First Sermon for the First Sunday After the Octave of the Epiphany: On the Six Spiritual Water-Pots and the Measures They Contain

“And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee: and the Mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited, and His discifles, to the wedding. And the wine failing, the Mother of Jesus saith to Him: They have no wine. And Jesus saith to her: Woman, what is it to Me and to thee? My hour is not vet come. His Mother saith to the waiters : Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye. Now there were set there six water-fots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three measures apiece. Jesus saith to them: Fill the water-pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.” — John ii. 1-7.

In the Gospel lesson just recited, my brethren, we are told that Our Lord has gone to a marriage feast. Let us, consequently, do that which He recommends in another passage, and endeavour to make ourselves “like to men who wait for their Lord, when He shall return from the wedding ” (Luke xii. 36). When you see a man in the field with his hand to the plough, when you see another in the market-place buying or selling, you never think of asking them what they are waiting for, because they are not “like to men who wait.” But if you observed one standing before a door, repeatedly knocking and often raising his eyes to the windows, it would be only natural to inquire what was he waiting for. Those, therefore, “are like to men who wait,” those, I mean, who have not turned a deaf ear to the words of the Lord, “ Bestill and see that Iam God” (Ps. xlv. 11). For the Lord will come to them that await Him in truth, as did he who has said, “With expectation I have waited for the Lord” (Ps. xxxix. 1). He will come, I say, to such as wait for Him, like one returning from a wedding, inebriated with the wine of charity and forgetful of their sins. He will also come to them who do not await Him, and still as one returning from a wedding, but “like a mighty man that hath been surfeited with wine,” the wine of wrath. Yes, He will come to them inebriated and forgetful not of their sins, but of His mercies. For with regard to such, “ God will forget to show mercy ”’ (Ps. lxxvi. 10) then. He will come to them in His anger and indignation, like a man enraged to fury. “O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy indignation, nor chastise me in Thy fury ” (Ps. vi. 2). Of the foregoing remarks the wedding in Cana of Galilee has been rather the occasion than the subject. But let us now with the disciples follow the Lord to this wedding, so that with them we may see what He is about to do and may consequently believe in Him (John ii. 11). “ The wine failing, the Mother of Jesus saith to Him: They have no wine.” She observed the embarrassment of the good people of the house and pitied them, merciful as she always is and full of tenderest charity. What indeed save mercy could issue from mercy’s source? Is it any wonder, I ask, if the very bowels of mercy should appear to be merciful? Does not the hand which has held an apple for half a day preserve the odour of the apple for the remainder of the day? How redolent of mercy, then, must not that bosom have been wherein Piety Itself was lodged for the space of nine months! Yea, and It occupied the Virgin’s mind before It entered

THE SIX SPIRITUAL WATER-POTS 37 her bosom, nor when issuing from her womb did It retire from her heart. As to the Lord's reply to His Mother, we may think it sounds harsh and austere. But He knew to whom He was speaking, and she was not ignorant Who He was That spoke. And that you may understand in what manner she received His response, and how much she could presume on the goodness of her Son, she immediately “saith to the waiters: Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye.” “ Now there were set there six water-pots of stone.” I have next, my brethren, to set these water-pots, or rather to show that they are already set for the purification of the true Israelites, those, namely, who are Jews, not according to the letter but according to the spirit. For inasmuch as the Church has not yet attained to that perfect purity, when Christ shall “ present her to Himself, a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing’”’ (Ephes. v. 27) ; she has still need of many purifications, so that where sin abounds, forgiveness may likewise abound (Rom. v. 20), and that where miseries are multiplied, mercies may be multiplied also. ‘‘ But not as the offence, so also the gift ” (Rom. v. 15). For grace not only washes out sin, but it also bestows merit. Consequently there are six water-pots set for the purification of those who relapse into sin after the reception of baptism: it is of such I speak, because such we are ourselves. We put off our old garment, but alas! we have put it on again (Cant. v. 3), and so made our last state worse than the first (Matt. xii. 43). We washed our feet, but have defiled them again and with a defilement worse than the former. As, then, the defilement caused in us by another, viz., Adam, has been cleansed from us by Another, viz., Christ : so is it necessary that the defilement caused by ourselves should be cleanse by ourselves. We were washed with borrowed water when we had been defiled with foreign guilt. I would not, however, represent that guilt as foreign to us in such a sense as that I should deny it to have been truly ours. For were it not our guilt, it certainly could not have defiled us. It was at once both foreign and domestic : foreign, because in Adam we all sinned unwittingly ; domestic, because, although not in our own but in the person of another, we sinned nevertheless, and that sin has been imputed to us by the just, yet secret judgment of God. But now, O man, that thou mayest have no longer any reason to complain, behold, to make amends for the disobedience of Adam, thou art offered the obedience of Christ; so that, if thou wert sold into slavery without fault of thine, without merit of thine thou art now delivered: if without thy knowledge thou didst perish in Adam, without thy knowledge also hast thou been reanimated in Christ. Thou wert unconscious when the ancient Adam stretched forth his guilty hands towards the forbidden tree; and when Christ stretched out His innocent Hands upon the tree of life thou wert equally unconscious. From the first man was transmitted the stain which defiled thee ; from Christ’s Side flowed the water which washed thee from that stain. But now, being defiled with thine own personal guilt, thou must be cleansed likewise with waters of thine own, by Him, nevertheless, and through Him Who alone “ maketh purgation of sins” (Heb. i. 3).

