Fourth Sermon for the Feast of the Ascension: On the Ascensions of Lucifer and Adam, Which We Must Avoid, and the Six ‘ascensions of Christ, Which We Ought to Imitate

“ He That descended is the Same also That ascended above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.”’—Ephes. iv. 10.

Brethren, if we observed the feasts of Christmas and Easter with all due devotion, not less devoutly ought we to keep to-day’s festival in honour of the Ascension. For this falls short in no respect of those other solemnities, but is rather their crown and consummation. Rightly, no doubt, are we accustomed to celebrate with rejoicing and exultation that day whereon the divine, super-celestial Sun, the Sun of justice, exhibited Himself to our gaze, tempering to our weakness, with a cloud of flesh and a screen of mortality, His overpowering splendours and “light inaccessible ” (1 Tim. vi. 16). Good reason have we also for great joy and gladness on the day when that was fulfilled which He predicted by His Prophet, “ Thou hast cut My sack-cloth and hast encompassed Me with gladness ” (Ps. xxix. 12), when, having put off, not the substance of His Humanity, but the oldness, the mortality, the misery, and the lowliness thereof, He consecrated in Himself the first-fruits of our resurrection. But after all, what part have I in such celestial festivities, if I must still live my own life altogether upon earth? And who would be so presumptuous as even to desire to ascend to heaven, had not He first ascended thither whence He descended before? (John iii. 13). Now I assure you, dearest brethren, hardly more tolerable than hell itself would this life of exile appear to me “except the Lord of hosts had left us a seed ” (Is. i. 9) of confidence and expectation, when He was raised into the clouds and gave hope to the hearts of His faithful. For He said to them, “If I go not the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go I will send Him to you ” (John xvi. 7). Who is this Paraclete ? The Same, doubtless, by Whom “the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts ” (Rom. v. 5), so that now “hope confoundeth not” (ibid.). The Paraclete is He by Whom “ our conversation is in heaven ” (Phil. iii. 20), and the ‘‘ Power from on high” (Luke xxiv. 49) by Whom we are enabled to lift up our hearts (Preface of the Mass). “I go,” said the Saviour again, “to prepare a place for you. And if I shall go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am there you also may be” (John xiv. 2, 3), for “‘wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together” (Matt. xxiv. 28). Do you not now recognise how the feast which we are observing to-day gives their consummation to all other solemnities, exhibits their fruit, and enhances their grace ?

If everything else belonging to Him Who was born for us and given to us (Is. ix. 6) has been for our sakes and conduces to our profit, the same is equally true of His Ascension. In the course of our own lives, my brethren, there are many things which, so far as we are concerned, we seem to do by chance, and many more by necessity. But with regard to Christ, Who is the Power and the Wisdom of God (1 Cor. i. 24), there can be no question of either necessity or chance. For what necessity could constrain the Power of God? Or how could the Wisdom of God act at random? Be assured, consequently, that everything He said, everything He did, everything He suffered, was all the result of deliberate design, was all full of mysterious significance, all pregnant with the remedies of salvation. Knowing this to be the case, whenever a reason for something appertaining to Christ occurs to me, you ought not to receive it as a pure fancy of my own, but as the possible purpose of that which you were already convinced must have some purpose. For just as he who is engaged in writing disposes everything according to a definite plan, so have all the works of God been governed by a conscious design, and those most particularly which were wrought by the Divine Majesty present amongst us in the flesh. But alas for the scantiness of our knowledge! Alas for the poverty of our science, who know only in part (xr Cor. xiii. 9) and only in a very limited part! Hardly do we receive a ray or two from that excess of light, from that luminous candle set upon its candlestick (Matt. v. 15). Surely, then, in proportion to the little light we severally receive the greater ought to be our fidelity in communicating that little to each other. As for myself, dearest brethren, I have neither the wish northe right to withhold from you whatever the Lord has vouchsafed to raake known to me unto your edification, with regard to the mystery of His Ascension, or rather of His ascensions: especially as it is the prerogative of spiritual gifts that they are not lessened by participation. What I am going to speak of now will perhaps be nothing strange to some of you to whom similar lights may have been imparted. Nevertheless, I feel it my duty to tell you what I have received, for the sake of such as have not been so enlightened, either because they have been engrossed in the contemplation of truths more sublime, or occupied with the care of other things, or on account of the weakness of their understanding.

