Sermo 15
The Kindness of the Spirit and the Twofold Name
The Spirit readily answers those who call, and the Bridegroom's titles throughout Scripture fall under the two categories of loving devotion and majesty.
The Spirit of wisdom is kind, and isn't inclined to be difficult toward those who call on him; indeed, often even before he's invoked, he says, 'Here I am.' Hear now what he deigns to make known to you through me concerning that matter which we put off until this very point yesterday, and receive the timely fruit of your prayers. Look, I show you the name that is rightly compared to oil — and I'll tell you why it is so. You read many titles of the Bridegroom scattered throughout every page of Scripture, but I'll gather them all for you into two categories. I don't think you'll find any that doesn't speak of either the grace of loving devotion or the power of majesty.1 The Spirit also speaks through an instrument more closely attuned to himself: 'Two things I have heard: that power belongs to God, and that mercy belongs to you, O Lord.' So according to majesty: 'Holy and awesome is his name'; according to loving devotion: 'There is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.' But this will become clearer through examples.
Names of Power and Names of Mercy
Scripture alternates between titles that reveal God's majesty and titles that reveal his mercy, and both belong to Christ.
This, he says, is the name they will call him: the Lord, our just one.✦ It is a name of power. Likewise, his name will be called Emmanuel; it implies mercy.✦2 Likewise he himself says of himself: You call me, he says, Master and Lord.✦ The first is of grace, the second of majesty. For it is no less an act of mercy to teach the mind knowledge than to provide food for the body. Again the prophet: His name will be called, he says, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Father of the age to come, Prince of Peace.✦ The first, third, and fourth ring with majesty; the rest, with mercy.
From Majesty to Mercy in Christ
The name of majesty is poured out and transformed into the name of grace, prefigured already in the renaming of Abram and Sarai.
So which of these names is being poured out? Clearly, the name of majesty and power is transferred, in a certain way, into what belongs to piety and grace, and it is poured out abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. The name that is God — doesn't it, in the sense of 'God with us,' melt away and dissolve into Emmanuel?✦ So 'Wonderful' passes into 'Counselor'; so 'God and Mighty One' passes into 'Father of the age to come' and 'Prince of Peace'; and 'the Lord our Just One' passes into 'the merciful and compassionate Lord.'✦✦ I'm not saying something unprecedented: even in former times Abram was poured out into Abraham, and Sarai into Sarah; and already then we recall that the mystery of this saving outpouring was both celebrated and prefigured.✦
The Name Poured Out to Moses
The ancient thunder of 'I am the Lord' gives way to the intimate self-disclosure to Moses, whose reception of the name depended on its being poured out.
What has become of that word that used to thunder out so terribly and so often among the ancients: I am the Lord, I am the Lord? There is a word addressed to me whose beginning, with the sweet paternal name, gives confidence that the petitions that follow will be granted. Servants are called friends, and the resurrection is announced not only to the disciples but to the brothers. I'm not surprised that when the fullness of time came, the name was poured out — for God, fulfilling through Joel what he had promised, is also pouring out his Spirit upon all flesh — since I read that something like this once happened among the Hebrews too. I believe you can already see ahead and know now what I want to say. What was the answer, I ask, that was first given to Moses when he inquired: I am who am? And: The one who is has sent me to you? I don't know whether even Moses himself would have received it in this way, if the name had not first clearly been poured out upon him.
Poured Out in Heaven and on Earth
The name once known privately to angels has now been poured out to humanity, fulfilling the cry 'Oil poured out is your name.'
But it's been poured out, and it's been taken up — not merely poured out, but poured out and spilled abroad, since it had already been poured in.✦ Heaven already possessed it; it had already become known to the angels. But it has been sent abroad, and what had been so poured into the angels as to be kept private has been poured out upon human beings, so that even then it could rightly be cried from the earth: 'Oil poured out is your name' — had not the hateful obstinance of an ungrateful people stood in the way.✦ For he says: 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'✦
Calling the Nations to the Poured-Out Name
All peoples are summoned to draw near, to seek the oil of mercy, and to find in the poured-out name the removal of reproach.
