Sermon XLVIII. On the Excellence and Dignity of Christ's Sacred Humanity, and on what it is to be, to Live, and to Sit Under his Shadow

"As a lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters. As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons. I sat down under His shadow, Whom I desired, and His fruit was sweet to my palate."

"As a lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters." No dutiful daughters these, if they wound like thorns. But take notice, my brethren, that the daughters mentioned here represent the most pernicious progeny of this earth of ours, which has lain from the beginning under the heavy curse of its own Creator. "When thou shalt till it," thus spoke He to Adam, "thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee." As long, therefore, as the soul abides in the body, so long shall she be encompassed with thorns. That is to say, she must always inevitably suffer the miseries of temptation, and the bitter pangs of tribulation. Now, if she be really what her Bridegroom calls her, a lily, consider how watchful and anxious a guard she is obliged to keep over herself, hedged in as she is with thorns, whose sharp points threaten her on every side. So tender a flower can in nowise resist even the slightest attack, and the very least pressure from a thorn is enough to pierce it through. Do you not now see the reason and the necessity of the Psalmist's exhortation to us to *' serve the Lord in fear"; and of the Apostle's injunction that we should "work out our salvation with fear and trembling "? Both these inspired writers had doubtless learned from their own experience the value of what they recommend to us; for, as friends of the Bridegroom, they could have had no hesitation at all about applying to their own souls what He says here, "As a lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters." Thus the same Prophet says of himself in another place, "I am turned in my anguish while the thorn is fastened." Truly that was a wholesome fastening which resulted in turning him to a holier life! It is a good thing to suffer a puncture that leads to compunction. There are many whom the severity of their chastisement induce to renounce their sins. Such as they can say with the Psalmist, "I am turned in my anguish while the thorn is fastened." Spiritual thorns are manifold. Sin is a thorn, and its penalty is a thorn; a false brother is a thorn, and an evil companion a thorn.

"As a lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters." O snow-white lily! O most tender and delicate flower! Thou art surrounded by unbelievers and enemies, ever plotting thy ruin. See, then, with what circumspection it behoves thee to walk amidst so many thorns. The whole world is bristling with them. They menace thee on the earth and in the air. They lie concealed in thy very flesh. It is only by the power I of God, not through thine own strength, that thou ' canst live thus encompassed with thorns and never receive a wound. "But have confidence," the Bride- groom whispers to thee, "I have overcome the world." Therefore, "let not thy heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid," even though thou seest tribulations besetting thy path on all sides, as if they were so many thorns waiting to wound thee. For thou oughtest to know that tribulation "worketh patience, and patience trial, and trial hope, and hope confoundeth not." "Consider the lilies of the field, how they" flourish and bloom in the midst of the thorns. "And if the grass of the field which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, God doth so" protect, "how much more" thee, His own most dear and tenderly loved Spouse? Is it not written that "The Lord keepeth all them that love Him"7 "As a lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters." It is a proof of no ordinary degree of virtue to live a good life in the midst of the wicked,¹ and amongst the malignant to preserve sweetness of disposition and the spotlessness of innocence. But it is of greater merit still to be "peaceful with them that hate peace," and to show oneself a friend even towards one's enemies. O Spouse of Christ, if thou hast deserved to be thus compared, by singular and exclusive right, to a lily among thorns, it is surely because of this charity of thine, whereby thou dost not cease to communicate the lustre and the beauty t of thy native splendour even to the thorns that wound thee. My brethren, do you not see that one has to make himself such a lily in order to practise perfectly the teaching of the Gospel, which commands us to pray for them that calumniate us and to do good to them that persecute and hate us? Therefore to each of you I say, "Go and do thou in like manner," and thy soul shall be the spouse of the Lord, and He will commend thee for thy beauty, saying, "As a lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters."

