The work in which our Maker most remarkably follows the same plan is that the Incarnation, for the sake of which He declared that He would “move the heaven and earth” (Haggai 2:7):-this being His One Work above all others.  Although its fulfillment was not to be till “the middle of years” Hab 3:2), He nevertheless began it from the beginning of the world.  The natural and the written Law-ceremonies and sacrifices-priesthood and prophets-were all, speaking reverently, merely sketches or outlines of the “perfect Man, Christ Jesus”.  They are called by an ancient writer Christi rudimenta; and the grand work itself was reached only through a succession of images and figures that served as preparatory designs.  But when the time comes close for the Mystery, God plans something yet more excellent than these:-He forms the blessed Mary, that He may represent Jesus Christ to us more naturally than before.  He is about to send Him on earth, and so combines all His most beautiful characteristics in the person of her who is to be His mother.

Tertullian, contemplating and discussing the marvelous interest that God displayed in the act of forming man from “the slime of the earth,” seeks for some explanation of the immense pains that He bestowed on the work.  He declares himself unable to believe that he put forth so much power, to mould so base a material, without some further great end in view: and this end, he finally concludes, is nothing less than Jesus Christ, Who is to be born of the race of man, and Whom God, therefore, chooses to typify to us by His manner of forming the first members of that race.  Quodcumque limus exprimebatur, Christus cogitabatur homo futurus.

If this idea is true:-if God, when He created the first Adam, meant to trace out the second; if He formed our first father so carefully with Jesus our Savior in view, and because His Divine Son was to spring from him after many generations:-surely today, when we see Mary-who was to bear Christ within her womb-come into the world, we may conclude that in creating her God was thinking of our Lord and working for Him alone?  Hence there is no cause for surprise either in His having formed her so carefully or in His endowing her with so many graces as he did: for to make her worthy of His Son He models her upon that Son Himself.  Intending soon to bestow on us His Word Incarnate, on the day of Mary’s nativity He gives us an outline-I might almost say a beginning-of Jesus Christ, in one who, though a creature, is in some sort a living expression of His own perfections.  Thus we may truly apply to such a day the Apostle’s beautiful words: “The night has passed and the day is at hand.”

The Redeemer of mankind, besides being in Himself an inexhaustible Font of Love, must necessarily possess the two qualities of exemption from sin and fullness of Grace.  He must be innocent to purify us from our crimes, and full of grace to enrich our poverty; for these qualities are inseparable from the character and office of the Savior.  When God formed the Blessed Virgin on the pattern of the Sun of Justice, some of the rays by which He was to dispel our darkness were permitted to shine forth in her, though only in a degree that faintly foreshadowed the brilliant light they were to shed over the world when they should stream in their fullness from Jesus Christ Himself; and hence it came that she was endowed with the very qualities that were to form an intrinsic part of her Divine Son’s human nature, especially with these two of innocence and fullness of grace.  We are here to consider shortly both the cause and the manner of Mary’s likeness to her Son in these particular points:-and, first, the special relation of her innocence to His.

Continue at page 42, first full paragraph: “In the whole teaching of the Gospels…“

I’m in the process of preparing a series of reflections on the Psalms and Canticles used during the Office of Readings according to the four week cycle.  This will be a time consuming task, but as I complete each Psalm I will post it here, under the title Seeds of Meditation and Study, followed by the passage reference.  When each day is complete I will post the results in the iPaper format on my sister sight, as I did with my notes on Amos.   For an example of this post in iPaper (the formatting is much better and the printing bigger than on this blog) please go HERE. It may take 2-4 seconds for the document to appear.

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First, some important preliminaries:

1. The modern Divine Office (also called The Roman Breviary or The Liturgy of the Hours) uses the Grail Translation of the Psalms and Canticles and is under copyright, as a consequence of this I will be using public domain translations or, on occasion, my own translation.

2. The Antiphons, headings, and sentences (see #5 below) are also under copyright, therefore I can only refer to their substance rather than quote them directly. Needless to say, it is best if you have a copy of the Office before you.

3. The full Divine Office consists of four large and rather expensive volumes, and may not be suitable for everyone. I personally use a large, one volume version entitled CHRISTIAN PRAYER: THE LITURGY OF THE HOURS, published by The Daughters of St Paul. This work is extremely popular among lay Catholics who wish to pray the office. It currently sells for $31.95, far less expensive than the complete edition. A large print edition is available, but it will not contain the Office of Readings. Those who desire the complete four volumes can find them HERE.