Run, nations — salvation is at hand; the name is poured out, and whoever calls on it will be saved. He names himself God of angels, and also God of humankind. He sent oil upon Jacob, and it fell upon Israel. Say to your brothers: Give us some of your oil. If they refuse, ask the Lord for oil, so that he may send it to you as well. Say: Take away our reproach. Please — don't let the malicious one insult your beloved, whom it pleased you to call from the ends of the earth — all the more worthily, precisely because she is less worthy. I beg you — is it fitting that a worthless servant should shut out those invited by a kind master?
The Feast of the Poured-Out Name
God pours out his blessing so that all peoples may feast with Abraham, and the faithful will gain ready access to Jesus through Philip and Andrew.
I am, you say, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And nothing more than that? Pour out, pour out; open your hand still, and fill every creature with blessing. Let them come from the east and the west, and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Let them come, the tribes, the tribes of the Lord, the people of Israel, to confess the name of the Lord. Let them come and sit at table; let them feast and delight in gladness, and let one voice everywhere resound in a cry of joy and praise — the sound of the feasting one: Your name is oil poured out. One thing I know: if we have Philip and Andrew as doorkeepers, we won't face any rejection at all — whoever we ask for oil, whoever we want to see Jesus. Without hesitation Philip will say to Andrew; and Andrew and Philip will say to Jesus.
The Grain of Wheat and the Name among the Nations
Jesus is the grain that dies to bear fruit, and through his death repentance and forgiveness are preached in his name to all nations.
But what about Jesus? Surely this: that he is Jesus.3 Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.✦ Let the grain die, then, and let the harvest of the nations rise up.✦ It is necessary for Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and for repentance and the forgiveness of sins to be preached in his name, not only in Judea but also among all nations, so that by the one name which is Christ, thousands upon thousands of believers may be called Christians, and may say: Your name is oil poured out.✦
The Name Filling Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld
The blessed name runs from Judea to the whole earth, reaches even the underworld, and makes salvation both precious and accessible to all.
I recognize the name I read about in Isaiah: 'He will call his servants by another name,' in which everyone blessed on earth will be blessed in the Lord, amen.✦ O blessed name! O oil poured out everywhere! How long? From heaven it runs into Judea, and from there out to all the earth; and from the whole world the Church cries out: 'Your name is like poured-out oil.'✦ Clearly poured out, because it flooded not only the heavens and the earth but even sprinkled the underworld, so that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow—of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth—and every tongue would confess and say: 'Your name is like poured-out oil.'✦✦ Behold Christ, behold Jesus—poured into the angels, poured out upon those people who had rotted like beasts in their own filth—saving both the people and the beasts, as God multiplied his mercy. How precious, how cheap!
Christ Himself Poured Out
Because Christ emptied himself and was poured out like water, believers become co-heirs with him and share the fullness of the Godhead dwelling on earth.
Cheap, but wholesome. If it weren't cheap, it wouldn't be poured out for me; if it weren't wholesome, it wouldn't gain me anything. I'm a sharer in the name, and an heir as well; I'm a Christian, a brother of Christ. If I am what I'm called, I'm an heir of God, but a co-heir with Christ.✦ And why should it be any wonder that the bridegroom's name is poured out, when he himself is also poured out? For he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.✦ In short, he says: I am poured out like water. The fullness of the Godhead is poured out, dwelling on earth in bodily form, so that from that fullness all of us who carry this body of death might receive, and filled with the life-giving fragrance, might say: Your name is poured out like oil.✦✦
The Outpouring of the Name Declared
A brief exclamation marvels at how, in what way, and to what extent the name has been poured out.
See how the name is poured out, and in what way, and to what extent.
Why Oil? Threefold Virtue of the Name
The Holy Spirit compares the Bridegroom's name to oil because oil shines, nourishes, and anoints—light, food, and medicine.
Why oil, though? I haven't said that yet. In the previous sermon I had begun to speak, but something else suddenly came up that seemed to need preaching on. I may have gone further than I intended, but I don't think it was anything other than what the strong woman, Wisdom, reached out her hand to grasp, and her fingers took hold of the spindle. For she knows how to take a small amount of wool or flax and draw it out into a long thread, then spread it across the width of the loom, and so clothe all her household with double garments. There's no doubt that there's a likeness between oil and the bridegroom's name; and the Holy Spirit didn't compare the two without good reason. But I say this with respect to a certain threefold quality of oil: it shines, it nourishes, and it anoints — unless you have something better to offer. It fosters fire, feeds the flesh, and soothes pain: light, food, medicine.
