First Sermon for the Feast of All Saints: On the Eight Beatitudes

“ And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain, and when He was set down His disciples came unto Him.

“ And opening His mouth He taught them, saying:

“ Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“ Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land.

“Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“ Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall have their fill.

“ Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

“ Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.

“ Blessed ave the peace-makers, for they shall becalled the children of God.

“ Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘“ Blessed are ye when they shall revile and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you untruly for My sake.

“ Beglad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven.” —Matt. v. 1-12.

To-day’s solemnity, dearest brethren, in honour of all the saints, it behoves us to celebrate with all devotion. For if the feast of a particular saint, as of St. Peter, St. Stephen, or any other, appears great in our eyes and is truly so, how great ought we to esteem the present festivity, not of this saint or of that, but of all taken together? You do not require to be told that it is the custom with worldly people to signalise feast days by preparing more sumptuous meals than usual, and the greater the feast the more costly the good cheer provided. But for those “‘ that are converted to the heart ”’ (Ps. lxxxiv. 9), they surely

33° ought to long after the delights of the heart, and to spiritual men no delicacies should be offered save such as are spiritual. Wherefore, most dearly beloved, our banquet is now ready, and the viands are prepared; it is time to sit down to table. It is right that our souls should be feasted before our bodies, because ‘they are beyond doubt and beyond comparison the more noble element of our nature: especially since, as is obvious, the solemnities of the saints appertain rather to the soul than to the body, and the things of the soul are more acceptable to the soul by reason of the natural affinity they have to her. It is for this reason also that the saints whom we honour feel greater compassion for our souls than for our bodies, more ardently desire their prosperity, and are more fully delighted with their spiritual refections ; because they too were once “ passible like unto us” (James v. 17) ; they, as we, have wept over the sorrows of this earthly pilgrimage and miserable exile; they, as we, have experienced the heavy burden of this body, the tumults of the world, and the temptations of the devil. There can be no doubt, therefore, that they are far more pleased with our manner of celebrating their solemnity with a banquet for the soul than with the way in which it is honoured by worldlings who “ make provision for the flesh in its concupiscences”’ (Rom. xiii. 14).

But, my brethren, how shall we find the bread of the ‘soul in ‘‘a desert land, in a place of horror andof vast wilderness’? (Deut. xxxii. 10)? How can we hope to receive spiritual nourishment under the sun, where nothing is found but labour and sorrow and “vexation of soul” (Eccles. i. 14) ? However, I know who it is that has promised: “ask and it shall be given you ” (Matt. vii. 7), and who has also said, “ If, then, you being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask Him?” (Luke xi. 13). Nor am I ignorant, most dearly beloved, with what fervour you have prayed all this day and all last night, begging of God to give you the living bread from heaven (John vi. 51), not the bread which nourishes the body, but that which “ strengtheneth the heart ef man ” (Ps. ciii. 15). I would not presume to regard the like of us as guests at the heavenly banquet, for we are but beggars living upon the charity of the Lord. We are only beggars, I say, lying before the gate of a most wealthy monarch “full of sores and desiring to be filled—nay, even to be sustained— with the crumbs that fall from the table ” (Luke xvi. 20, 21) of our holy patrons whose festival we are keeping to-day. For they abound with spiritual delights ; they have received the “‘ good measure and pressed down, and shaken together, and running over ” (Luke vi. 38), and I am confident there will be someone who will give unto us (Luke xvi. 21) ; for assuredly “there is a great chaos ” (ibid. 26) and an immeasurable distance between the liberality and loving kindness of our God and the cruelty of the avaricious Dives. Wherefore our good Father—for if He is “ the Father of mercies ’’ (2 Cor. i. 3) He must also by consequence be the Father of the miserable—our Father, I say, has given us to-day bread from heaven and ‘“‘ provisions in abundance ” (Ps. Ixxvii. 25). God grant I may be found a faithful cook and my mind a good kitchen that so the food be not spoiled in the dressing !