4. This paper-and others which will follow-is not intended as an in-depth commentary on the Psalms and Canticles, rather, I’m looking only to provide food for thought and meditation, and also themes you may wish to study further. Whenever possible I will give a link to some online commentary on the Psalm/Canticle being treated of.

5. Definitions:

a. Heading: Not part of the Scripture text itself, unlike some of the titles found in the Psalms (e.g., Ps 3:1). A Heading serves the same basic function as the title of a chapter in a book; for example, the heading to Psalm 1 in the Douay-Rheims translation reads: “The happiness of the just and the evil state of the wicked.”

b. Sentence: Usually taken from or based upon a Scripture text, though it is sometimes taken from or based upon a Church Father. The sentence appears below the Heading and often helps to “Christianize” it.

c. Antiphon: The Antiphon is often taken from or based upon the Psalm or Canticle being prayed and is designed to help highlight a theme. It is usual when praying the office in private to repeat the antiphon only at the beginning and end of the Psalm/Canticle. During public recitation by a group is is usual to also repeat the Antiphon after each verse.

Sunday-Week 1

Psalm 1 (My Translation):

Vs 1 Happy the man who walks not according to the direction of the wicked, stands not on the path with sinners, sits not in the assembly of scorners

Vs 2 But in the instruction of the Lord is his delight, upon this teaching he ponders day and night.

Vs 3 He is like a tree well-planted by steams of water, which gives forth its fruit in its season; its leaves do not wither. Whatsoever he does, he prospers.

Vs 4 But not so are the wicked! They are like chaff driven on by the wind

Vs 5 For this reason the wicked will not withstand the judgment, nor sinners stand in the assembly of the righteous.

Vs 6 The Lord watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked perishes.

As the heading of the Psalm indicates, the purpose of the text is to show that ultimately, man has only two directions to travel: one towards God, and the other away from Him. As the ancient Christian document called the Didache (late 1^st -early 2^nd century puts it: “There are two ways, one which leads to life, the other which leads to death; and great is the difference between the two ways.” (see Deu_30:15, Deu_30:19; Jer_21:8; Mat_7:13, Mat_7:14).

The Antiphon is from an unknown second century author who compares the Cross of our Blessed Lord to the fruitful tree rooted in life giving waters (see verse 3). comparing the Cross to the Tree of Life was commonplace in the ancient Church and is still so today. It is based upon the Adam/Christ parallel found in St Paul and St John. Concerning the former see Romans 5:12-21 and 1 Corinthians 15:20-23. Concerning the second consider that St John wrote: “Now there was in the place where he was crucified a garden: and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein no man yet had been laid” (19:41). Later, when Mary Magdalene first sees our Lord she mistakes him for the gardener (20:15).

Adam was placed inside a garden and told to guard and keep it, but he failed to do so. He lost access to the tree of life, was banished from the garden and died outside it. But Christ, dying on a tree outside of a garden, came to new life in that garden, having lost none of those the Father had given him to guard (see Jn 17: 12).

The Cross and the Tree of Life:

It may help for us to consider that in both Scripture and Tradition the Cross is often called “the tree.” On Good Friday, in fact, we sing an ancient song on this theme:

“Faithful Cross! Above all other,
One and only noble tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom,
None in fruit thy peer may be.
(Pange Lingua, St Venantius Fortunatus, 6th cent.)

When we trace the use of the word “tree” through the Scriptures, we find three main images that all join up in a wondrous way to explain the meaning the Cross has for us.

The first tree is the “Tree of Life.” This was placed in the Garden of Eden together with the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,” from which Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. After this first sin, God hastened to evict Adam and Eve from the Garden – not as a punishment, but because he feared “lest the man put forth his hand and take also of the Tree of Life, and eat, and live for ever.” (Gen 3:22) The effect of this would have been to make sinners (and thus also sin) immortal. For it is a fact that death, while being the result of sin, is also the limit that brings an end to sin.

The second tree is the Cross of Christ. The New Testament often uses “tree” rather than “cross” (eg. Acts 10:39 “they put him to death by hanging him on a tree.”) Saint Paul reminds us that the ancient Jewish law declared: “Cursed be anyone who is hanged on a tree.” (Gal 3:13) Jesus thus came under this curse. Yet, Saint Peter explains more clearly what was involved: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” (1 Peter 2:24) Jesus accepted the “curse” we should have received, and underwent death in our place – precisely so that we might not die but live.