The Name That Shines, Feeds, and Heals
Proclaimed, the name shines; recalled in thought, it feeds; invoked, it soothes and anoints.
See now the same thing in the bridegroom's name. Proclaimed, it shines; recalled in thought, it feeds; invoked, it soothes and anoints.4 And let us run through each one in turn.
The Name as Light to the World
The proclamation of Jesus is the sudden light of faith shining across the world, illuminating believers and striking even physical eyes with miraculous power.
Where do you think such a great and sudden light of faith shines out across the whole world, unless it comes from the proclamation of Jesus? Hasn't God called us, in the light of this name, into his own wonderful light? Those who have been illuminated and who see in that light, Paul can rightly say to them: You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. The apostle was, after all, commanded to carry this name before kings and nations and the children of Israel; and he bore the name like a light, illuminating his homeland and crying out everywhere: Night has gone before, but the day has drawn near. Let us cast off the works of darkness, then, and put on the armor of light, so that we may walk honorably, as in the day. And he was showing the lamp to all, set high on the lampstand, proclaiming Jesus everywhere, and him crucified. How that light shone forth and struck the eyes of everyone who beheld it, when from Peter's mouth, going out like lightning, it made firm the bodily feet and ankles of a lame man and illuminated many who were spiritually blind. Didn't it scatter fire when he said: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk? The name of Jesus is not only light; it is also food.
The Name as Food for the Soul
Remembering Jesus nourishes the mind, seasons every thought and word, and is honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, and jubilation in the heart.
Aren't you strengthened as often as you remember him? What so nourishes the mind of the one who thinks on him? Why does it so restore the senses when they're exercised, strengthen the virtues, quicken good and honorable manners, and cherish chaste affections? Every food for the soul is dry if it isn't poured over with that oil; it's tasteless if it isn't seasoned with that salt. If you write, it's tasteless to me unless I read Jesus there. If you argue or confer, it's tasteless to me unless Jesus is heard there. Jesus is honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, and jubilation in the heart. But there is also a remedy.
The Name as Remedy for the Afflicted
When invoked, the name drives away sadness, sin, sloth, fear, and doubt, offering confidence and certainty to the troubled soul.
Is anyone among you saddened? Let Jesus come into your heart, and from there leap to your mouth; and see, at the rising of the name, every cloud flees away, and it returns clear. Has anyone slipped into sin and, what's more, rushed into the snare of death through despair? Won't the one who calls on the name of life immediately breathe again toward life? Before whose face did the hardness of heart ever stand — as it so often does — the sloth of laziness, the rancor of the mind, the languor of acedia? Before whom, when Jesus is invoked, did the perhaps dried-up fountain of tears not immediately burst forth more abundantly and flow more sweetly? For the one trembling and terrified in dangers, did the name of virtue, once called upon, not immediately offer confidence and drive away fear? For the one, I ask, burning and wavering in doubt, did certainty not suddenly shine forth at the invocation of the bright name?
The Name That Restores and Protects
Calling on Jesus brings rescue from trouble, restrains every vice, and provides both the example of a humble life and the almighty help of God.
When someone in trouble has lost trust and is now at the point of collapse — if the name of the Helper has sounded, has strength been lacking? Surely these diseases and weaknesses of the soul are exactly that — the medicine. And in the end, it is even possible to put it to the proof: 'Call on me,' he says, 'in the day of trouble; I will rescue you, and you will honor me.' Nothing so restrains the onslaught of anger, calms the swelling of pride, heals the wound of envy, checks the flood of lust, extinguishes the flame of desire, tempers the thirst of greed, and puts to flight the itch of every shameful thing. Indeed, when I name Jesus, I set before myself a person who is meek and humble in heart, kind, sober, chaste, merciful, and conspicuous in every form of honor and holiness — and this same person is almighty God, who heals me by his own example and strengthens me by his help. All of these things sound out to me together, once Jesus has sounded. So I take examples from the man and help from the powerful one — the one as so many fragrant ingredients, the other as the sharpener of those ingredients — and I make a compound medicine that no physician could match.