The first water-pot, therefore, and the first purication consists in compunction, whereof it is written,

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“In whatsoever hour the sinner shall repent, I will not remember all his iniquities which he hath done ” (Ezech. xviii. 21, 22). The second is confession, for all things are washed clean in confession. Almsgiving is another water-pot. Hence we read in the Gospel, “Give alms, and behold all things are clean to you” (Luke xi. 41). The next is the forgiveness of injuries, according to the words of the Lord’s Prayer, “ forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors ” (Matt. vi. 12). The fifth of our water-pots is mortification of the flesh ; so we pray in the divine office that :—

“Cleansed by fasting we may sing The glories of our God and King.” *

The sixth and last is obedience to the divine commands. Thus it was said to the disciples—and would to God we could hear the same addressed to ourselves ! —“ Now you are clean by reason of the word which I have spoken to you” (John xv. 3). For they were not like the Jews who were told by the Saviour that His word hath no place in them (John viii. 37). On the contrary, they had always fulfilled His word with the most prompt obedience. These, then, are the six water-pots set for our purification, which, however, remain empty or are only filled with air, if used from a motive of vainglory. But whenever we approach them from the fear of God we shall find them filled with cleansing water, because the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. Yea, the fear of the Lord is truly water, not very sweet, I grant, but very refreshing,

Ipsi canamus gloriam.”

From the hymn for the Office of Prime,—(Translator.)

particularly to the soul that is aflame with carnal desires. It is a kind of water that is “able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one ” (Ephes. vi. 16). Another point of resemblance is this: that as water seeks the lowest level, so does the fear of God lead our thoughts down to the profoundest depths : it abides in the nether regions, and forces the terrified soul to contemplate the horrors of the abyss, according to what is written, “ In the midst of my days I shall go to the gates of hell ” (Is. xxxviii. I¹). But by the power of God that water shall at length be changed into wine, for “perfect charity casteth out fear” (x John iv. 18).

The water-pots are said to be of stone, not so much on account of their hardness as in order to indicate their durability. They are also described as “ containing two or three measures apiece.” The two measures correspond to two fears, the fear of being thrust down into hell, and the fear of being excluded from eternal life. But because both these belong to the uncertain future, and the soul may flatter herself with false hope, speaking to herself in this wise: “ After thou hast lived awhile in pleasures, thou canst do penance, and so shalt avoid the loss of heaven and escape the torments of hell’’: therefore it is well to add a third fear which spiritual persons are acquainted with, and which is all the more efficacious for that it concerns the present time. They who have learned to relish spiritual food are afraid lest they should perchance be deprived of it. For strong meat is necessary for him who “ hath put out his hand to strong things ” (Prov. xxxi. 19). Let them that serve ‘“‘in works of brick and clay ” (Exod, i. 14) live upon the chaff of

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Egypt ; but as for us, we, my brethren, require a more sustaining food, because we “have yet a great way _ to go,” and must “ walk in the strength of that food ” (3 Kings xix. 7, 8). It is the “ bread of angels ” (Ps. Ixxvil. 25), the “living bread” (John vi. 41), “ our daily bread” (Matt. vi. Ir). This bread is indeed that hundred-fold which it is promised us that we shall receive in the present life. For just as food is daily furnished to hired servants, even whilst they are occupied with their work, and their wages kept back until the work is completed: so does the Lord deal with us, promising and bestowing a hundred-fold of consolation in this world, and waiting to reward us with eternal life in the world to come. What wonder, then, if he who has already received so great a grace should fear to lose it? This fear, as I have said, is the third measure, to which the Evangelist on purpose refers disjunctively, because it belongs not to all. For neither is the hundred-fold promised to all, but only to those who for Christ’s sake have left all things (Matt. xix. 29).

Footnotes

1. “ Mundi per abstinentiam ↩