I may tell you, dearest brethren, that all last night, whilst I prepared the dishes for your spiritual refection, “my heart was hot within me and in my meditation a fire flamed forth” (Ps. xxxviii. 4); the same fire, no doubt, which the Lord Jesus “cast on the earth” and which He so ardently longed to see enkindled (Luke xii. 49). For in order to cook spiritual food we must have both a spiritual kitchen and a spiritual fire. It only remains then to set before you what I have prepared. And do you attend rather to the Lord Who has provided the food than to me who merely distribute it as His minister. For, considered as to what I am in myself, I am only your fellow-servant, who with you am constantly begging “‘ the bread which cometh down from heaven” and the nourishment of life both for you and for myself, as the Lord can bear me witness (John vi. 50). Therefore it is not I that give unto you, but it is the Father Who “giveth you the true bread from heaven” (John vi. 32): He it is That feedeth you with the works and with the words and even with the Flesh of His only-begotten Son Which is “meat indeed” (ibid. 56). For, as concerns the works I read, ‘‘ My meat is to do the will of Him That sent Me” (John iv. 34), and with regard to the words, “ Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God” (Matt. iv. 4). Consequently, we have now to feed our souls on the Saviour’s words and actions ; afterwards, by His favour, we shall feast also on His immaculate Flesh in the thrice-holy Sacrament of the Altar.

We read in to-day’s Gospel that Jesus, “ seeing the multitudes, went up into a mountain.” The people, as you are aware, used to flock forth from the cities and towns to hear the instructions of the Lord Who was constantly occupied in saving their souls and healing their bodies. They clung to Him, fascinated by the extraordinary charm of His words and appearance. For His voice was sweet and His face comely (Cant. ii. 14), and it is to Him the Psalmist says, “ Thou art beautiful above the sons of men, grace is poured abroad in Thy lips” (Ps. xliv. 3). Such, my brethren, is He Whom we follow, to Whom we have attached ourselves: “all lovely ” (Cant. v. 16) ; on Whom not alone the people but even the holy angels also “‘ desire to look ” (x Peter i. 12). What sweeter food can I offer you? For that now served is the delight of the angels. “ Oh taste,’ then, “and see that the Lord is sweet (Ps. xxxiii. 9), so sweet that nothing which the heart can desire is worthy to be compared with His sweetness, with His savour, with His wisdom * which in truth “is drawn out of secret places ” (Job xxviii. 18). The same is true of His other perfections. You admire the splendour of the sun, the loveliness of the flower, the agreeable taste of food, the fertility of the earth. But it is God Who has endowed all these creatures with their admirable qualities ; and we cannot doubt that He has reserved to Himself a greater degree of excellence in those several ways than He has communicated to the works of His hands.

Even the circumstance of His going up into the mountain on this occasion must not bethought lacking in special significance, for it was predicted long ages before by the Prophet Isaias, who said, as if crying aloud to the Saviour from a far distance, ‘‘Get Thee up upon a high mountain, Thou That bringest good tidings to Sion ; lift up Thy voice with strength, Thou That bringest good tidings to Jerusalem ” (Is. xl. 9). In this ascension of the Lord, therefore, it seems to me —unless you, my brethren, can suggest something more plausible—that we must recognise that characteristic of His to which St. Luke calls attention at the beginning of the Acts, saying, “ The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, of all the things which Jesus began to do and to teach” (Acts i. 1). For Christ did not imitate the Pharisees’ custom, who used to ‘“‘ bind heavy and insupportable burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but with a finger of their own they would not move them ” (Matt. xxiii. 4). Have we not here also good spiritual bread, excellently well qualified to “ strengthen the heart of man”’? With all security, my Lord Jesus, “‘I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou shalt go” (Matt. viii. 19) and confidently will I walk “in the way of Thy commandments” (Ps. cxviii. 32), knowing that Thou hast Thyself traversed it before me. Yes, confidently will “I run the way of Thy commandments” since I know that “from the height of heaven was Thy going out ” to run this way, “and Thy circuit even to the height thereof ” (Ps. xviii. 7) by the same way. But, my brethren,

I cannot masticate for you every item in this way. = You must become as “clean animals that chew the cud (Lev. xi. 2, 3), so that in you may be verified what is written, “A treasure worthy to be desired rests in the mouth of a wise man ” (Prov. xxi. 20, juxta LXX). For both the shortness of the time at our disposal to-day and the abundance of the matter make it necessary to abridge the discourse and to avoid the discussion of details.