The Name as a Sealed Remedy
The soul should keep the name of Jesus always in heart and hand, as a seal upon heart and arm, to direct every sense and action toward him.
This is the remedy you have, my soul, stored up in the small vessel of the word that is Jesus — a saving remedy, to be sure, one that will never be found powerless against any affliction of yours. Let it always rest in your heart, always in your hand, so that all your senses and actions may be directed toward Jesus. And furthermore, you are invited: Set me, he says, as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm.✦ But this is for another time. As it is, you now have from which both your arm and your heart may be healed. You have, I say, in the name of Jesus, the means to correct your actions when they are wrong, or to complete them when they are less than perfect; and likewise the means to guard your senses so they are not corrupted, or, if they are corrupted, to heal them.
Empty Names and the True Jesus
The Synagogue's empty Jesuses neither shine, feed, nor heal, but the true Jesus proves himself by forgiving sins and giving life.
Judea, too, had its Jesuses, who glory in empty names. For those things neither shine, nor feed, nor heal. Therefore the Synagogue remains in darkness to this day, laboring under hunger and weakness; and it will neither be healed nor satisfied until it knows my Jesus ruling over Jacob and the ends of the earth, and turns toward the evening, and suffers hunger like a dog, and wanders around the city. And those men were indeed sent ahead, like a staff going before a dead prophet, yet they could not interpret their own names; for they were empty. A staff was laid over the dead, and there was neither voice nor feeling, because it was a staff. The one who sent the staff came down, and soon made his people safe from their sins, proving himself to be what was spoken of: Who is this, who even forgives sins? Surely the one who says, I am the salvation of the people. Now there is a voice, now there is sense, and it is clear that he does not carry an empty name like those before him.
Life Restored and Praise Renewed
Where the true name is infused, compunction and confession return, and the soul raised from death hears Christ say, 'I am your salvation.'
Salvation is felt when it's infused, and the benefit isn't kept silent. Inside, there's feeling; outside, there's a voice. I'm pierced with compunction, and I confess, and my confession shows I have life: for from the dead—like someone who doesn't exist—confession perishes. Here is life, here is feeling. I've been raised up perfectly; the resurrection is complete. Is the death of the body anything else than when it's deprived of feeling and life? Sin, which is the death of the soul, had left me neither the feeling of compunction nor the voice of confession, and I was dead. He comes who forgives sins, and restores both, and says to my soul: I am your salvation.✦
Confession, Praise, and the Sacred Seven
Believing with the heart and confessing with the mouth leads to salvation, and the sevenfold praise of the psalm points to a sacred number reserved for another sermon.
What wonder is it if death yields, where life comes down? Now one believes with the heart unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.✦ Now the boy yawns, and yawns seven times, and says: "Seven times a day I have spoken your praise, Lord."✦ See this sevenfold number. It is a sacred number; it is not empty. But it's better to save this for another sermon, so that we who are hungry and not fastidious may approach so good a feast, with the Bridegroom of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, inviting us—he who is over all things, God blessed forever. Amen.✦ Amen.
Read the original Latin
Benignus est Spiritus sapientiae, et non consuevit esse difficilis se invocantibus, qui saepe et antequam invocetur, dicit: Ecce adsum. Audite iam quod orantibus vobis per me indicare dignatur de eo, quod heri ad hoc ipsum distulimus, et orationum vestrarum fructum tempestivum percipite. En ostendo nomen, quod oleo merito comparatur; et quo merito, dicam. Multa quidem Sponsi vocabula sparsa per omnem divinam paginam legitis, sed in duo ea vobis universa complectar. Nullum, ut arbitror, reperietis, quod non aut pietatis gratiam, aut potentiam maiestatis sonet. Spiritus ita dicit etiam per sibi familiarius organum: Duo haec audivi: quia potestas Dei est, et tibi, Domine, misericordia. Ergo secundum maiestatem: Sanctum et terribile nomen eius; secundum pietatem: Non est nomen aliud sub coelo datum hominibus, in quo oporteat nos salvos fieri. Sed exemplis magis perspicuum fiet.