But the Bride makes answer, *' As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons." So does she return the eulogy addressed to her by the Bridegroom, by Whom to be praised is to be made worthy of praise, and Whom to praise is to have understanding and admiration of His praiseworthiness. Just as He used the symbols of the lily's tallness and beauty to describe the excellence of His Bride, so she in her turn designates His singular glory and greatness under the figure of a noble tree. Yet concerning the aptness of this image some doubt may arise. For the apple-tree is surpassed in excellence by several other trees; and consequently, so it should seem, is unworthy of being selected to represent the Bridegroom, as incapable of symbolising the super eminence of His glory. "As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons." It is evident from these very words that the Spouse herself has no great esteem for the apple-tree, since she is careful to prefer it only o the "trees of the wood," that is, to trees which yield no fruit at all, or none fit for the use of man. Why, then, does she make choice of this mediocre tree from amongst so many others that are better and Qobler, and employ it to typify the perfection of her Beloved? Shall we say that He ought to receive glory jin measure to Whom is given the Spirit without measure? For the similitude of the apple-tree seems to indicate that the Bridegroom has a superior, whereas He is without even an equal.² How shall we solve the difficulty? I grant at once that the praise is little, because it is meant for One Who has made Himself little. In this place the announcement is not: "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised," but rather, "Little is the Lord and exceedingly to be loved."³ He is regarded here as the Little One Who "is born for us." Here, consequently, the Spouse is concerned not with the glorification oi His majesty, but with the commendation of His humility.

And surely it is right and reasonable that the "foolishness of God" and the "weakness of God" should be preferred to the wisdom and the strength of man. For by the barren forest trees, amongst which the apple-tree stands distinguished, we are to understand the race of men, of whom the Prophet testifies that "they are all gone aside; they are become unprofitable together: there is none that doth good, no, not one." "As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons." Of all the trees in the wood, there is only One that yields fruit, I mean the Lord Jesus, Who, in His Human Nature, although exalted over the rest of men, is made "a little less than the angels." For, by a wonderful and admirable dispensation. He has made Himself as Man inferior to the angels over whom as God He holds sovereign sway. *' You shall see the angels of God,"He said to Nathaniel *' ascending and descending upon the Son of man." That is, in one and the same Person, Jesus Christ, the angels ascend when they worship with awe the Divine Majesty, and descend when they lovingly minister to the weakness of the flesh. Therefore, as the Spouse finds a sweeter consolation in thinking of His voluntary lowliness than in the thought of His infinite greatness, she is more ready to magnify His grace, to extol His mercy, and to stand amazed at His marvellous condescension. She prefers, then, to admire Him as a Man amongst men, rather than as God exalted above the angels; for it is only amongst men He is admirable as a Man, just as the apple-tree is conspicuous, not amongst the garden trees, but only amidst the trees of the wood. Nor does she think His glory will be lessened by the consideration of His infirmity which magnifies His goodness and His loving-kindness. For whatever is subtracted from that glory in one respect is added to it in another; because if she desists from the praise of the loftiness of His Majesty, it is only to render more manifest the graciousness of His condescension. Therefore, just as the Apostle declared the "foolishness of God" and the "weakness of God" to be wiser and stronger than men, not wiser and stronger than the angels; and just as the Prophet proclaimed the Word Incarnate to be "beautiful above the sons of men," not above the angels, in the same way here, and evidently speaking under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, the Spouse, using the image of the fruitful apple-tree and the unprofitable trees of the forest, asserts the superiority of the God-Man over every merely human greatness, but not in comparison with angelic excellence.⁴

'■ As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons." Not without reason does the Spouse say, "among the sons." For whereas the Bridegroom is the Only-Begotten of the Father, vet He laboured without envy to acquire unto Him many other sons by adoption, and" He is not ashamed to call them brethren," "that he might be the First-born amongst many brethren." But it is only "ght tha He Who is the Son by nature should be preferred to all who are sons by the adoption of grace. Hence it is said "As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons." And very properly is the Beloved compared to the apple-tree, which He resembles both in the refreshing shade He affords, and also in that He produces excellent fruit. For unquestionably He may be called a fruit-bearing Tree, Whose "flowers are the fruit of honour and riches, and of Whom, under the form of Wisdom, it is written. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold on her." Amongst all the trees of the spiritual forest not one is found worthy to be compared to this; because however great and beautiful the others may appear, however capable of assisting us by their prayers, their ministrations, their instructions, and their examples, Christ alone, the Wisdom of God, is the Tree of life. Living Bread which came down from heaven and giveth life to the world."