The third tree is also called the “Tree of Life”, and it is reported by John, who saw it in the heavenly Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation. This Tree is so full of life that it bears fruit once every month, and “the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Rev 22:2) All who have “conquered” in faith (Rev 2:7) and who have “washed their robes” in baptism (Rev 22:14) may enter the heavenly city and eat from the Tree of Life.

The Triumph of the Cross is therefore the expulsion from Eden reversed! Through the Tree of the Cross, sin is forgiven, death is defeated, and life is restored, as the Preface from the Mass of the day proclaims:
“Father…you decreed that man should be saved through the wood of the cross. The tree of man’s defeat became his tree of victory; where life was lost, there life has been restored.”

So for us, the Cross is the Tree of Life, the very source of life itself. Why then do so many today still reject the Cross as a thing of shame and horror? At the handing over of the World Youth Day Cross to the Australian pilgrims on Palm Sunday this year, Pope Benedict attempted to articulate this modern rejection of the Cross:

“[It is] said, the Cross is the sign of the denial of life. Instead, we want life in its entirety, without restrictions and without sacrifices. We want to live, all we want is to live.” He goes on: “The Cross itself is the true Tree of Life. We do not find life by possessing it, but by giving it. Love is a gift of oneself, and for this reason it is the way of true life symbolised by the Cross.” (Denis J. Hart, Archbishop of Melbourne. Source)

For Your Consideration and Further Study;

1. General observation: The first verse of the Psalm opens with the word “happy” (Heb. ‘ashre’), which in Hebrew begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The last verse ends with the word “perish,” which word begins with the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. As far removed as “Z” is from “A”, this is how far removed the wicked will be from the righteous when God’s judgment comes.

2. On Verse 1: The fact that this Psalm opens by defining what the just man is not (vs 1), indicates how important it is to avoid evil. Only the one who can honestly pray thus: I have not sat with the council of vanity: neither will I go in with the doers of unjust things. I have hated the assembly of the malignant; and with the wicked I will not sit will escape God’s punishment.

1. On Verse 2: Taking delight in the Lord’s instruction brings many benefits, as Psalm 112 shows. Recall also that our Blessed Lord rejoiced in the Father’s Revelation given to us: In that same hour, he rejoiced in the Holy Ghost and said: I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them to little ones. Yea, Father, for so it hath seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me by my Father. And no one knoweth who the Son is, but the Father: and who the Father is, but the Son and to whom the Son will reveal him. In this we are more blessed than the Psalmist and Prophets of old: And turning to his disciples, he said: Blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see. For I say to you that many prophets and kings have desired to see the things that you see and have not seen them; and to hear the things that you hear and have not heard them (see Luke 10:21-24).

Pondering or meditating on the teaching of the Lord stands in marked contrast to following the counsel of the wicked (see vs 1). As I point out in my Notes On Psalm 1 the Hebrew word for “ponder/meditate” implies the subtle, nearly silent recitation of words, the act of scoffers implies childish, irrational mimicking.

4. On Verse 3: A fruitful tree does not have life in and of itself, rather, it gets its life from good soil and water. We have our spiritual life from a source other than ourselves; it is the Lord who has planted us (Jer 11:17). Aquinas writes: For planting, one needs earth moistened by the waters, otherwise the tree dries up, and so he says: which is planted near running waters, that is, nest to streams of grace…And he who has roots next to water will bear fruit in doing good works; and this is what follows: which shall bring forth its fruit, for in Galatians 5:22 we read: the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, and patience, long-suffering, goodness, benignity, ect.”

5. On Verse 4: The opening of this verse is emphatic in Hebrew: But not so are the wicked!, indicating one more way by which the author of the Psalm tries to highlight the contrast between the righteous and the unrighteous.

In stark contrast to verse 3 the wicked are here described as useless chaff. Chaff refers to the outer shell or husks from which grain was taken. Light, dry, sterile, it was utterly useless. It was fit only to burn, but even in this it was useless, since it burned so quickly it wasn’t even adequate for use as kindling. Most people simply left it on the ground to be driven away by the wind. It is hard to imagine an image of rootlessness and bareness more fitting than this. (see the prayer against enemies in Psalm 35:5) The winnowing of chaff is used, throughout the Bible, as a image of God’s judgment (see Hosea 13:2-3 and Matt 3:12). I have seen those who work iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap them, Perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit of his wrath(Job 4:8-9).