“ He That descended is the Same also That ascended ” (Ephes. iv. 10). These, my brethren, are the words of the Apostle. But it is my belief that this very descent of Christ was itself an ascension. For so it behoved Him to descend in order to teach us how we must ascend. We are all of us in truth very eager to mount, we all desire elevation. For we are creatures of a noble nature, distinguished from the rest by the greatness of our soul, and consequently we feel a natural impulse to seek what is sublime. But woe to us if we wish to follow the example of him who said, “ I will sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north ”’ (Is. xiv. 13)! “ In the sides of the north ?” ? Ah, miserable wretch! Too cold is that region: we will not follow thee thither. Thou art possessed with the passion for power, thou presumest to mount to the height of dominion. Yet how many mortals even to this day are found to walk in thy footsteps, which lead only to disgrace and unhappiness! Nay, rather, how few can we find anywhere not enslaved to the love of dominion ! Hence it is that “ they that have power over them are called beneficent ’’ (Luke xxii. 25); hence it is that “ the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul ” (Ps. x. 3—juxta Heb.). For all flatter the powerful, all envy the great. But whom are you following, O miserable mortals, whom are you following? Saw you not

“Satan like lightning falling from heaven” (Luke x. 18) ? Is not this ambition of power the very mountain on which he ascended as an angel and was in a moment changed into a demon? And take particular notice of this fact, that after his fall, although possessed with the wicked purpose—inspired by his insupportable jealousy—of destroying man, he nevertheless did not dare to invite him to ascend that mountain whereon it was known to Adam that he had himself come to irreparable ruin as the result of his vain self-exaltation. The crafty enemy, however, was not at a loss for a means of seducing our first parents. He showed them a second mountain like unto the first. ‘‘ You shall be as gods,” he said to them, “ knowing good and evil ” (Gen. iii. 5). Equally ruinous was this ascent, or, as I should rather call it, this descent from Jerusalem to Jericho (Luke x. 30). A most dangerous mountain is the knowledge which inflates the mind (x Cor. viii. 1), up which, nevertheless, you may see creeping, even at this day, multitudes of the children of Adam, with as great eagerness as if they did not know how much their primogenitor lowered himself by that ascent, yea, how frightful a fall he sustained, and how with him was flung down and gravely injured the whole of his posterity! Not yet healed, my brethren, are the wounds inflicted on us in the ascent of that mountain, whilst we possessed as yet only a virtual existence in our first father: and shall we again endeavour to mount, this time in our proper person, so that “ the last error shall be worse than the first” (Matt. xxvii. 64)? What means this insatiable desire for knowing in the hearts of miserable mortals? ‘‘O ye sons of men, how long will you bedull of heart? Why do you love vanity and seek after lying ? ” (Ps. iv. 3). Are you not aware that ‘‘ God hath chosen the foolish things of the world that He may confound the wise, and hath chosen the weak things of the world that He may confound the strong ” (I Cor. i. 27)? But it seems that nothing can cure us of our infatuation, neither the fear of God Who threatens us and declares that He “ will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will reject the prudence of the prudent ” (ibid. 19), nor the example of our first parents, nor even our own reason and our experience of the bitter necessity to which we are doomed by this senseless passion for knowledge.