Hoc est, inquit, nomen quod vocabunt eum, Dominus, iustus noster. Nomen potentiae est. Item: Et vocabitur nomen eius Emmanuel; pietatem insinuat. Item ipse de se: Vos vocatis me, ait, Magister et Domine. Primum gratiae est, secundum maiestatis. Non enim minus pium est docere animum scientiam, quam praebere escam corpori. Rursum propheta: Vocabitur, inquit, nomen eius Admirabilis, consiliarius, Deus fortis, pater futuri saeculi, princeps pacis. Primum, tertium, quartum, maiestatem sonant; reliqua, pietatem.
Quod horum ergo effunditur? Profecto maiestatis ac potentiae nomen, in id quod est pietatis et gratiae, quodam modo transfunditur, ipsumque effunditur abunde per Iesum Christum Salvatorem nostrum. Nomen, verbi causa, quod Deus est, nonne in id quod est nobiscum Deus, hoc est in Emmanuel, liquescit et deficit? Sic Admirabilis, in id quod est consiliarius; sic Deus et fortis, in ea quae sunt pater futuri saeculi et princeps pacis; et Dominus iustus noster, in misericors et miserator Dominus. Non dico novum quid: quondam quoque nihilominus Abram in Abraham, et Sarai in Saram effusa sunt; et iam tunc salutiferae effusionis celebratum praefiguratumque mysterium recordamur.
Ubi iam illud, quod apud antiquos tam terribiliter, quam frequenter intonare solebat: Ego Dominus, ego Dominus? Mihi dictatur oratio cuius principium, nomine dulce paterno, sequentium obtinendarum petitionum praebet fiduciam. Servi nominantur amici, et resurrectio non saltem discipulis, sed fratribus nuntiatur. Nec miror, si cum venit plenitudo temporis, facta est effusio nominis; Deo quippe quod per Ioelem promiserat adimplente, et effundente de Spiritu suo super omnem carnem; cum tale aliquid et apud Hebraeos olim contigisse legam. Credo vos praevolare, et scire iam quid dicere velim. Quale erat, inquam, quod sciscitanti Moysi primo responsum est: Ego sum qui sum? et: Qui est, misit me ad vos? Nescio an vel ipse Moyses caperet sic, si non videlicet effunderetur.
Sed fusum est, et captum est; nec modo fusum, sed et effusum: nam infusum iam erat. Iam coeli habebant illud, iam angelis innotuerat. Est autem foris missum; et quod angelis ita erat infusum ut esset et privatum, effusum et in homines est, ita ut iam tunc merito clamaretur de terra: Oleum effusum nomen tuum : si non ingratae plebis exosa pervicacia obstitisset. Ait enim: Ego sum Deus Abraham, et Deus Isaac, et Deus Iacob.
Currite, gentes; ad manum est salus, effusum est nomen, quod quicunque invocaverit, salvus erit. Angelorum Deus, etiam hominum Deum se nominat. Oleum misit in Iacob, et cecidit in Israel. Dicite fratribus vestris: Date nobis de oleo vestro. Si nolunt, rogate Dominum olei, ut mittat et vobis. Dicite: Aufer opprobrium nostrum. Ne, quaeso, insultet malevolus dilectae tuae, quam a finibus terrae evocare placuit tibi, tanto utique dignantius, quanto minus dignam. Decetne, obsecro, ut benigni patrisfamilias invitatos servus nequam excludat?
Ego sum, ais, Deus Abraham, et Deus Isaac, et Deus Iacob. Et non amplius? Effunde, effunde; aperi manum tuam adhuc, et imple omne animal benedictione. Veniant ab oriente et occidente, et recumbant cum Abraham, Isaac et Iacob in regno coelorum. Veniant, veniant tribus, tribus Domini; testimonium Israel ad confitendum nomini Domini. Veniant et recumbant, epulentur et delectentur in laetitia, et unus ubique resonet in voce exsultationis et confessionis sonus epulantis; Oleum effusum nomen tuum. Unum scio, si Philippum et Andream habuerimus ostiarios, repulsam omnino non patimur quicunque oleum petimus, quicunque volumus Iesum videre. Incunctanter Philippus dicet Andreae; Andreas autem et Philippus dicent Iesu.
