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Chapter 17SermC.1.17

Sermo 17

Searching the Depths of God

The preacher invites the soul to follow the Holy Spirit into the inner sanctuary, warning that the Spirit's coming and going are hidden, and that failure to notice his presence or absence leaves us unable to long for him or give him due glory.

Have we made enough headway in God's sanctuary while we search out this wondrous Sacrament, or do we still dare, if something remains to be explored, to follow the Spirit into the depths within? This Spirit searches not only human hearts and inner parts, but even the depths of God: and whether he turns toward our concerns or toward the heights, I follow him safely wherever he goes. Only let him guard our hearts and our minds, so that when he is not present we don't suppose he is present, and so that we don't follow our own wayward sense in place of him. He comes, you see, and he goes just as he wills, and no one easily knows where he comes from or where he is going. But perhaps it is permissible to be unaware of that without harm to our salvation; still, that no one clearly perceives when he comes or when he goes is most dangerous. Since the changing movements of the Holy Spirit at work around us are not carefully observed, the result is that you neither long for him when he is absent nor glorify him when he is present. He withdraws precisely so that he may be sought more eagerly — but how can he be sought if his absence isn't even noticed? And then he graciously returns so that he may be consoled — but how can he be worthily received for the majesty he bears, if even his presence isn't perceived?

Watchfulness Learned from the Prophets

Drawing on Elisha's request for a double portion of Elijah's spirit, Bernard urges believers to stay alert at every hour, keeping hearts open and faces uplifted, because they never know when the Spirit will come or depart.

So a mind that doesn't recognize when the Spirit has left is open to being led astray, and one that doesn't watch for its return will be ungrateful for its visit. Elisha once asked something of his teacher, when he sensed that his departure was near; and he didn't receive it, as you know, except on this condition: that he would see when he was taken from him.✦ This happened to them in figure, but it was written for our sake.✦ We are taught and warned by the prophetic example to be watchful and anxious about the work of our salvation, which the Spirit unceasingly works in our inmost part by the wondrous subtlety and sweetness of his own divine art. The anointing that teaches about all things must never, then, be taken away from us without our conscience as its teacher, if we don't want to be cheated of a doubled gift.✦ When it comes, may it never find us unprepared, but always with faces uplifted, our hearts open and waiting to receive the Lord's abundant blessing. What kind of people, after all, does it seek? Like people waiting for their lord to return from a wedding banquet, who never come back from that heavenly table with empty hands, never without its rich delights.✦ We must stay alert, then, alert at every hour, because we don't know at which hour the Spirit is about to come, or about to leave once more.✦

Falling and Rising by the Spirit's Support

The Spirit alternates between visiting and testing the spiritual soul, so that the just person falls and rises again, each fall driving them to seek the hand of the One who lifts them up.

The Spirit goes and returns; and whoever stands does so because he holds them up, but when he withdraws, they must fall—yet they aren't shattered, because the Lord reaches out his hand to support them again. And he never stops alternating these turns among those who are spiritual—or rather among those he intends to make spiritual himself—visiting at dawn and suddenly testing. Finally, the just person falls seven times and rises seven times—if, that is, they fall in the daytime, so that they may see themselves falling, and know they have fallen, and desire to rise again, and seek the hand of the one helping them, and say: "Lord, by your will you bestowed strength on my beauty; you turned your face from me, and I was left disturbed."✦✦1

Truth, Falsehood, and the Spirit of Wisdom

When the Spirit speaks, falsefulness and doubt give way to certain truth; therefore we must never let his silence abandon us to rash assertion or deceit, but let his very silence speak.