Jesus “ seeing the multitudes went up into a mountain,” seeing them, that is, with a look of compassion, “ because they were as wandering sheep, not having a shepherd ” (Mark vi. 34). But what means it, brethren, that before He began to teach He ascended the mountain? Does He not by this very action teach us that preachers of the Gospel ought to tend by the desires of the heart and by a holy conversation to the things above, and to scale the heights of virtue? “And when He was set down, His disciples came unto Him.” “When He was set down,” writes the Evangelist, significantly. For who otherwise could have ever approached such a Giant? But He most kindly stooped and “ emptied Himself ’”’ (Phil. ii. 7) even to sitting down, so that He could say to the Father, “ Thou hast known My sitting down and My rising up” (Ps. cxxxvili. 2). He sat down so that the very publicans and sinners might draw near to Him, so that Magdalen might draw near and the Thief from his cross; for whilst standing up at His full height He was inaccessible even to the angels. “And when He was set down His disciples came unto Him.” But they came not so much by the movement of their feet as by the affection of their hearts and by their imitation of His virtues. And observe: not the multitudes, not any of the common people are said to have come near unto Him, but only

His disciples; in order, it would seem, that as the Old Testament (as we read) was delivered on Mount Sinai, Moses alone ascending and all the people waiting below (Exod. xxiv. 14), so now in the same way “ the mountains might receive peace for the people and the hills justice’ (Ps. lxxi. 3), and that what was told the apostles in the dark they might speak in the light and might proclaim upon the house-tops what they heard in the ear (Matt. x. 27). Hence the Evangelist goes on, “‘ And opening His mouth He taught them.”

“ And opening His mouth He taught them.” Yes, He now opened His own mouth Who had been accustomed hitherto to open the mouths of the prophets. Hence these words of the Royal Singer, which are found in the psalms, “ O Lord, Thou wilt open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Thy praise” (Ps. 1. 17). But now He “ Who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all hath spoken to us” (Heb. i. 2) with His own mouth, as if He said, “ I Myself That spoke behold I am here ” (Is. lii. 6). Oh, blessed they that listened to Wisdom speaking in the flesh! Blessed they that heard the words which fell from the mouth of the Word of God! But, my brethren, what they were privileged to hear is still preserved for us ; we also can hear the Saviour’s words although not, as the disciples, from His human lips.

“And opening His mouth, He taught them, saying : Blessed are the poor of spirit.” Truly was His mouth open then, the mouth of Him “ in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge ” (Col. ii. 3). And truly is this the doctrine of Him Who says in the Apocalypse, ‘‘ Behold, I make all things new”

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(Apoc. xxi. 5), Who had announced long before by His Prophet: ‘‘I will open My mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world ”? (Ps. lxxvii. 2; Matt. xiii. 35). For what can be more hidden than the blessedness of poverty ? Nevertheless it is Truth That speaks, and Truth can neither deceive nor be deceived; it is Truth That proclaims, “‘Blessed are the poor in spirit.” O ye senseless sons of Adam, do you thus eagerly run after riches and yearn for wealth even to this hour, whereas the blessedness of the poor man’s lot has been plainly announced by God Himself, “hath been preached unto men, is believed in the world ” (x Tim. iii. 16) ? Let the pagan who lives “‘ without God in this world”’ (Ephes. ii. 12) strive for the treasures of earth, and likewise the Jew, who received the promise of a temporal reward: but with what manner of countenance, or rather with what kind of conscience can a Christian pursue temporal riches after he has heard Christ declaring, “ Blessed are the poor” ? How long, O ye “alien children ” (Ps. xvii. 46), how long shall your “mouth speak vanity ” (Ps. cxliii. 11) so as to “call happy the people who possess these things” (ibid. 15), these visible and transient treasures ; whereas the Son of God, opening His mouth, has beatified poverty and pronounced woes upon wealth (Luke Vi. 24) ?