I have now, my brethren, pointed out to you another mountain, a mountain which ought rather to be shun-ned than ascended. It is the same that was climbed by them who wished to “ be as God, knowing good and evil ” (Gen. iii. 5); the same which their children, to the present hour, are constantly piling and heaving up, regarding nothing as too mean to be used for exalting the mountain of human science. Thus, you may see different men engaged in the pursuit of the different branches of knowledge, some applying themselves to literature, others to the study of public affairs, this one absorbed in some pleasing vanity which displeases God, that one cultivating some of the servile arts, and all animated with so much zeal that no labour is regarded provided only they can have the pleasure of being reputed wiser than their fellows. So do they build their Babel (Gen. xi.), so do they expect to make themselves like to God, so do they strive after things which cannot profit them, neglecting such as are expedient. O ye sons of Adam, what have you to do with these mountains, which are so difficult of ascent and so full of deadly peril? Or wherefore do you so shun that other mountain whose ascent is as easy as it is profitable? The passion for power deprived the angels of their angelic bliss; and the passion for knowledge deprived man of the glory of his immortality. Let a person attempt to ascend the mountain of power: how many rivals shall he not have! how many opponénts! what obstacles to surmount! what difficulties in the way! And even should he succeed at last in obtaining what he covets, he is warned by Holy Scripture that “the mighty shall be mightily tormented ” (Wisdom vi. 7)—to say nothing of the present anxieties and solicitudes engendered by the possession of power. Another man is desirous of the knowledge which “ puffeth up” (1 Cor. viii. 1). Oh, what labour will he not have to undergo! what bitterness and anguish of mind to endure! And nevertheless it can be said to him, “ Strive as thou mayest, thou shalt never reach thy goal.” No, such a man’s “eye abideth in bitterness ” (Job xvii. 2) so long as he beholds anyone whom he judges to be or to be reputed by others superior in knowledge to himself. But even should he succeed in acquiring great wisdom, what shall his profit be? ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,” saith the Lord, ‘‘and the prudence of the prudent I will reject.”

I have now, I think, said enough to show you how necessary it is for us to avoid both the mountain of power and the mountain of knowledge, if we have no wish to experience in ourselves either the irreparable ruin of the angels or the fall of the first man. “ Ye mountains of Gelboe, let neither dew nor rain come upon ye” (2 Kings i. 21): so have these mountains been cursed

II, 18 by the Prophet. What, then, are we todo? To ascend as Lucifer or as Adam is not expedient for us and, nevertheless, we burn with the desire to ascend. Who will show us how we can make a salutary ascension? Who but He of Whom it is written, “ He That descended is the Same also That ascended ” ? So it was needful for us to learn from Him the right way of ascending, lest otherwise we should follow the example or the counsel of the infernal guide, or rather seducer. The Most High, therefore, descended, because whither to ascend He found not; and by His descent He has marked out and consecrated for us a way of ascending both pleasant and profitable. He descended from the mountain of power by clothing Himself with the weakness of the flesh ; He descended also from the mountain of wisdom, because “‘it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe”’ (x Cor. i. 21). For what can seem weaker than the tender little Body and Members of a newly-born Child? And where can be found less evidence of wisdom than in an Infant That appears to know nothing beyond Its Mother’s breast ? Who can be considered more impotent than One Whose Limbs are all fastened with nails to the cross, and Whose Flesh is so cruelly torn with stripes that all His Bones can be numbered (Ps. xxi. 17, 18) ? Or who less wise than One Who “ delivered His Soul unto death ” (Is. liii. 12) and “ did pay that which He took not away ” (Ps. lxviii. 5)? You see, brethren, how much He descended, how utterly He emptied Himself of His power, how utterly of His wisdom. Nevertheless, He could not otherwise than by such descents have ascended so high upon the mountain of goodness, nor have given us such evident proofs of His love. Nor is it matter for wonder that Christ ascended by descending, seeing that both Lucifer and Adam descended by ascending. And it seems to me that when the Psalmist inquired, ‘‘ Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord, or who shall stand in His holy place?” (Ps. xxili. 3) he was seeking for some one capable of ascending this mountain of goodness and love. Perhaps it was to the same mountain the Prophet Isaias also referred, when, seeing how men were falling down through the very desire of ascending, he cried out to them, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord ” (Is. ii. 3). Consider again if holy David is not manifestly rebuking those who ascended the mountains of knowledge and power, and proclaiming the richness of this last-mentioned mountain, where he says, ‘‘ The mountain of God is a fat mountain; a curdled mountain, a fat mountain. Why suspect ye curdled mountains ? ” (Ps. Ixvii. 16, 17). This, consequently, is “ the mountain of the house of the Lord, prepared on the top of mountains” (Is. ii. 2), of those mountains, I mean, upon which the Bride beheld her Bridegroom leaping, when she exclaimed, “ Behold He cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills” (Cant. ii. 8). For He was then pointing out the way to one who did not know it, He was, as it were, conducting a little one, leading a child by the hand. Hence He proceeded in this gradual way, step by step, “ from virtue to virtue,” as from mountain to mountain, so that “the God of gods might beseen in Sion ” (Ps. lxxxiii. 8). For His “justice is as the mountains of God ” (Ps. xxv. 7). But let us now, if you think well of it, consider more particularly those leapings of the Bridegroom, wherewith He “hath rejoiced as a giant to run the way’”’