It's one thing to doubt the truth you're experiencing — that's unavoidable when the Spirit barely breathes — and another thing to embrace falsehood, which you can easily avoid, as long as you don't ignore your own ignorance, so that you too can say: And if I have been ignorant, my ignorance is with me.✦ These are the words of holy Job: recognize it. A most wretched mother — ignorance — has two daughters, equally wretched: falsehood and doubtfulness. The former is more miserable, the latter more pitiable; the former more destructive, the latter more troublesome. When the Spirit speaks, both give way, and what emerges is not only truth, but truth that is certain. That is indeed the Spirit of truth, to which falsehood is opposed; and it is the Spirit of wisdom, which, since it is the brightness of eternal life and reaches everywhere because of its own purity, admits no shadow of ambiguity. It must certainly be avoided when this Spirit does not speak: even if doubtfulness is not troublesome, falsehood is surely detestable. For it's one thing to think this or that under uncertainty, forming an opinion, and another thing to rashly affirm what you don't know. Either, then, let the Spirit always speak — which is certainly not within our control — or, when it pleases to be silent, let it indicate this itself, and let its very silence speak, lest, thinking it has gone ahead of us when it hasn't, we overconfidently follow our own error in its place; and if it leaves us suspended in ambiguity, let it not abandon us to a lie.

Tentative Opinion Versus Rash Assertion

There is a crucial difference between one who tentatively holds a belief and speaks truly about it, and one who affirms as certain what he does not know—the former is honest, the latter lies even if the claim happens to be true.

There's someone who tentatively puts forward a lie, and yet doesn't lie; and there's someone who affirms a truth he doesn't know, and lies. The first person isn't saying that what isn't, is; rather, he says he believes what he does believe, and he speaks truly, even if what he believes isn't true. The second person, when he states something as certain when he isn't certain, doesn't speak truly, even if what he asserts happens to be true.

Following the Spirit with Humility

Bernard resolves to follow the Spirit who goes before him, yet with caution, teaching only what he himself strives to practice, and he wonders whether even this higher discourse has already received heavenly judgment.

With these things now sent ahead as a safeguard — a reckoning with those as yet untested — I will follow the Spirit, who (as I trust) goes before me, yet with that same caution, if I can, which I sent ahead of myself; and I myself will try to do what I teach, so it won't be said to me too: You who teach others don't teach yourself. A clear distinction must be drawn, of course, between what is evident and what is doubtful — and evidently those clear things must not be dragged into doubt, nor must doubtful things be affirmed rashly.✦23 For the hope that belongs to the teaching office itself is rightly expected from the Spirit — our own effort, after all, is by no means sufficient for that.4 Who among mortals knows whether that higher discourse — the one judged by God among men (the discourse from which, if I remember rightly, this present sermon is the fourth) — has already revealed, in the heavenly places as well, a judgment now accomplished beforehand?56

Lucifer's Envy and the Oil Poured Out

In cautious speculation, Bernard considers whether the morning star envied the outpouring of oil on humanity, plotting to rule over a race he deemed unworthy, only to be cast down in judgment.

What I'm saying is something like this. Don't you think that Lucifer — the one who was rising in the morning but was lifted up too quickly, before he was turned into darkness — envied the human race and the outpouring of oil itself, so that even then, through himself, he muttered indignantly, saying within himself, as it were, 'Why this destruction?' I'm not claiming the Spirit says this, and I'm not saying it doesn't; I honestly don't know. Yet it could have happened — if it isn't thought incredible — that men full of wisdom and perfect in beauty were able to foreknow those who were to come, and even those who were to advance in equal glory. But if he foreknew, he saw beyond doubt in the word of God, and in his own envy he envied, and he plotted to have subjected companions — partners he held in contempt. They are weaker, he says, and lower by nature; it isn't fitting for them to be fellow citizens, nor equals in glory. Or perhaps that presumptuous ascent and sitting forth reveals his plotting, signifying his claim to authority: 'I will ascend,' he says, 'above the high mountain, and I will sit in the sides of the north, so that he might thereby obtain the likeness of the Most High — if, just as that one sitting above the cherubim governs all angelic creation, so also he, raised on high, would sit and rule over the human race.' Far be it!

Pride, the Mother of Wickedness

The devil meditates wickedness in secret, but the Lord alone will judge the earth and guide His people forever, overturning every demonic claim to authority.

He has meditated on wickedness in his own bed; let wickedness lie to him for himself. We recognize no judge but the Author himself. Not the devil, but the Lord will judge the earth, and he himself, our God, forever; he himself will guide us for endless ages.

The Name Poured Out and Satan's Defeat

Pride is the beginning of all sin, yet the name of God is poured out upon His people; Satan received dominion over the proud, but his very attacks forge eternal crowns for the humble, and the Lord will judge and save the poor forever.