But note carefully that the Lord speaks of the “‘ poor in spirit,” not of the ordinary poor, whose poverty is due rather to miserable necessity than to praiseworthy choice. With respect to these latter, I hope indeed that the misery of their unhappy lot will avail to win them mercy from the Divine Goodness ; nevertheless I know that it is not of them the Lord is speaking in this place, but only of such as can say with the Psalmist, “ I will voluntarily sacrifice to Thee” (Ps. liii. 8). Yet not even all voluntary poverty “hath glory before God ” (Rom. iv. 2). For we read of certain philosophers who renounced all things in order that they might be able to devote themselves more freely to the study of vanity, thus emancipated from worldly cares ; they were unwilling to abound in the goods of fortune that they might rather “abound in their own sense”’* (Rom. xiv. 5). These also are separated from the beatified poor, who are called “ poor in spirit,” that is, poor, not alone voluntarily, but with a spiritual will. Therefore the words, “ Blessed are the poor in spirit,” were spoken of such only as are poor from a spiritual intention, from a spiritual desire, from a pure motive of pleasing God and saving their own souls: “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” But who is this that thus speaks? Who is this that thus beatifies and as it were enriches poverty ? What think you, brethren? Is it possible that these words should turn out true? Yes, infallibly they shall so turn out, for neither truthfulness nor power can be wanting in Him Who has made the promise. And should the enemy murmur he shall hear this in reply: “Ts it not lawful for Me to do what I will? Is thy eye evil because I am good ?”’ (Matt. xx. 15). “If thou hast been justly humbled because of thy desire to exalt thyself against Me, do not they that have voluntarily humbled themselves for My glory deserve to be exalted ? ” (Luke xiv. 11). Andin truth, brethren, if that most miserable apostate has been hurled down from the height of heaven because he ambitioned undue loftiness, because he coveted exaltation, because he pretended to majesty; does it not follow that they are blessed who have voluntarily humbled themselves in the lowliness of poverty, and that, according to the Lord’s promise, “ theirs is the kingdom of heaven” which he so miserably lost ? And consider how wisely Wisdom has ordered all things, opposing the first remedy to the first fault. It is as if He said to us plainly, ‘‘ Do you desire to obtain the kingdom which the proud angels lost because they trusted in their own strength and in the multitude of their riches. (Ps. xlviii. 7)? Embrace the lowliness of poverty and it is yours.”

We have next: “ Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth (terram).” Good! Admirable! For so it was befitting that, after speaking in praise of poverty, the Lord should likewise commend the virtue of meekness. This order, I say, was necessary, because usually the first temptation that attacks such as have renounced all things for Christ’s sake is due to bodily discomforts and the unwonted afflictions of the flesh. Now what would be the advantage of poverty if (which God forbid!) he who. has made himself poor gives way to murmuring, becomes peevish and impatient of discipline? Rightly, too, after the promise of the kingdom of heaven is a lesser kingdom given as an earnest, so to speak, of the greater ; so that in the words of the Apostle, we might “have the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come ” (x Tim. iv. 8), and that the bestowal of present benefits might confirm our hope of future favours.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.” It seems to me, my brethren, that by the earth spoken of here we are to understand the earth of our own body, which if the soul desires to possess, if she would reign over her members, she must practise the virtue of meekness and become perfectly subject to her own superiors; because whatsoever degree of submission she offers to them that are over her, the same shall she get from that which is under her. Hence we are told that the creature is armed to avenge the injury done to the Creator (Wisdom v. 18). And therefore, whenever the soul finds the flesh rebellious to her will, let her take this as proof that she herself likewise is wanting in due submission “ to the higher powers”’ (Rom. xiii. 1). Let her learn to be meek, and to humble herself “ under the mighty hand of God” (x Peter v. 6); let her be subject to the Most