Therefore, since He is the Tree of life, the Spouse goes on to say, "I sat down under His shadow. Whom I desired; and His fruit was sweet to my palate.*' No wonder she desired the shadow of Him from Whom she hoped to receive both food and shelter. For the other woodland trees do indeed offer a cooling shade, but they yield no nourishment for the support of life,' no fruit of everlasting salvation. There is but one "Author of life," "and one Mediator of God and man, the Man Christ Jesus." It is He Who says to His Spouse, "I am thy salvation," and to the Jews,y "Moses gave you not bread from heaven, but My Father giveth you the true Bread from heaven." This, then, is the reason why the Spouse yearned particularly for the shadow of Christ, because, namely, in Him alone could she hope to be sheltered from the noxious heat of the passions, and at the same time to be fed and filled with the sweet food of the virtues. "I sat down," she says, "under His shadow. Whom I desired." The shadow of Christ is the Flesh of Christ. Faith in Him may also be considered His shadow. For Mary the Flesh of her own Son served as a shadow. But my shadow is the faith of which He is Author and Object. And yet is it not true, that to me also, when I eat It in the Sacrament, His Flesh becomes a shadow? Wiilst Mary, on the other hand, must have participated with me in the refreshment afforded by the shadow of faith, seeing that it was said to her, "And blessed art thou that hast believed." "I sat down under His shadow. Whom I desired." Compare this with the words of the Prophet Jeremias, "A Spirit before our face (is) Christ the Lord, under His shadow we shall live among the gentiles." That is to say, we live in His shadow whilst we are amongst the gentiles, but when we are with the angels we shall live in His light. We are in the shadow so long as "we walk by 1 faith, and not by sight." Therefore, the just man who j "liveth by faith," liveth in the shadow. But not only just but blessed is he who liveth by understanding, because he is no longer in shadow, but in the light. David was a just man, and lived by faith, when he I said to God, "Give me understanding and I will learn Thy commandments, that I may live." For he knew that understanding follows upon faith, and that to understanding is to be revealed the Light of Ufe, and the Life of light. We must first enter the shadow and thence pass out into the light beyond the shadow; for, as it is written, "If you will not believe, you shall not understand."