So she conceived sorrow in heaven and gave birth to wickedness in paradise — a child of malice, the mother of death and of all troubles, and the first parent of all, pride. For even though the envy of the devil brought death into the world, pride is still the beginning of all sin. But what did it gain him? Even so, you are within us, Lord, and your name has been called over us; and the people of your possession says, the Church of the redeemed says: 'Your name is oil poured out.'✦✦ When I am cast out, you pour it out after me and into me; for when you are angry, you will remember mercy.✦✦ Yet Satan received dominion over all the children of pride, having been made the prince of these darknesses, so that pride might wage war even against the kingdom of humility, while in his own single, temporal, and such dominion, he makes many humble ones into eternal and exalted kings.✦ What a welcome judgment — that proud one, the hammerer of the humble, unknowingly forges for those very same people eternal crowns as he attacks them all and is overcome by all of them. For the Lord will judge the peoples everywhere and always, and he will save the children of the poor and bring down the oppressor.✦✦

God Defends the Needy and Scatters the Proud

The Lord everywhere defends His own, shattering the weapons of the wicked, while the proud one seated in the cold north sees the needy raised from the dust to sit with princes and hold the throne of glory.

Everywhere and always, he will defend his own, drive off what is harmful, and lift the rod of sinners away from the lot of the righteous, so that the righteous don't stretch out their hands toward wrongdoing; and in the end, when he completely crushes the bow, he will shatter the weapons and burn the shields in fire.✦ You, wretch, place your seat in the north, a cloudy and cold region; and look—the needy are raised from the dust, and the poor from the manure, so that they may sit with princes and hold the throne of glory, while you grieve that this is being fulfilled: 'The poor and the needy will praise your name.'✦✦

Praise for God's Tender Might

In a burst of personal praise, Bernard celebrates God's love poured out on the needy, His judgment in heaven and earth, His faithful presence at the believer's right hand, and the enduring song of thanksgiving for His mighty works.

Thanks be to you, Father of orphans and Judge of wards: the curdled mountain has grown warm over us, the rich mountain; the heavens distilled from the face of the God of Sinai, oil was poured out, the name was spread out—which the wicked one envied us for—and spread out, I say, even to the hearts and mouths of little ones, and in the mouths of infants and nursing babies praise is perfected.✦✦✦✦ Furthermore, the sinner will see and be angry; and there will be implacable wrath just as an inextinguishable flame, which is already prepared for him and his angels.✦✦ The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.✦ How you love me, my God, my love! How you love me, everywhere mindful of me, everywhere zealous for the salvation of the needy and the poor, not only against proud men but even against exalted angels! In heaven and on earth you judge, Lord; you strike down those who harm me, you conquer those who attack me; everywhere you come to my aid, everywhere you stand by me, everywhere you are at my right hand, Lord, so that I won't be shaken.✦ I will sing these things to the Lord in my life; I will make music to my God as long as I am.✦ These are his mighty deeds, these are his wonderful works which he has done.✦

The Judgments of Mary and the Comfort of the Poor

Bernard recalls the Magnificat's twin judgments—the mighty cast down and the hungry filled, the blind given sight and the seeing made blind—and invites the poor to take comfort, remembering God's ancient judgments and finding consolation in them.

This is the first and greatest judgment, which the virgin Mary, aware of secrets, revealed to me: He has brought down the powerful from their seats, she said, and exalted the lowly.✦ He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.✦ The second, however, is similar to this, which you have already heard: that those who do not see may see, and that those who do see may become blind.✦ In these two judgments let the poor take comfort and say: I have remembered your judgments from of old, O Lord, and I have been comforted.✦

Returning to the Spirit of Truth

Bernard calls the community to self-examination through the Spirit of truth, who never truly departs but leads from clarity to clarity, and he closes by urging that all understanding and action be directed to the praise of Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever.