Iesus autem quid? Profecto quod Iesus. Nisi granum frumenti cadens in terram mortuum fuerit, ipsum solum manet; si autem mortuum fuerit, multum fructum affert. Moriatur igitur granum, et surgat gentium seges. Oportet pati Christum, et resurgere a mortuis, et praedicari in nomine eius poenitentiam et remissionem peccatorum, non solum in Iudaeam, sed etiam in omnes gentes; quatenus ab uno nomine, quod est Christus, millia millium credentium Christiani dicantur, et dicant: Oleum effusum nomen tuum.
Agnosco enim nomen, quod in Isaia legi: Servos suos, inquit, vocabit nomine alio, in quo qui benedictus est super terram, benedicetur in Domino, amen. O nomen benedictum! O oleum usquequaque effusum! Quousque? De coelo in Iudaeam, et inde in omnem terram excurrit; et de toto orbe clamat Ecclesia: Oleum effusum nomen tuum. Effusum plane, quod non solum coelos terrasque perfudit, sed aspersit et inferos, adeo ut in nomine Iesu omne genu flectatur, coelestium, terrestrium et infernorum, et omnis lingua confiteatur, et dicat: Oleum effusum nomen tuum. Ecce Christus, ecce Iesus, utrumque infusum angelis, utrumque effusum in homines, et illos homines qui computruerant tanquam iumenta in stercore suo, homines et iumenta salvans, quemadmodum multiplicavit misericordiam suam Deus. Quam charum, quam vile!
vile, sed salubre. Si vile non esset, non mihi effunderetur; si salubre non esset, non me lucraretur. Particeps nominis sum, sum et haereditatis, Christianus sum; frater Christi sum. Si sum quod dicor, haeres sum Dei, cohaeres autem Christi. Et quid mirum, si sponsi effusum est nomen, cum ipse quoque effusus sit? Nam semetipsum exinanivit, formam servi accipiens. Denique ait: Sicut aqua effusus sum. Effusa est plenitudo Divinitatis, habitans super terram corporaliter, ut de illa plenitudine omnes, qui corpus mortis gestamus, caperemus, ac vitali odore repleti diceremus: Oleum effusum nomen tuum.
En quod nomen effusum, et qualiter, et quatenus.
Cur vero oleum? Nam hoc nondum dixi. In sermone superiore dicere coeperam; sed intervenit subito aliud quod praedicandum videbatur. Quanquam intermiserim ultra quam credidi: quod non aliud esse reor, nisi quod fortis mulier Sapientia misit manum ad collum, et digiti eius apprehenderunt fusum. Novit enim modicam lanam vel linum in longum producere filum, atque in telae extendere latitudinem, et sic omnes domesticos suos vestire duplicibus. Est procul dubio inter oleum et nomen sponsi similitudo; nec otiose Spiritus sanctus alterutrum comparavit. Ego autem dico in triplici quadam qualitate olei, quod lucet, pascit et ungit, si vos melius non habetis. Fovet ignem, nutrit carnem, lenit dolorem; lux, cibus, medicina.
Vide idem nunc et de sponsi nomine. Lucet praedicatum, pascit recogitatum, invocatum lenit et ungit. Et percurramus singula.
Unde putas in toto orbe tanta, et tam subita fidei lux, nisi de praedicato Iesu? Nonne in huius nominis luce Deus nos vocavit in admirabile lumen suum, quibus illuminatis, et in lumine isto videntibus lumen, dicat merito Paulus: Fuistis aliquando tenebrae, nunc autem lux in Domino? Hoc denique nomen coram regibus, et gentibus, et filiis Israel portare iussus est idem apostolus; et portabat nomen tanquam lumen, et illuminabat patriam, et clamabat ubique: Nox praecessit, dies autem appropinquavit. Abiiciamus ergo opera tenebrarum, et induamur arma lucis: sicut in die honeste ambulemus. Et monstrabat omnibus lucernam super candelabrum, annuntians in omni loco Iesum, et hunc crucifixum. Quomodo lux ista insplenduit ac perstrinxit cunctorum intuentium oculos, quando de ore Petri, tanquam fulgur, egrediens, claudi unius corporales plantas solidavit et bases, multosque spiritualiter caecos illuminavit? Nunquid non ignem sparsit, cum ait: In nomine Iesu Christi Nazareni surge et ambula? Nec tantum lux est nomen Iesu, sed est et cibus.