6. On Verse 5: Not being rooted in grace means the unrighteous will not stand when God judges. In the morning I will stand before thee, and I will see: because thou art not a God that willest iniquity. Neither shall the wicked stand near thee: nor shall the unjust abide before thy eyes. Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity: thou wilt destroy all that speak a lie. The bloody and the deceitful man the Lord will abhor (Psalm 5:4-6). And they say to the mountains and the rocks: Fall upon us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath is come. And who shall be able to stand? (Rev 6:16-17).

7. On Verse 6: God keeps His eye on and protects those who seek after righteousness. May he not suffer thy foot to be moved: neither let him slumber that keepeth thee. Behold he shall neither slumber nor sleep, that keepeth Israel. The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy protection upon thy right hand. The sun shall not burn thee by day: nor the moon by night. The Lord keepeth thee from all evil: may the Lord keep thy soul. May the Lord keep thy coming in and thy going out; from henceforth now and for ever (Ps 121:3-8).

Edmond is widely considered to be the greatest regional writer America has ever produced.  His historical novels received much acclaim and were very popular.  His most famous and enduring work is DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK,  which was a national best seller when first published in 1936; in fact, it was the second best selling book of that year, bested only by GONE WITH THE WIND.

Here is some of the critical acclaim from the back of my copy:

Rome Haul would be a notable book in any season.  As the first novel of a man born in 1903 it is extraordinary-NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE (1929).

A Richly colored addition to the panorama of American fiction-Allen Nevins-SATURDAY REVIEW OF LITERATURE.

Walter D. Edmond’s Rome Haul has given to the Erie Canal of the 1850’s a fine and graphic resurrection.  We think this is one of the best of all the better historical novels-NEW YORK EVENING POST.

Assiduous research, restraint in treatment, and a great deal of fine, lucid writing distinguish this first novel by Mr. Edmonds.  The author has been extraordinarily successful in recapturing the currents and cross-currents of life among ‘canawlers’-THE NEW YORK TIMES (”canawlers” is not a misspelling, it’s regional slang).

St Thomas Aquinas was by all accounts an outstanding preacher; not surprising since he belonged to the Order of Preachers (i.e., the Dominicans). Thomistic Philosopher Ralph McInerny, in the foreward he wrote for the book ST THOMAS AQUINAS: THE THREE GREATEST PRAYERS, Commentaries on the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, and the Apostles Creed writes: “We are told by a contemporary Neopolitan (john Coppa) that ‘almost the whole population of Naples went to hear his sermons every day.’ And Willian of Tocco writes that ‘he was heard by the people with such revrence that it was as if his preaching came forth from God.’” Sadly, Aquinasleft behind very few of his actual sermons, however, fortunately for us, he did leave behind about one hundred of his sermons notes. In the near future I would like to begin posting a series of my own notes on those notes of his. They were published in English in 1867 by their translator, John M. Ashley, B.C.L., who also wrote a preface to that translation; it is this that I reproduce here.