(Ps. xviii. 6), Whose “ going out is from the height of heaven and His circuit—by certain stages—even to the height thereof ” (ibid. 7). In the first place, picture to yourselves that high mountain which He ascended with Peter, James, and John, and on which “ He was transfigured before them,” so that “ His Face did shine as the sun, and His garments became white as snow ” (Matt. xvii. 1,¹). This, my brethren, is the glory of the general resurrection which we are now contemplating on the hill of hope. For wherefore should Christ ascend that mountain to be transfigured there, unless because He wished to admonish us to ascend in thought to that “future glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. viii. 18)? Happy the man “ the meditation of whose heart is always in Thy sight, O Lord ” (Ps. xviii. 15), who keeps revolving in his soul by assiduous thought those “delights at Thy right hand even to the end” (Ps. xv. 11)! For what can ever seem burdensome to him who bears constantly in mind “ that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come” (Rom. viii. 18)? And what can he desire in this wicked world whose eye is for ever contemplating ‘‘ the good things of the Lord in the land of the living ” (Ps. xxvi. 13), for ever fixed on the everlasting rewards? ‘‘ My heart hath said to Thee,” so sang the Prophet, addressing God, ‘‘my face hath sought Thee: Thy face, O Lord, will I still seek” (ibid. 8). Oh, who will grant me that I may see you all ascending that mountain and standing on its summit, looking forward to the happiness reserved for you by the Lord !

I beseech you, brethren, to have patience with me if I tarry a little longer upon this mountain of hope, because I shall thus be able to traverse the others more quickly. Who indeed would not be detained on this mountain by the words which St. Peter spoke upon it and of it, “ Lord, it is good for us to be here ” (Matt. xvii. 4)? For what is so good for a man as that “his soul shall dwell in good things” (Ps. xxiv. 13) whilst that is as yet impossible to his body? Nay, what else can be considered good for him at all? As for me, I think it is only one who had “ entered into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, the noise of one feasting ” (Ps. xli. 5)—it is only such a one, as it seems to me, that could have said, “ Lord, it is good for us to be here.” Which of yourselves, my brethren, whilst reflecting in his heart on the immortal life to come, on the joy, and the gladness, and the bliss, and the glory of the children ot God: which of you, I ask, whilst he revolves these thoughts in his mind does not immediately cry out, from the abundance of internal sweetness, “ Lord, it is good for us to be here” ?— not here, as is evident, in this place of our bitter exile where in his body he is still held captive, but here in this sweet and salutary meditation, where he abides in mind and heart. Oh, “ who will give me wings like a dove and I will fly and be at rest!” (Ps. liv. 7). But you, O ye sons of men, ye sons of that man who “ went down from Jerusalem to Jericho ” (Luke x. 30), “ how long will you bedull of heart’”’ (Ps. iv. 3)? Rather “ascend to a high heart, and God shall be exalted ” (Ps. lxiii. 7, 8). For that is the high mountain whereupon Christ is lifted up and transfigured. Therefore, ascend thither and you shall “ know that the Lord hath made His Holy One wonderful ” (Ps. iv. 4).