An non toties confortaris, quoties recordaris? Quid aeque mentem cogitantis impinguat? quid ita exercitatos reparat sensus, virtutes roborat, vegetat mores bonos atque honestos, castas fovet affectiones? Aridus est omnis animae cibus, si non oleo isto infunditur; insipidus est, si non hoc sale conditur. Si scribas, non sapit mihi nisi legero ibi Iesum. Si disputes aut conferas, non sapit mihi, nisi sonuerit ibi Iesus. Iesus mel in ore, in aure melos, in corde iubilus. Sed est et medicina.
Tristatur aliquis vestrum? Veniat in cor Iesus, et inde saliat in os; et ecce ad exortum nominis lumen, nubilum omne diffugit, redit serenum. Labitur quis in crimen, currit insuper ad laqueum mortis desperando? Nonne si invocet nomen vitae, confestim respirabit ad vitam? Cui aliquando stetit ante faciem salutaris nominis duritia, ut assolet, cordis, ignaviae torpor, rancor animi, languor acediae? cui fons forte siccatus lacrymarum, invocato Iesu, non continuo erupit uberior, fluxit suavior? Cui, in periculis palpitanti et trepidanti, invocatum virtutis nomen non statim fiduciam praestitit, depulit metum? Cui, quaeso, in dubiis aestuanti et fluctuanti, non subito ad invocationem clari nominis emicuit certitudo?
Cui in adversis diffidenti, iamiamque deficienti, si nomen adiutorii sonuit, defuit fortitudo? Nimirum morbi et languores animae isti sunt, illud medicina. Denique et probare licet: Invoca me, inquit, in die tribulationis; eruam te, et honorificabis me. Nihil ita irae impetum cohibet, superbiae tumorem sedat, sanat livoris vulnus, restringit luxuriae fluxum, exstinguit libidinis flammam, sitim temperat avaritiae, ac totius indecoris fugat pruriginem. Siquidem cum nomino Iesum, hominem mihi propono mitem et humilem corde, benignum, sobrium, castum, misericordem et omni denique honestate ac sanctitate conspicuum, eumdemque ipsum Deum omnipotentem, qui suo me et exemplo sanet, et roboret adiutorio. Haec omnia simul mihi sonant, cum insonuerit Iesus. Sumo itaque mihi exempla de homine, et auxilium a potente; illa tanquam pigmentarias species, hoc tanquam unde acuam eas: et facio confectionem, cui similem medicorum nemo facere possit.
Hoc tibi electuarium habes, o anima mea, reconditum in vasculo vocabuli huius, quod est Iesus, salutiferum certe, quodque nulli unquam pesti tuae inveniatur inefficax. Semper tibi in sinu sit, semper in manu, quo tui omnes in Iesum et sensus dirigantur et actus. Denique et invitaris: Pone me, inquit, signaculum in corde tuo, signaculum in brachio tuo. Sed hoc alias. Nunc vero habes unde et brachio medearis, et cordi. Habes, inquam, in nomine Iesu, unde actus tuos vel pravos corrigas, vel minus perfectos adimpleas; itemque unde tuos sensus aut serves, ne corrumpantur; aut, si corrumpantur, sanes.
Habuit et Iudaea quosdam Iesus, quorum vacuis gloriatur vocabulis. Illa enim nec lucent, nec pascunt, nec medentur. Idcirco Synagoga in tenebris est usque adhuc, fame et infirmitate laborans; et non sanabitur nec satiabitur, quousque sciat meum Iesum dominari Iacob et finium terrae, et convertatur ad vesperam, et famen patiatur ut canes, et circumeat civitatem. Et illi quidem praemissi sunt, tanquam baculus ad mortuum Prophetam praeveniens, et sua interpretari nomina nequiverunt; vacua quippe erant. Superpositus mortuo baculus est, et non erat vox neque sensus, quoniam baculus erat. Descendit qui baculum misit : et mox salvum fecit populum suum a peccatis eorum, probans se esse quod dicebatur: Quis est hic, qui etiam peccata dimittit. Nimirum qui dicit: Salus populi ego sum. Iam vox, iam sensus est; et patet eum non inane portare nomen instar priorum.