FOR the large circulation which has fallen to the lot of the several portions of these Homilies, now collected into one volume, for the favourable criticism accorded to them by the press, and for the number of private expressions of approval which the Editor has received from fellow Priests, he feels deeply grateful ; yet his gratitude is not so much on his own account, or on that of his little book, a^ that this portion, at least, of the writings of S. Thomas Aquinas is allowed to be capable of supplying one of the wants of the present day a really sound help to sermon- making. It is a most cheering and encouraging fact, that the men of the present day are willing in any degree to acknow- ledge, that they can learn something of value from the great Schoolman. Despite all the undeserved contempt and obloquy heaped upon the Schoolmen, both at the time of the so-called revival of letters and ever since ; despite the vast advances which have been made during the last half century in every department of theological learning and criticism ; and, lastly, despite the growth of that spirit of infi- delity, a combined product of the nominalism which accompanied the religious convulsions three hundred years ago, and of the Protestant dogma of right of private judgment the sermons of the “Angelical Doctor” are
being not only read, but preached, in substance, if not in form, in many churches, both at home and in the Colo- nies. The Translator’s work has been indeed a labour of love, sweetened by the thought and strengthened by the belief that this little book must contribute, in some small degree, to a revival amongst us of the Scholastic Theology. There are many reasons which render such a revival desirable, and at the present time especially so ; but there is one reason above all others which claims to be stated here. In so far as things divine have an intellectual basis, and can be shadowed forth by any operation of the mind, they must be represented to us by conceptions which far surpass any possible earthly manifestation of them. The ” hypos- tasis of things hoped for’ r can only spring from the abiding conviction, that we are now to rest upon certain ideas which hereafter shall be exchanged for their realities. Now, we can form but an idea of what the absolutely good, and true, and beautiful may be like; by-and-by we expect to see these ideas realized, in God, and in our glorified selves. Yet perfect goodness, and truthfulness, and beauty, and holiness are not mere ideas; they are realities, finding their true archetype in the mind and being of God realities of which, by our union with Him through our Blessed Lord, we may hope to be partakers. The teaching of the four great Schoolmen, of Abert the Great, as well as of the Seraphic, Angelical, and Subtle Doctors, was, in common with that of Plato and the New Testament, essentially and entirely realistic. However the Scotists differed from the Thomists on some questions of Theology, they were quite agreed upon this point. However Luther may have differed from Zwingle, and Zwingle from Calvin, in their “views” of
Sacramental grace, they were ” consented together ” in support of that nominalism which would reduce the deep mysteries of the Kingdom of Grace to mere names, and would limit our conceptions of them, and endeavours after them, to what it seems now possible to attain. It is not too much to say, that the Sadduceeism which is now sapping all the vitality of our faith and morals, is but the legitimate product of that nominalism which has lain at the root of all religious belief ever since the religious movement of the sixteenth century. Because the Scholastic Theology is realistic in its teaching, it is the only antidote which will be powerful enough to counteract the effects of that pernicious influence which the Teutonic Upas-tree has cast over so large a por- tion of Christendom. In these skeleton sermons, the realistic teaching is, with one single exception (Epiph. Horn. I., iii.), indirect, giving to them an anti-monastic tone and temper, at the same time not leading to the sacrifice of any portion of their practical bearing. Short and unpretending as they are, they admit of a threefold use. Firstly, they can be taken as profitable guides in directing private or devotional reading ; for they are full of vigorous and condensed thoughts they bring things new and old together in a striking relationship. We notice a few such thoughts. In the Advent Homilies (I.) the sevenfold benefit of our Blessed Lord’s second coming; and the moral aphorism, that “a man is in the judgment by thinking upon the judgment ;” that goodness has its precepts, counsels, and promises (Horn. IV.); the threefold cry of Christ (Horn. IX.) In the Lenten Homilies, the fast in Paradise, and our Lord’s fasting as joined with His Baptism (Horn. I.) ; the seven things that our Lord did upon the Mountain (Horn. VIII.) ; and the threefold nature of the Word of
