! Nothing is so akin to misery as mourning: nothing so remote and contrary to misery as blessedness: Thou speakest of those who mourn, and Thou callest them blessed! Understand, He saith, what I say: I call those who mourn blessed. Wherefore blessed? In hope. Wherefore mourning? In act. For they mourn in this death, in these tribulations, in their wandering: and because they own themselves to be in this misery, and mourn, they are blessed. Wherefore do they mourn? The blessed Cyprian was put to sorrow in his passion: now he is comforted with his crown; now though comforted, he was sad. For our Lord Jesus Christ still intercedeth for us: all the Martyrs who are with Him intercede for us. Their intercessions pass not away, except when our mourning is passed away: but when our mourning shall have passed away, we all with one voice, m one people, in one country, shall receive comfort, thousands of thousands joined with Angels playing upon harps, with choirs of heavenly powers living in one city. Who mourneth there f Who there sigheth? Who there toileth? Who there needeth? Who dieth there? Who there sheweth mercy? Who breaketh bread to the hungry there, where all are satisfied with the bread of righteousness? No one saith unto thee, Receive a stranger; there no one will be a stranger to thee: all live in their own country. No one saith unto thee, Set at one thy friends disputing; in everlasting peace they enjoy the Face of God. No one saith unto thee, Visit the sick; health and immortality abide for ever. No one saith unto thee, Bury the dead; all shall be in everlasting life. Works of mercy stop, because misery is found not. And what shall we do there? Shall we perhaps sleep? If now we fight against ourselves, although we carry about a house of sleep, this flesh of ours, and keep watch with these lights, and this solemn feast gives us a mind to watch; what wakefulness shall that day give unto us! Therefore we shall be awake, we shall not sleep. What shall we do? There will be no works of mercy, because there will be no misery. Perhaps there will be these necessary works which there are here now, of sowing, ploughing, cooking, grinding, weaving? None of these, for there will be no want. Thus there will be no works of mercy, because misery is past away: where there is no want nor misery, there will be neither works of necessity nor of mercy. What will be there? What business shall we have? What action? Will there be no action, because there is rest? Shall we sit there, and be torpid, and do nothing? If our love grow cold, our action will growxold. How then will that love resting in the face of God, for Whom we now long, for Whom we sigh, how will it inflame us, when we shall have come to Him? He for Whom while as yet we see Him not, we so sigh, how will He enlighten us, when we shall have come to Him? How will He 212 Praise the work of the Blessed, satisfying not cloying. change us? What will He make of us? What then shall we do, brethren? Let the Psalm tell us: Blessed are they who dwell in Thy house. Why? They shall praise Thee for ever and ever. This will be our employment, praise of God. Thou lovest and praisest. Thou wilt cease to praise, if thou cease to love. But thou wilt not cease to love, because He Whom thou seest is such an One as offends thee not by any weariness: He both satisfies thee, and satisfies thee not. What I say is wonderful. If I say that He satisfies thee, I am afraid lest as though satisfied thou shouldest wish to depart, as from a dinner or from a supper. What then do I say? doth He not satisfy thee? I am afraid again, that if I say, He doth not satisfy thee, thou shouldest seem to be in want: and shouldest be as it were empty, and there should be in thee some void which ought to be filled. What then shall I say, except what can be said, but can hardly be thought? He both satisfies thee, and satisfies thee not: for I find both in Scripture. For while He said, Blessed are the hungry, fw ^ey shall be Jilled; it is again said of Wisdom, Those who eat Thee shall hunger again, and those who drink shall thirst again. Nay, but He did not say i again,' but he said, still: for, " shall thirst again" is as if once having been filled he departed and digested, and returned to drink. So it is, Those who eat Thee shall still hunger: thus when they eat they hunger: and those who drink Thee, even thus when drinking, thirst. What is it, to thirst in drinking? Never to grow weary. If then there shall be that ineffable and eternal sweetness, what doth He now seek of us, brethren, but faith unfeigned, firm hope, pure charity? and man may walk in the way which the Lord hath given, may bear troubles, and receive consolations.