Do not, I entreat you, dearest brethren, do not allow your hearts to be “ overcharged with the cares of this life” : as for “surfeiting and drunkenness,” there is not much need, thanks be to God, to warn you against such vices (Luke xxi. 34). Unburden your minds, I implore you, of the oppressive weight of worldly thoughts, that you may know how wonderful the Lord hath made His Holy One. “Lift up your hearts with your hands” (Lament. iii. 41), with the hands—so to speak—of your thoughts, that you may see the Lord in the glory of His transfiguration. Form in your hearts not only the tabernacles of the patriarchs and prophets (Matt. xvii. 4),* but likewise all the many mansions of the Father’s house (John xvi. 2), and after the example of him who went around offering the sacrifice of jubilation in the tabernacles of the Lord, singing and reciting the psalm (Ps. xxvi. 6): “ How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord God of Hosts! My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord”’ (Ps. lxxxiii. 2, 3): do you also, brethren, go around, offering as a sacrifice the sentiments of piety and devotion ; visit in thought the happy abodes of the blessed, and the many mansions in the house of the Father, casting yourselves down in spirit before the throne of God and the Lamb (Apoc. iv. 10) ; make your supplications to each of the angelic choirs; salute in turn the companies of the _ patriarchs, prophets, and apostles; contemplate the shining crowns of the martyrs, woven from blossoms of purple hue; admire the troops of lily-scented virgins, and so far as the weakness of your heart will allow, drink in with an attentive mind the mellifluous strains of the new canticle (Apoc. xiv. 3). “These things I

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remembered,” sings the Psalmist, “ and I poured out my soul in me.” Of what things does he speak? He tells us immediately: “ I shall go over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God ” (Ps. xli. 5). In another place he says, “ 1 remembered God and was delighted” (Ps. lxxvi. 4). For Him Whom the apostles saw on the high mountain, the Prophet also saw, and saw, as I think, in the same manner: except that David’s vision was purely spiritual and altogether independent of the senses. Not in the same way did he see Him as that other prophet who said, “We have seen Him and there is no beauty in Him nor comeliness ” (Is. liii. 2). The Royal Prophet therefore must have seen Him transfigured and “ beautiful above the sons of men” (Ps. xliv. 3), since he declared that the vision filled him with delight, just as the apostles exclaimed, *‘ Lord, it is good for us to be here.” And lest aught should be lacking to the similitude, as the latter are said to have fallen upon their faces (Matt. xvii. 6), so does the former confess that his “ spirit swooned away ” (Ps. lxxvi. 4). “ Oh, how great is the multitude of Thy sweetness, O Lord, which Thou hast hidden for them that fear Thee! ”’ (Ps. xxx. 20). Having ascended, therefore, this mountain of vision, and “beholding the glory of the Lord with open face” (2 Cor. iii. 18), you also, dearest brethren, will be forced to exclaim with the Spouse, ‘Draw us after Thee ” (Cant. i. 2). For what advantage is it to know the end towards which we should direct our steps, if we are ignorant of the road which leads thither ? You must, consequently, ascend another mountain, whereon you shall hear the Lord preaching, and setting up a ladder with eight rungs, the top of which touches heaven (Gen. xxviii. 12): “ Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven ” (Matt. v. 10). Now if you have climbed the first mountain by assiduous meditation on the glory of heaven, you will not be unwilling, I think, to ascend the second too by meditating day and night on the law of God (Ps. i. 2). Thus, the Royal Prophet was accustomed to meditate, not only on the eternal rewards (Ps. lxxvi. 6), but also on the divine precepts which he so ardently loved (Ps. cxviii. 47). By acting in this manner, you will deserve, like the apostles, to hear it said to you, “Whither I go, you know,” on account of the first ascension, and “The way you know,” because of the second (John xiv. 4). Therefore, my brethren, resolve in your heart to seek out the way of truth, lest perchance you should turn out to be of the number of those “‘ who wandered in a wilderness, in a place without water, and found not the way of a city for their habitation ” (Ps. cvi. 4). And be solicitous to ascend not only by meditation on the glory of heaven, but more particularly by living in such a manner as to merit the glory of heaven.

I find record of a third mountain also, which Christ ascended to pray (Matt. xiv. 23). You understand now, my brethren, with what reason the Spouse in the Canticle exclaims, “ Behold He cometh leaping upon the mountains ” (Cant. ii. 8). On the first mountain He was transfigured, that you might know to what end your course should be directed; on the second, He spoke “the words of eternal life” (John vi. 69), in order to teach you by what road you must travel to that end; and He prayed on the third, that, taught by His example, you might strive with most earnest supplication to obtain the good will both to commence and to complete the journey. For “ to him who knoweth to do good and doth it not, to him it is sin’ (James iv. 17). Knowing, therefore, that the good will is only granted through prayer, when you see what you have to do, ascend the mountain of prayer for the courage and strength to perform that which you perceive is your duty. Let your prayer be urgent, let it be persevering—like that of the Lord, of Whom we read that “ He passed the whole night in the prayer of God ” (Luke vi. 12)—and “your Father from heaven will give the good Spirit to them that ask Him” (Luke xi. 13). And observe here how profitable must be the practice of seeking external as well as spiritual solitude at the hour of prayer, since Christ taught us this, not only by His words, when He said, ‘‘ When thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret ’’ (Matt. vi. 6), but also by His example, when “ He went up into the mountain alone to pray (Matt. xiv. 23).