But let us return to ourselves and examine our ways; and so that we may be able to do this in truth, let us call upon the Spirit of truth, and let us recall from on high the one who had led us, so that he may also go ahead of us to ourselves, since without him we can do nothing. Nor should we fear that he would disdain to condescend to us, who rather becomes indignant if we attempt even the least thing without him. For that one is not going and not returning, but he leads us and brings us back from clarity into clarity, as the Spirit of the Lord, sometimes carrying us off to himself in his own light, sometimes tempering and illuminating our darkness, so that whether above us or with us, we may always walk in the light, always as children of light. We have passed through the shadows of allegory; we have come to investigate moral matters. Faith has been built up; let life be instructed; understanding has been trained; let action be directed. Since indeed a good understanding on the part of all who practice it — provided, however, that both action and intelligence are directed into the praise and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Read the original Latin

Putamusne, satis processum est in sanctuario Dei, dum scrutamur mirabile sacramentum; an ad perscrutandum adhuc, si quid restat, audemus spiritum ad interiora sequi? Spiritus nempe iste scrutatur non solum hominum corda et renes, sed etiam profunda Dei: et sive ad nostra, sive ad alta, securus sequor eum quocunque ierit. Tantum ut custodiat corda nostra et intelligentias nostras, ne forte cum non aderit, adesse putemus, nostrumque pro ipso sequamur sensum deviantes. Venit namque, et vadit prout vult; et nemo facile scit, unde veniat, aut quo vadat. At istud sine damno fortasse salutis nescire licet: caeterum quando veniat, vel quando vadat, id plane periculosissime ignoratur. Cum enim hae Spiritus sancti circa nos dispensatoriae quidem vicissitudines vigilantissime non observantur, fit ut nec absentem desideres, nec praesentem glorifices. Nempe qui idcirco recedit ut avidius requiratur; quonam modo, si abesse nescitur, requiritur? Et rursum qui dignanter ad hoc redit ut consoletur; qualiter digne pro sua maiestate suscipitur, si nec adesse sentitur?

Mens ergo quae ignorat abscessum, patet seductioni; et quae reditum non observat, erit ingrata visitationi.

Petiit quondam aliquid Elisaeus a magistro, cum discessum eius imminere persensit; nec obtinuit, sicut scitis, nisi ea quidem conditione, si videret quando tolleretur a se. In figura contigit hoc illis, scriptum est autem propter nos. Vigiles esse et solliciti circa opus nostrae salutis (quod mira subtilitate ac suavitate divinae suae artis incessanter actitat Spiritus in intimo nostri) prophetico docemur et monemur exemplo. Nunquam sane sine nostra conscientia magistra unctio, quae docet de omnibus, tollatur a nobis, si duplicato volumus munere non fraudari. Nunquam, cum venerit, inveniat imparatos, sed semper vultus suspensos, expansosque habentes sinus ad largam Domini benedictionem. Quales denique quaerit? Similes hominibus exspectantibus dominum suum, quando revertatur a nuptiis : qui utique ab illis supernae mensae copiosis deliciis vacua nunquam revertitur manu. Vigilandum proinde, et vigilandum omni hora, quia nescimus qua hora Spiritus venturus sit, seu iterum abiturus.

It et redit Spiritus; et qui stat eo tenente, deserente cadat necesse est; sed non colliditur, quia Dominus rursum supponit manum suam. Et has alternare vices non cessat in his qui spirituales sunt, vel quos potius spirituales proinde ipse creare intendit, visitans diluculo, et subito probans. Denique septies cadit iustus, et septies resurgit : si tamen cadit in die, ut se cadere videat, et cecidisse sciat, et resurgere cupiat, et requirat manum adiuvantis, et dicat: Domine, in voluntate tua praestitisti decori meo virtutem; avertisti faciem tuam a me, et factus sum conturbatus.

Aliud est dubitare de veritate, quod patiaris necesse est, cum Spiritus minime spirat; et aliud sapere falsitatem, quod facile caves, si eamdem tuam ignorantiam non ignoras, quatenus dicas et tu: Et si quid ignoravi, ignorantia mea mecum est. Sancti Iob sententia est; agnoscite. Pessimae matris ignorantiae, pessimae itidem filiae duae sunt, falsitas et dubietas: illa miserior, ista miserabilior; perniciosior illa, ista molestior. Cum loquitur Spiritus, cedit utraque: et est non solum veritas, sed et certa veritas. Est quippe veritatis ille Spiritus, cui contraria falsitas est; est et sapientiae, quae cum sit candor vitae aeternae, et ubique attingat propter munditiam suam, obscurum ambigui non admittit. Cavenda sane, cum Spiritus iste non loquitur, etsi non molesta dubietas, certe falsitas exsecranda. Aliud est enim sub incerto, hoc vel illud opinando sentire, aliud temere affirmare quod nescias. Aut ergo loquatur semper Spiritus, quod nostri quidem minime arbitrii est; aut quando silere placet, hoc ipsum indicet, et loquatur saltem suum silentium, ne ipsum nobis falso praeire putantes, nostrum pro ipso male securi sequamur errorem; et si suspenderit ambiguo, non relinquat mendacio.