Sentitur infusa salus, et beneficium non tacetur. Intus sensus, foris vox. Compungor, et confiteor, et confessio vitam indicat: A mortuo enim tanquam qui non est, perit confessio. Ecce vita, ecce sensus. Suscitatus perfecte sum, integra est resurrectio. An aliud mors corporis est, nisi cum sensu privatur et vita? Peccatum, quod mors animae est, nec compunctionis mihi sensum, nec confessionis reliquerat vocem, et eram mortuus. Venit is qui peccata dimittit, et utrumque restituit, et dicit animae meae: Salus tua ego sum.
Quid mirum si cedit mors, ubi vita descendit? Iam corde creditur ad iustitiam, et ore confessio fit ad salutem. Iam oscitat puer, et oscitat septies, et dicit: Septies in die laudem dixi tibi, Domine. Videte hunc septenarium. Sacer numerus est; non vacat. Sed melius hoc alii servamus sermoni, quo famelici et non fastidiosi ad tam bonas epulas accedamus, invitante nos sponso Ecclesiae Domino nostro Iesu Christo, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen
Scripture echoes
- ↩Jer.23.6 — In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: The LORD is our Righteousness.
- ↩Isa.7.14;Matt.1.23 — Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Look, the young woman will conceive and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel. Matt.1.23 — "Look, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel," which means, "God with us."
- ↩John.13.13 — You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and you are right, for that is what I am.
- ↩Isa.9.6 — For the increase of his government and for peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
- ↩Isa.7.14;Matt.1.23 — Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Look, the young woman will conceive and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel. Matt.1.23 — "Look, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel," which means, "God with us."
- ↩Isa.9.6 — For the increase of his government and for peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
- ↩Jer.23.6 — In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: The LORD is our Righteousness.
- ↩Gen.17.5;Gen.17.15 — No longer will your name be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. Gen.17.15 — And God said to Abraham, "Sarai your wife—you shall no longer call her name Sarai, for Sarah is her name."
- ↩Song.1.3;Rom.5.5 — The fragrance of your oils is good; your name is poured oil; therefore young women love you. Rom.5.5 — And hope does not put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
- ↩Song.1.3 — The fragrance of your oils is good; your name is poured oil; therefore young women love you.
- ↩Exod.3.6 — And he said, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
- ↩John.12.24 — Truly, truly, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
- ↩John.12.24 — Truly, truly, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
- ↩Luke.24.46-Luke.24.47 — and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, Luke.24.47 — and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem
- ↩Isa.65.15;Isa.62.4 — And you shall leave your name as a curse to my chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will put you to death, but his servants he will call by another name. Isa.62.4 — You shall no longer be called Forsaken, and your land shall no longer be called Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married.
- ↩Song.1.3 — The fragrance of your oils is good; your name is poured oil; therefore young women love you.
- ↩Phil.2.10-Phil.2.11 — so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, Phil.2.11 — and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
- ↩Song.1.3 — The fragrance of your oils is good; your name is poured oil; therefore young women love you.
- ↩Rom.8.17 — And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
- ↩Phil.2.7 — but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness, and appearing as a human being.
- ↩Col.2.9 — For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
- ↩Song.1.3 — The fragrance of your oils is good; your name is poured oil; therefore young women love you.
- ↩Song.8.6 — Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion is fierce as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a flame of Yah.
- ↩Ps.35.3 — Draw the spear, and close ranks against my pursuers; say to my soul, "I am your salvation."
- ↩Rom.10.10 — For with the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation.
- ↩Ps.119.164 — Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules.
- ↩Rom.9.5 — whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
Notes
- 1 ↩pietatis gratiam rendered 'grace of loving devotion' to capture the dual sense of divine mercy and tender care; pietas here carries both covenantal mercy and intimate devotion.
- 2 ↩The Latin reads pietatem (mercy/compassion), though the context of God-with-us might suggest pietatis (of mercy). Translated as the object of insinuat.
- 3 ↩Rendered 'quod Iesus' as 'that he is Jesus' (relative clause of identity); an alternative reading is 'because [he is] Jesus'.
- 4 ↩The neuter participles praedicatum, recogitatum, invocatum function as adverbial ablative-absolute-like phrases describing the name of the bridegroom under three modes of engagement: preaching/ proclamation, recollection/meditation, and invocation/prayer. The rendering 'proclaimed/recalled/invoked' captures this participial force.
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