Do you think now, my brethren, that I shall not be able to find for you any other example of the ascensions of the Lord? Undoubtedly, I shall. Remember, if you please, the ass upon which He is said to have mounted (Matt. xxi. 7); and I would have you to remember also His ascension of the cross, because it was necessary that upon it, likewise, the Son of man should be exalted. “And I,” said He, “if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself ” (John xii. 32). Now, therefore, when you have the knowledge, and “to will also is present with you, but to accomplish that which is good, you find not” (Rom. vii. 18), because, namely, there exist in your members certain brutish and asinine motions obeying a contrary law, and striving to make you captive (ibid. 23): what are you to do? How, I ask, are you to deal with these irrational concupiscences which you find in your flesh ? Again, when you are resolved to fast, the pleasure of eating solicits you; and when you would watch, drowsiness oppresses you. What shall we do with this troublesome ass? For such feelings are truly asinine, common to us with the brutes; because ‘‘man when he was in honour did not understand ; he is compared to the senseless beasts, and is become like to them ”’ (Ps. xlviii. 13). Mount, O Lord Jesus, mount upon this ass. Bridle these bestial motions, for unless they are mastered themselves, they will master us; unless they are themselves brought under and overpowered, we shall be overpowered and brought under by them. Wherefore, O my soul, thou must follow Christ the Lord in this ascent also, to the end that “thy lust may be under thee and thou mayest have dominion over it” (Gen. iv. 7). For in order to ascend into heaven, it is necessary that thou shouldst first raise thyself above thyself (Lament. iii. 28), by trampling upon those carnal desires which wage war against thee (x Peter ii. rr).

Follow thy Lord likewise in His ascension of the cross, whereon He is exalted over the earth; so that by an elevation of mind thou mayest be lifted up, not only above thyself, but even above the whole world, to an eminence whence thou canst look down upon and despise all that the earth has to show: according to the words of the Prophet, ‘‘ They shall see the earth afar off” (Is. xxxiii. 17). Let no worldly pleasures draw thee aside; let no temporal reverses discourage thee. “God forbid that thou shouldst glory save in - the cross of thy Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified to thee—so that what the world delights in thou regardest as a cross—and thou to the world” (Gal. vi. 14), by embracing with most ardent affection all that the world esteems a cross and a burden.

But now, my brethren, after the ascent of the cross, what further remains except to ascend to Him ‘‘ Who is over all things, God blessed for ever ” (Rom. ix. 5) ? For “to be dissolved and to bewith Christ is a thing by far the best” (Phil. i. 23). ‘‘ Blessed is the man whose help is from Thee,” says the Psalmist, speaking to the Lord, “in his heart he hath disposed to ascend by steps. . . . He shall go from virtue to virtue (until) the God of gods shall beseen in Sion” (Ps. lxxxiii. 6, 8). This is the last of our ascensions, in which all things are consummated, according to what the Apostle says, “ He That descended is the Same also That ascended above all the heavens, that He might fill, that is, consummate, all things’”’ (Ephes. iv. 10). But how shali I speak of this ascension? Whither are we to ascend, in order that where Christ is we also may be ? (John xiv. 3). And what shall we find there ? “The eye hath not seen, O God, besides Thee, what things Thou hast prepared for them that love Thee ” (Is. Ixiv. 4; 1 Cor. ii. 9). Let us long for this ascension, my dearest brethren, let us sigh for it constantly, and let us love it all the more the less we understand it.

Footnotes

1. Cf, Sermon LXII. on the Canticle of Canticles, ↩