Est qui dubie profert mendacium, nec mentitur; et est qui veritatem quam nescit affirmat, et mentitur. Nam et ille, non quidem quod non est, esse; sed se quod credit, credere dicit, et verum dicit, etiamsi hoc verum non sit quod credit; et is, cum se certum unde non est certus, dicit; verum non dicit, etiamsi verum sit de quo asserit.

His praemissis ad cautelam talio inexpertorum, sequar iam Spiritum, sicut confido, praeeuntem, eadem tamen cautela, si potero, quam praemisi; et tentabo facere ipse quod doceo, ne dicatur et mihi: Tu qui alios doces, teipsum non doces, Distinguendum sane inter manifesta et dubia, nec illa scilicet adduci in dubium, nec ista temere affirmari. Quod quidem ipsum de magisterio sperandum est Spiritus: nec enim nostra ad illud omnino industria sufficit. Quis novit hominum, an id quod inter homines iudicatum a Deo sermo superior (a quo videlicet, si bene memini, quartus est iste) patefecit, in supernis quoque iudicium iam factum praecesserit.

Quod dico, tale est. Putasne, Lucifer ille, qui mane oriebatur, sed praepropere elevabatur, antequam verteretur in tenebras, generi humano inviderit et ipse olei infusionem, ut per seipsum iam tunc indignabundus mussitaret, dicens intra se quodammodo: Utquid perditio haec? Hoc ego non assero dicere Spiritum, sed nec contradicere dico; nescio enim. Potuit autem contingere, si tamen incredibile non putetur, plenum sapientia et perfectum decore, homines praescire potuisse futuros, etiam et profecturos in pari gloria. Sed si praescivit, in Dei verbo absque dubio vidit, et in livore suo invidit, et molitus est habere subiectos, socios dedignatus. Infirmiores sunt, inquit, inferioresque natura; non decet esse concives, nec aequales in gloria. An forte prodit impiam hanc eius machinationem illa praesumpta ascensio, sessioque significans magisterium: Ascendam, inquit, super montem excelsum, et sedebo in lateribus aquilonis, quo Altissimi quondam proinde similitudinem obtineret, si, quemadmodum ille super cherubin sedens, gubernat omnem angelicam creaturam; ita et ipse altus sederet, regeretque genus humanum? Absit!

Iniquitatem meditatus est in cubili suo, mentiatur iniquitas sibi. Nos alium non agnoscimus iudicem quam auctorem. Non diabolus, sed Dominus iudicabit orbem terrae, et ipse Deus noster in saeculum saeculi; ipse reget nos in saecula.

Ergo in coelo concepit dolorem, et in paradiso peperit iniquitatem, prolem malitiae, matrem mortis et aerumnarum; omniumque prima parens superbia. Nam etsi invidia diaboli mors intravit in orbem terrarum, initium tamen omnis peccati superbia. Verum quid illi profuit? Nihilominus tu in nobis es, Domine, et nomen tuum invocatum est super nos; et dicit populus acquisitionis, dicit Ecclesia redemptorum: Oleum effusum nomen tuum. Cum eiicior ego, tu illud effundis post me, et in me; quoniam cum iratus fueris, misericordiae recordaberis. Accepit tamen Satan regnum super omnes filios superbiae, factus princeps tenebrarum harum, ut regno humilitatis etiam superbia militet, dum in uno suo principatu temporali, et tali, multos humiles excelsos aeternosque reges constituit. Iucundum iudicium, ut superbus ille humilium malleator, eisdem ipsis nesciens fabricet coronas perpetuas, impugnando omnes, et omnibus succumbendo. Siquidem ubique et semper iudicabit Dominus populos, et salvos faciet filios pauperum, et humiliabit calumniatorem.