High and also to the human superiors who hold His place in her regard: then shall she find her body obedient and submissive. For He is Truth Itself Who has said, ‘“‘ Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.” And see if we have not offered us here the second remedy for the wound of the second sin. The first to sin after the ruin of the angelic revolt was Mother Eve, agitated by disquietude of spirit and unwilling to endure any longer the sweet and light yoke (Matt. xi. 29) of the Lord’s prohibition. For she would not wait to merit from the hand of God, Who had already given her all other gifts, the last one also, namely, the perfection of happiness, but at the serpent’s instigation attempted to snatch it before the time.

In punishment for this offence she was driven out ot paradise and moreover “‘ found a law in her members fighting against the law of her mind ” (Rom. vii. 23).

Perhaps, my dear brother, this promise of the Lord has now inflamed thy heart with an ardent desire of meekness: but thou complainest of the austerity of thy disposition, of thy fits of fury unworthy of a rational creature, and of thy ungovernable temper. Well then, listen to what follows. “‘ Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” As wild horses are tamed with the whip so may passionate tempers besweetened by compunction of heart and the frequent flow of contrite tears. Therefore “in all thy works remember thy last end”’ (Ecclus. vii. 40); never allow the horror of death and the awful ordeal of the judgment and the terrors of the fiery abyss to be far removed from the eyes of thy heart ; reflect on the misery of thy banishment ; “ recount all thy years in the bitterness of thy soul”’ (Is. xxxviii. 15); think of the manifold dangers to which human life is exposed ; meditate on thine own fragility: and I promise thee that if thou perseverest in such reflections, whatsoever trouble thou mayest experience outwardly it shall appear very trifling as compared with the interior solicitude which shall then occupy thy whole heart. But neither will the Lord suffer thee to be deprived of every consolation, because He is “‘ the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort ”? (2 Cor. i. 3) : He will assuredly fulfil that which Truth has promised in the words, “ Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” This is quite in accord with what we read in Ecclesiastes, “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting”

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(Eccles. vii. 3). Wherefore, happy wouldst thou have — been, O Mother Eve, if after thy sin thou soughtest at once the consolation of tears, and being converted to penance didst thus more speedily obtain pardon. But thou didst prefer to find a most miserable comfort in the like fault of thy husband, and with the foul venom of a most hateful vice didst poison all thy posterity : for even still, to this day, after thine example, one poor mortal finds his consolation in the ruin of another. O miserable consolation of Eve! Miserable consolation of those that imitate her! But “ blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”” Now what eise is this promised comfort but the grace of devotion springing from the hope of pardon, the sweet delight found in well-doing, and the relish of true wisdom (even though experienced but in a slight degree) wherewith the loving-kind Lord sometimes refreshes the soul during her earthly pilgrimage? Yet such foretaste is intended for no other purpose than to increase our desire of heaven and intensify our love of God, as it is written, “ They that eat Me shall yet hunger and they that drink Me shall yet thirst (Ecclus. xxiv. 29).

Therefore we find added immediately, ““ Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall have their fill.” He that hungers let him hunger still more, and he that desires let his desire grow greater : because howsoever much we may desire just so much shall we receive. But what am I saying? It is not according to the imperfection and narrow limits of our desires that we shall receive (since there cannot be perfect desire before perfect possession nor perfect possession before perfect desire) but we shall receive

“ good measure and pressed down and shaken together and running over ” (Luke vi. 38). “ Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall have their fill.” Whilst the palate of the heart is still perverted and the soul in a languishing state, justice appears to be something dry and insipid: but such as have tasted it, “ behold they know”’ (John xviii. 21) how blessed they are that hunger after justice, “‘for they shall have their fill.” Oh, truly blessed and glorious fulness! Oh, holy feast! Oh, banquet most desirable, whereat there can never beany anxiety, never any disrelish, because the fulness there shall be always perfect and the appetite always keen !

“Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after - justice, for they shall have their fill.” It seems to me, brethren, that these words imply reproof of Adam who appears indeed to have possessed some part of justice, inasmuch as he compassionated his wife ; but if he really hungered after justice he certainly would not have neglected to pay what he owed not only to his wife but to his Creator as well. To his wife, doubtless, he owed compassion and correction, as to an inferior, ‘“‘ because the husband is the head of the wife” (Ephes. v. 23). But to God he was bound to render obedience and submission. Now what are we to think of this? There are very many even to this present time who condemn with much severity the conduct of Adam and nevertheless follow his evil example. They conceive indignation against our first father, because he hearkened to the voice of Eve rather than to the voice of God. And yet they themselves are constantly doing the same thing, rendering to their own Eve, that is, to their flesh, the obedience they

EREE S, owe to God. Tell me, brethren: suppose you had been present and saw Adam placed in that dilemma, when “thoughts were arising in his heart” (Luke xxiv. 38) and he felt “ straitened between two ” (Phil. i. 23), between the solicitation of his wife and the command of his Maker: would you not have called out to him and said, “ Mind thyself, O miserable man ; take care not to yield ; the woman has been seduced, do not hearken to her entreaty ?’”’ But wherefore then do you not address the like admonition to yourselves when the like “ temptation taketh hold of you ”’ (x Cor. x. 13), since “blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice” ? Yet what is all our justice in the sight of God? Is it not reputed as a filthy rag, to use the Prophet’s comparison (Is. lxiv. 6)? And if closely scrutinised shall not all our righteousness be found unrighteous and full of faults? Wherefore, let us cry earnestly to the Lord with the Psalmist, saying, O Lord, “‘enter not into judgment with Thy servant ” (Ps. xclii. 2), let us have recourse with all humility to the divine mercy “ which alone is able to save our souls” (James i. 21), and let us carefully examine what follows:

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Remark, my brethren, how Zaccheus embraced both this and the preceding beatitude in a few words when he said, “ Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have wronged any man of any thing I restore him fourfold ” (Luke xix. 8). You see how much this man hungered after justice, since he was not satisfied with paying what was strictly due, but would render fourfold. His mercy also is shown to be great by his giving half of his goods to the poor. But, dearest brethren, I will not dissemble my thoughts,““My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord”’ (Ps. cxliv. 21), yes, not your praise, but “the praise of the Lord.” For it is not to you but to the name of the Lord I give the glory of what I am about to say (Ps. cxiii. 9). That first Zaccheus “ whose praise is in the Gospel” (2 Cor. viii. 18) certainly performed a generous act in giving half of his goods to the poor: but I behold here many Zaccheuses who have given up not half but the whole of their goods, keeping nothing at all for themselves. What evangelist shall write the gospel of these Zaccheuses of mine, nay, rather of these Peters of mine, who can say boldly to the Lord, “ Behold, we have left all things and have followed Thee ? ” (Matt. xix. 27). But it is written already in “ the eternal Gospel” (Apoc. xiv. 6), it is written and sealed in the Book of Life.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” These words, my brethren, condemn the cruelty of Adam ; for cruel he really was, although it seemed to us just now that he sinned through excessive love of his wife. But let us see. Behold, O Adam, we are aware that she is bone of thy bones and flesh of thy flesh (Gen. ii. 23), and that thy sin has been in consequence of thy great love for her. But prove to us now how exceeding great that love is. The Lord cometh with a “ flaming sword ” (Gen. iii. 24) in His hand to avenge the woman’s transgression. Do thou in order to shield her expose thyself to danger, saying, “Lord, the woman is weak, she has been seduced ; mine only is the iniquity, mine all the sin, therefore on me alone let Thy vengeance fall.” Not thus, however, did he give proof of his affection. Far from it. “The woman whom Thou gavest me to be my companion,” he said, “ gave me of the tree and I did eat ” (Gen. iii. 12). Oh, what perversity! Thou refuseth to suffer the penalty for her sake for whom thou hast not refused to commit the sin! Alas, how everything has been thrown into confusion! Thou wast criminally compassionate when thou oughtest to have been kindly cruel, and art now criminally cruel when thou shouldst be kindly compassionate. For as it was thy duty on no account to have sinned for her, so oughtest thou now to be willing to suffer for her. This, my brethren, is the rule we should all observe: never to sin for the sake of any man whatsoever—which is the part of justice, but to be willing to make satisfaction for the sins of others—which belongs to mercy. “ Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice for they shall have their fill,” and “ blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.”