God (Horn. X.) The Easter Homilies explain the three kinds of flowers in our Lord, and the three typical Maries (Horn. II.) ; what it is for a man to be at peace with him- self (Horn. V.) ; the three gifts of Christ His Body, His Blood, His Soul (Horn. VI.) ; three reasons why the Ador- able Son came forth from the Father (Horn. XIII.) In the Trinity Homilies, we read of the Heavenly Feast, its makers, ministers, and guests (Horn. IV.); how the Holy Angels stand before God in contemplation, love, and praise (Horn. VI.) ; why the Holy Angels desire the creature’s future glory (Horn. VII.) ; the seven loaves with which she feeds the faithful (Horn. XIV.) ; three witnesses against the sinner in the Judgment God, conscience, creation ; it is a momentary thing which delights, an eternal thing which crucifies (Horn. XX.) ; unity of the intellect, of the affec- tions, of the life (Horn. XXXIII.) ; the security, the pleasantness, and abundance of the City of God (Horn. XXXVII.); the translation of the Saints (Horn. XL VII.) Such as these are the lines of reflection which S. Thomas offers to the contemplation of the thoughtful and devout reader, ^presenting the subject in germ, leaving its develop- ment to the effort of individual minds. As neither moral nor spiritual truth affects any two persons in precisely the same way, such a method of presenting truth as this is, leaves for the initiated mind nothing to be desired; whilst the uninitiated soul would scarcely be capable of receiving the generalizations of S. Thomas in any form. * Secondly, these Homilies are valuable as giving the scholastic interpretation of many texts of Holy Scripture; valuable as shewing how the Schoolmen saw our Blessed Lord as shadowed forth in type and prophecy in God’s
servants of old. Amongst a vast number of explained texts, we select the following, as worthy of special notice : In the Advent Homilies, Joel iii. 18, a prophecy of the Incarnation (Horn. I.); Hos. xiii. 14, the spoliation of Hades ; Eph. i. 18, the reparation of Heaven ; Isa. Ixi. 1 fully commented on ; 2 Sam. xxii. 36 applied to our Blessed Lord (Horn. II.) ; Ps. cxlviii. 6, universal service of God by creation (Horn. ILL.) ; Ps. xxxix. 3, the fire that burned, that of contrition. In the Lenten Homilies, Heb. ix. 10, the ” reformation,” as of the Jew ; Prov. i. 8, the ” mother ” is Holy Church (Horn. I.) ; Rev. xvi. 13, the frogs are spirits of detraction (Horn. IV.) ; Job xvi. 22, the walk of death (Horn. V.) ; Ezek. xxviii. 16, interpreted of a devil (Horn. VI.) ; Ps. xxxi. 21, the “shining city” is the City of God; Isa. xxxi. 9, fire and furnace symbols of charity (Horn. VH.) ; S. John xiv. 30, our Blessed Lord walking dryshod over the sea of this world ; Exod. xxxv. 30 gives the twelve breads with which our Lord feeds the faithful (Horn. VIH.); Zech. ix. 11, the deliverance of the Saints from Hades (Horn. IX.) ; Job iv. 12, the mental word (Horn. X.) ; Coloss. i. 30, recruiting of the Heavenly Ones (Horn. XII.) In the Easter Homilies is noted Ex. xii. 21, Numb. ix. 3-5, Jos. v. 10, the three mystical Passovers (Horn. I.); Cant. ii. 12, flowers are the splendour of the Lord’s glorified Body ; S. Matt, xxviii. 2, the earthquake a leaping of the earth for joy (Horn. II.) ; Ezek. xxxvi. 25, clean water of Holy Baptism (Horn. III.) ; Jer. xi. 19, our Blessed Lord the Lamb brought to the slaughter (Horn. V.); Ezek. iv. 14, the Lord feeding His flock (Horn. VI.) ; Judges ii. 1 proves sadness of this present world ; Nah. i. 13 applied to eternal
happiness (Horn. VIII.) ; Lam. iii. 26, the elevation of the mind to God. The Trinity Homilies are very rich in deep and thoughtful readings of Holy Scripture. Isa. xxv. 5, the feast of the new Creation (Horn. IV.) ; Isa. vi. 5, seraphims of purifica- tion (Horn. VI.) ; Ps. cv. 6, the reparation of the Heavenly City (Horn. VII.) ; Isa. xxvi., the lost gift of glory (Horn. IX.); Isa. iii. 14 explains the “council” of S. Matt. v. 22 (Horn. XII.) ; Ps. cxxxii. 15, the Eternal Bread (Horn. XIV.); Job xx. 27 referred to final Judgment (Horn. XVIII.) ; Isa. xxx. 1-8, shews the nature of the trust of the wicked (Horn. XXIII.); S. Mark vii. 33, mystical fingers put into ears (Horn. XXIV.) ; Ps. Ivii. 3, healing power of Holy Baptism (Horn. XXVI.); Ps. Ixxvi. 2, Salem, the Tabernacle of Peace (Horn. XXVII.); Isa. xxxiii. 20, a description of the City of God (Horn. XXXVIII.) ; Isa. iii. 14, army of Saints final ministers of punishment (Horn. XL.); Prov. xviii. 4, “deep waters” represent the Old Testament, the “flowing brooks” the New Testament (Horn. L.) These Homilies are, to a limited extent, a commentary upon many difficult passages of the Inspired Canon. Thirdly, the great use of these Homilies is for sermon- making. They bring a text of Holy Scripture to bear upon each statement ; they adopt a natural division of the subject ; they take up minute details which signify much, but which at first sight seem to be wholly unworthy of notice; they con- trast in the strongest possible way nature with grace. These four statements can be proved with the utmost ease by a careful reading of only a few of the Homilies. There are two methods by which these outlines can be expanded into a sermon of the required length for the present