Ubique, et semper defensabit suos, propulsabit nocentes, et tollet virgam peccatorum desuper sortem iustorum, ut non extendant iusti ad iniquitatem manus suas; eritque tandem cum ex toto arcum conteret, et confringet arma, et scuta comburet igni. Tu tibi, miser, sedem collocas in aquilone, plaga nebulosa et frigida; et ecce suscitantur de pulvere inopes, et de stercore pauperes, ut sedeant cum principibus, et solium gloriae teneant, doleasque impleri illud: Pauper et inops laudabunt nomen tuum.

Gratias tibi, pater orphanorum et iudex pupillorum, incaluit super nos mons coagulatus, mons pinguis, coeli distillaverunt a facie Dei Sinai, effusum est oleum, dilatatum est nomen, quod nobis et cui nos invidebat iniquus; dilatatum, inquam, usque ad corda et ora parvulorum, et in ore infantium et lactentium perficitur laus. Porro peccator videbit et irascetur; et erit sicut ira implacabilis, sic flamma inexstinguibilis, quae iam parata est ei et angelis eius. Zelus Domini exercituum faciet hoc. Quomodo me amas, Deus meus, amor meus? quomodo me amas, ubique recordatus mei, ubique zelans salutem egeni et pauperis, non solum adversum homines superbos, sed etiam adversus sublimes angelos? In coelo et in terra iudicas, Domine, nocentes me, expugnas impugnantes me; ubique subvenis, ubique assistis, ubique a dextris es mihi, Domine, ne commovear. Haec cantabo Domino in vita mea, psallam Deo meo quandiu sum. Hae virtutes eius, haec mirabilia eius quae fecit.

Hoc primum et maximum iudicium, quod mihi illa conscia secretorum aperuit virgo Maria: Deposuit, inquiens, potentes de sede, et exsaltavit humiles. Esurientes implevit bonis, et divites dimisit inanes. Secundum autem simile est huic, quod iam audistis, ut qui non vident, videant; et qui vident, caeci fiant. In his duobus iudiciis consoletur se pauper, et dicat: Memor fui iudiciorum tuorum a saeculo, Domine, et consolatus sum.