Weare told next: “ Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.” Yea, blessed indeed and supremely blessed are they that shall see Him “ on Whom the angels desire to look ” (r Peter i. 12), Him Whom to see is eternal life (John xvii. 3). “My heart hath said to Thee,” sings the Psalmist: “my face hath sought Thee: Thy face. O Lord, will I still seek” (Ps. xxvi. 8). “For what have I in heaven? and besides Thee, what do 1 desire upon earth? For Thee my flesh and my heart hath pined away: Thou art the God of my heart and the God That is my portion for ever ” (Ps. lxxii. 25, 26). Oh, when wilt Thou “fill me with joy with Thy countenance ” (Ps. xv. Ir)? Woe to me because of the uncleanness of my heart, by reason whereof I am not yet deemed worthy to be admitted to that blessed vision! With how much earnestness, most dearly beloved, with how much ardour ought we not to apply ourselves to the task of cleansing that internal eye wherewith God is to beseen! And for my own part, I perceive myself to be befouled with a threefold defilement: concupiscence of the flesh, concupiscence of temporal glory (xr John ii. 16) and the consciousness of my past sins. For I feel in my mind certain motions of both these concupiscences which I am powerless to suppress either by force of reason or by any other means, so long as I live in “ this present wicked world” (Gal. i. 4) and am held captive in “ the body of this death ” (Rom. vii. 24). Against these defilements, however, we must use the remedy of prayer, and therefore “ as the eyes of the handmaid are upon the hands of her mistress, so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until He have mercy on us” (Ps. cxxii. 2), He Who alone “can make him clean that is conceived of unclean seed’ (Job xiv. 4). With regard to the consciousness of sin, it is for this that the remedy of confession has been instituted, and all things, as you know, are made clean in confession.

Such, my brethren, are the purgatives which cleanse the eye of the heart: prayer and confession. And you have heard the Lord saying, “ Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.” They shall see Him “face to face ” only in the life to come, but they shall see Him in the present life also, although it shall be “ through a glass in a dark manner ” (x Cor. xiii. 12) : they “ now know in part but then they shall know even as they are known ” (ibid.). Every man

PER INO.

conscious of sin which yet he refuses to renounce, either sins in hope, and regards God as one whom sin does not greatly displease, or sins in despair, judging God to be devoid of mercy. But to both types of sinner He says, “ Thou thoughtest unjustly that I shall be like to thee ” (Ps. xlix. 21). And rightly, for neither of them can see the true God, “and iniquity hath lied to itself ’’ (Ps. xxvi. 12), fashioning for itself what is but a vain idol because it is not He. But “ blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God,” yea, and they alone, who alone “ think of the Lord in goodnessi (Wisdom i. I), which is to think of Him as He is in truth, for He truly is good, and so good that, as compared with Him, none else is good at all (Luke xviii. 19). “ Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God ”? : miserable, therefore, Adam and Eve, who, “ inclining their hearts to evil words to make excuses in sins” (Ps. xl. 4), refuse the purgative of confession, and consequently remaining with hearts uncleansed deserve to be driven forth from the sight of God.

“Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall becalled the children of God.” Rightly, my brethren, are they called the children of God who co-operate in the work of the only-begotten Son of God. For He it is through Whom we are reconciled and “have peace with God” (Rom. v. 1); He it is Who hath “made peace through the Blood of His cross both as to the things on earth and the things that are in heaven ” (Col. i. 20), the “‘one Mediator of God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (x Tim. ii. 5). Observe here how in the first three beatitudes a man is reconciled to himself, in the two following he is reconciled to his neighbour, in the sixth to God, whilst in the seventh he even becomes the reconciler of others, as one admitted to the favour of his Lord and enjoying with Him a happy familiarity. The first three beatitudes, I say, reconcile man to himself, for by poverty, meekness and mourning there is renewed in his soul a certain likeness and image of the Divine Eternity which embraces in itself all the divisions of time; inasmuch as by poverty he merits the future, by meekness he is made master of the present, and by the tears of penance he recovers the past, according to what is written, “ I will recount to Thee all my years in the bitterness of my soul.” Furthermore, justice and mercy cause us to live in perfect harmony with our neighbour, since justice ordains that we should not do to others whatsoever we are unwilling should be done to us by others, and mercy prescribes that whatsoever we would that men should do to us, we also, should do to them (Matt. vii. 12). Being thus reconciled to ourselves and reconciled to our neighbour, we may now confidently hope for reconciliation with God also, through cleanliness of heart. And blessed is he who, not unthankful for his own restoration to the divine favour, but piously solicitous for his brethren, strives by every means in his power that they too may be reconciled with their Lord (Gen. xl.). For of what commendations is he not worthy, and with what affection does he not deserve to be embraced, who “‘ conversing without blame ” (Phil. iii. 6) amongst his brethren watches over himself with all solicitude lest he should be in any way a cause of annoyance to others, and endures with the utmost patience whatever he finds troublesome in them; who considers as his own the scandals of everyone, so that he can say with the Apostle, “ Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is scandalised and I am not on fire? ” (2 Cor. xi. 29). “ Blessed are the peace-makers for they shall becalled the children of God”: “for God is not the God of dissension but of peace ” (1 Cor. xiv. 33), and therefore it is fitting that the sons of peace should also becalled the sons of God.

We come now to the eighth beatitude, which is the privilege of the holy martyrs, and to merit which we have neither the strength nor the opportunity. For nowadays justice is held in honour, so far, at least, as outward appearances go, and none or only very few have to suffer persecution for its sake. But blessed are they—if there beany—“ for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” whither no persecution can follow them. And if their tribulation be manifold, manifold in proportion ought to be their joy, for they should attend more to the rewards which are invisible than to the sufferings which are seen. “ For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal’’ (2 Cor. iv. 18). “ Blessed are ye,” said the Lord, “ when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you untruly for My sake. Beglad and rejoice in that day for your reward is very great in heaven ™ (Matt. v. II, 12), yea, far greater than the labours you have to endure on earth.

But what means it, most dearly beloved, that the same reward is promised to the poor and to the martyrs? Are we not hereby instructed to look upon voluntary poverty as in very truth a kind of martyrdom “ Blessed is the man,” says the Prophet, “ that hath

Beer ST. BERNARD’S SERMONS not gone after gold, nor put his trust in money nor in treasures. Who is he and we will praise him? For he hath done wonderful things in his life ” (Ecclus. xxxi. 8, g). What indeed can you find more wonderful, what martyrdom can be more cruel than to be famished with hunger in the midst of the banquets, to shiver with cold, half-clad, in the midst of the abundance of costly garments, to be oppressed with poverty in the midst of the wealth which the world offers, which the devil displays, which our own cupidity longs for ? And does not he deserve to becrowned whoever shall have so contended (2 Tim. ii. 5), rejecting the world’s promises, despising the devil’s temptations and—what is still more glorious—vanquishing himself and crucifying his itching concupiscence ? In fine, the kingdom of heaven is promised alike to poverty and to martyrdom, but whilst it is truly purchased by poverty, itis actually given and given at once to those who suffer for Christ’s sake.