You observe, my brethren, that faith is at once life and the shadow of life; just as, on the contrary, a life that is lived in pleasures is death and the shadow of death. ' ' She that liveth in pleasures,"says the Apostle," is dead while she is living,"for" the wisdom of the flesh is death."But a life of pleasure, whilst a death in itself, is also the shadow of a second death, of that, namely, which shall torment its victims eternally. We ourselves in times past were" seated in darkness and ih the shadow of death,"when instead of walking by faith," we all conversed in the desires of the flesh,"having already died to justice and on the point of being swallowed up by the second death. For in the degree m which the shadow is nigh to the body by which it is thrown, in the same degree *' my life hath drawn nigh to hell." For "unless the Lord had been my Helper," as the Psalmist confesses, "my soul had almost dwelt in hell." Now, however, we have passed from the shadow of death into the shadow of life. Rather "we have passed from death to life" and are living now under the shadow of Christ, if indeed we are truly alive and not still dead in sin. I say this, because, so far as I can see, the fact that a man is in the shadow of Christ does not necessarily imply that he is there as one living, since, as is evident, not everyone who has the faith "liveth by faith." For "faith without good works is dead," and so cannot communicate life, for the reason that it possesses no life in itself. Therefore, when the Prophet had declared that "A Spirit before our face (is) Christ the Lord," he was not satisfied to proceed and say, "under His shadow we shall he," but he added, "under His shadow we shall live among the gentiles." Do you, therefore, my brethren, follow the example of Jeremias, by endeavouring to live here in the shadow of Christ that hereafter you may reign with Him in the light of His glory. For Christ has not shadow only: He is also a source of light. He produces the shadow of faith by the Flesh, but by the Spirit the light of understanding. He is Flesh to us whilst we live in the flesh, but He is "a Spirit before our face." That is, He will manifest Himself to us spiritually in the life to come, provided, however, that "forgetting the things that are behind," we "stretch forth" ourselves "to those that are before." Then, when we have attained our goal, it shall be given us to experience of the Word that which He has said of Himself, "It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the Flesh profit eth nothing." I am not unaware that there has been one, at least, who was able to say, even whilst still a sojourner on earth, "And if we have known Christ according to the flesh, but now we know Him (so) no longer." But this was the great St. Paul. As for us, who have never yet been admitted to paradise, who have not yet deserved to be rapt up to the third heaven, we must be satisfied, whilst still in the flesh, to feed on Christ's Flesh, to reverence His mysteries, to imitate His example and to preserve His faith, that so we may live m His shadow. J J »»

"I sat down under His shadow Whom I desired.

Perhaps the Spouse is here glorying in some more sublime and special favour vouchsafed her, inasmuch as she does not say, like the Prophet, that she lives under His shadow, but that she has seated herself there. For sitting means resting. But it is a greater thing to rest under the shadow than to live in it, just as to hve in the shadow is better than simply to be there. Jeremias, therefore, is but claiming for himself a grace common to many when he says, "In His shadow we shall live." But the Spouse, as more highly privileged, proclaims with exultation that to her alone it has been given not merely to live but even to rest under His shadow. For she does not say in the plural number, "we sat down," just as the Prophet had said, "we shall live," but in the singular, "/ sat down," m order to signify the incommunicability of her prerogative. Consequently, where labour is the only condition of life for the rest of us, who, conscious of sin, have to serve in fear, there she enjoys the pleasant repose of love and devotion. For fear hath pain,"but love is all sweetness. Hence she adds," and His fruit was sweet to my palate."By" His fruit "is meant the delight of contemplation which she experienced when blissfully elevated on the wings of holy love. But this was under the shadow, because as yet even she can only see" through a glass, in a dark manner."But the time will come when" the day shall break and the shadows retire,"yea, disappear utterly, giving place to the unclouded light. Then she shall enjoy a vision of infinite brightness and eternal duration, and a fruit which shall not only afford pleasure to her palate, but satisfaction without satiety to all her desires. *' I sat down under His shadow Whom I desired, and His fruit was sweet to my palate." Let us, my brethren, rest here with the Spouse, and having tasted somewhat of the mystical feast, let us glorify the Father of the family, Who has invited us to so great a supper, the Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ Our Lord, Who is over all things, God blessed for ever. Amen.

Footnotes

1. St. Gregory the Great, writing of Job, says, "The place of his habitation is mentioned, because it adds to his merit that he was good amongst the wicked. For it is more praiseworthy to Hve virtuously with the vicious than to live virtuously with the virtuous: the merit of being good amongst the bad is proportionate to the demerit of being wicked amongst the good" — Moral, lect., v. lib. ii, cap. i. — (Translator.) I m ↩

2. The Saint is not thinking now of the Bridegroom's personality as the Word — for so considered, He has as Co-Equals the Father and the Holy Ghost — but only of His Divine Nature, in which respect He is manifestly without peer. — (Translator.) ↩

3. "Non enim hoc loco praedicatur ' magnus Dominus et laudabilis nimis,' sed parvulus Dominus et amabilis nimis," ↩

4. This is also the teaching of the Apostle, who in his Epistle to the Hebrews (ii. 9) interprets of Christ the words of David, II. D ↩