day : by enlarging upon the divisions of each and every head, lengthening the whole sermon equally. But by far the most telling result is obtained, in the majority of cases at least, by confining the expansion to only one head. Take, for example, Homily X., for Lent: “The Word of God and its Hearers.” Omitting the first head, the three ways in which the Saints are of God ; the third and fourth heads, the foolishness and misery of those who hear not ; we treat alone of the second head, the Threefold Word of God which the Saints hear. ” 1. Eternal: S. John i. 1, ‘In the beginning was the Word.’” This naturally leads to the mention of all the utterances of God the Son, whether as the Word creative or prophetical, before the Incarnation ; of what our Lord did in that infinite abyss of past time, in that eternal to-> day of God when the Son went out to create the worlds. The pre-Incarnate naturally links itself on to the Incarnate Word, to our Lord’s eternal words which He spake in time ; eternal in import, containing an eternal consequence either for life or for death. These eternal words He is speaking in His Body the Church now ; as He spake, so speaks the Church, proclaiming those words of truth and life, which became as wells of water in the souls of the faithful, springing up into everlasting life. So for ever to His Elect will the Saviour speak words of encouragement, and hope, and love ; at the end of all things of love only, when charity alone remains. The Eternal Word, “I am Alpha and Omega.” Abel heard His voice ; all the Patriarchs and Prophets of the Elder Church all the Saints, Virgins, Martyrs, Con- fessors of the New Covenant; the Voice of the Beloved, eternal as His own nature is, eternal in power and action upon ourselves. The Saints “hear by faith.” He it is Who
is speaking in His Holy Sacraments, by the mouths of His Priests. Meet it is that the Eternal High Priest should speak in the Eternal Mysteries of His Church and Kingdom. “We need faith in these Mysteries, in order that we may hear His ” Eternal Word.” 2. Mental: Job iv. 12, “A thing [word, Vulg.] was secretly brought to me.” Not that secret word which, as S. Gregory says, the heretics pretend to hear, who represent the Woman of Solomon saying (Prov. ix. 17; Vulg. 7), ” Stolen waters are sweeter, and bread eaten in secret is more pleasant.” Not that secret word which would lift some above others, and which can only be obtained by secret means, but that communication of inward inspiration when the secret word is delivered to the minds of the Elect, of whom S. John says (1 S. John ii. 27), “His anointing teacheth you all things.” This is that mental word which is received in the heart by the utterance of the Holy Ghost ; secret, to be felt, not expressed in the noise of speech ; it sounds secretly in the ear of the soul. Seek we to have our souls silent before God, freed from pleadings of all emotion, to catch the accents of the mental word. This mental word is the fruit of contemplation ; and, by the chinks of such con- templation, God speaks to us, not in voice, but through mind ; not fully developing Himself, yet revealing something of Himself to the mind of man. As we bore through the strata of earth to find that water which is silently circulating through its crust, so we, by contemplation, boring through the strata of the letter, find the ever-flowing grace which reveals itself as a mental word : the Saints hear this ” by inspiration (Ps. Ixxxv. 8), ‘ I will hear what God the Lord will speak ‘ ” (p. 18). 3. Vocal : S. Matt. iv. 4, ” Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceedeth,” &c. Vocal words: God’s commands, His promises, the dogmatic teaching of the Catholic faith this the Saints learn and hear ” by preaching (S. Luke viii. 8), ‘ He that hath ears to hear, let him hear’ ” (p. 19). Take heed how ye hear. Office of preaching in the Church. Duty of hearers and of preachers. Sum up these words : Incarnate Word, to be believed on ; Inspired Word, to be felt ; Preached Word, to be lived upon. After all, it must be left to the preacher’s own peculiar habit of thought to determine which of the heads shall be expanded ; and the manner in which this is to be done. The Homily upon which the attempt has been made is not as favourable as some others for the experiment; it seemed fairer to take a more unlikely one to illustrate in the process, as far as the translator had the power to do so. Almost a course of Sermons could be founded upon Homily XLV., for the Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity. In regard to the Author of these Homilies, he was born A.D. 1224, in the castle of Aquin, in the territory of Lahore, in Italy, being descended from the Kings of Sicily and Aragon. Educated firstly in the Monastery of Mount Cassino, afterwards at Naples. In 1244, studied at Cologne under Albertus Magnus. Doctor of Paris, 1255. Returned into Italy, 1263. Professor of Scholastic Theology at Naples. Died 1274, in the Monastery of Fossanova, near Terracina. An old distich prefixed to his portrait runs thus : Nobilibus Thomas generatus utroque parente Terrarum scriptis claret ubique suis. And he will shine as long as profound Scriptural
Theology shall continue to hold its own in the world. May this little book be but a first fruit of the revival amongst us of the study of the writings of S. Thomas Aquinas. S. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, Feast of S. Matthew, 1867.