Sed revertamur ad nos ipsos, scrutemurque vias nostras; et ut in veritate id possimus, invocemus Spiritum veritatis, et revocemus ab alto quo nos eduxerat, quatenus antecedat nos etiam ad nos, quoniam sine ipso possumus nihil. Nec verendum quod dedignetur condescendere nobis, qui potius, si vel exiguum quid absque ipso conamur, indignatur. Non est enim ille vadens et non rediens, sed ducit nos et reducit de claritate in claritatem, tanquam Domini Spiritus, quandoque rapiens ad se in lumine suo, quandoque contemperans, et illuminans tenebras nostras, ut sive supra nos, sive apud nos, semper in luce, semper ut filii lucis ambulemus. Transivimus allegoriarum umbras; ventum est ad indaganda moralia. Aedificata est fides, instruatur vita; exercitatus est intellectus, dictetur actus. Siquidem intellectus bonus omnibus facientibus eum, si tamen et actus, et intelligentia dirigantur in laudem et gloriam Domini nostri Iesu Christi, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩2Kgs.2.9-2Kgs.2.10 — And it came to pass, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you. And Elisha said, Let a double portion of your spirit be upon me. 2Kgs.2.10 — And he said, 'You have asked a hard thing. If you see me taken from you, it will be so for you; but if not, it will not be.'
  2. ↩1Cor.10.6 — Now these things became examples for us, so that we would not desire evil things, as they also desired them.
  3. ↩1John.2.27 — And as for the anointing you received from him, it remains in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and it is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, remain in him.
  4. ↩Matt.25.1-Matt.25.13 — Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Matt.25.2 — Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. Matt.25.3 — For the foolish ones took their lamps, but took no oil with them. Matt.25.4 — but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps Matt.25.5 — While the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. Matt.25.6 — But at midnight a cry has gone out: 'Look! The bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Matt.25.7 — Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. Matt.25.8 — The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' Matt.25.9 — But the prudent ones answered, saying, 'No — there will not be enough for us and for you. Go instead to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.' Matt.25.10 — But while they were going away to buy, the bridegroom came, and the ready ones went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. Matt.25.11 — Afterward the other virgins also come, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us.' Matt.25.12 — But he answered, 'Truly, I tell you, I do not know you.' Matt.25.13 — Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
  5. ↩Matt.24.42;Mark.13.33 — Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. Mark.13.33 — Be on the alert, keep watch, and pray; for you do not know when the time is.
  6. ↩Prov.24.16 — For the righteous person falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble into calamity.
  7. ↩Ps.29.8 — The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
  8. ↩Ps.130.4 — For with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
  9. ↩Rom.2.21 — You, then, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one must not steal, do you steal?
  10. ↩Song.1.3 — The fragrance of your oils is good; your name is poured oil; therefore young women love you.
  11. ↩1Pet.2.9 — But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
  12. ↩Hos.11.9 — For I am God and not a man—the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.
  13. ↩Exod.34.6 — And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, 'The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.'
  14. ↩Col.1.13 — He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves.
  15. ↩Ps.72.2 — May he judge your people with righteousness, and your afflicted ones with justice.
  16. ↩Ps.146.7-Ps.146.9 — He executes justice for the oppressed; he gives bread to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free. Ps.146.8 — The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. Ps.146.9 — The LORD watches over the sojourner; the orphan and the widow he sustains, but the way of the wicked he makes crooked.
  17. ↩Ps.7.12 — God is a righteous judge, and God is indignant every day.
  18. ↩Ps.74.21;Ps.74.21 — Do not let the crushed one turn back in shame; let the afflicted and the poor praise your name. Ps.74.21 — Do not let the crushed one turn back in shame; let the afflicted and the poor praise your name.
  19. ↩Ps.113.7-Ps.113.8;Ps.113.7-Ps.113.8 — He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap Ps.113.8 — who seats her with the nobles, with the nobles of his people Ps.113.7 — He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap Ps.113.8 — who seats her with the nobles, with the nobles of his people
  20. ↩Ps.68.16 — Why do you look with envy, O many-peaked mountain, at the mountain where God has chosen to dwell? Yes, the LORD will dwell there forever.
  21. ↩Deut.33.2 — And he said: The LORD came from Sinai, and dawned from Seir upon us; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and came from the myriads of holy ones; from His right hand was a fiery law for them.
  22. ↩Ps.8.3 — From the mouth of infants and nursing babes you have established strength, because of your adversaries, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
  23. ↩Ps.10.14 — You have seen it, for you look upon trouble and vexation to requite it with your own hand; the helpless one entrusts himself to you; you have been the helper of the orphan.
  24. ↩Ps.112.10 — The wicked one sees and is enraged; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked perishes.
  25. ↩Matt.25.41 — Then he will also say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'
  26. ↩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.
  27. ↩Ps.16.8 — I have set the LORD before me always; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
  28. ↩Ps.104.33 — I will sing to the LORD while I live; I will sing praise to my God while I am still here.
  29. ↩Ps.106.2 — Who can declare the mighty acts of the LORD, or make heard all His praise?
  30. ↩Luke.1.52 — He has brought down rulers from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.
  31. ↩Luke.1.53 — He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.
  32. ↩John.9.39 — And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind."
  33. ↩Ps.119.52 — I have remembered your ordinances from of old, O LORD, and I am comforted.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The prayer 'in voluntate tua praestitisti decori meo virtutem' echoes Psalm 29:8 (Vulgate 29:7), where 'decori meo' is traditionally read by the Church Fathers as a reference to Christ, though it can also be rendered as 'my glory' or 'my splendor' in a personal context.
  2. 2 ↩talio inexpertorum: the form talio is rare and morphologically uncertain; rendered here as 'a reckoning with those as yet untested,' balancing the retaliatory/reciprocal sense of talio against the context of caution toward the inexperienced.
  3. 3 ↩The embedded proverb 'Tu qui alios doces, teipsum non doces' echoes a familiar moral commonplace (cf. Rom 2:21); treated here as a candidate allusion rather than a formal quotation.
  4. 4 ↩magisterio: 'teaching office' or 'teaching authority'; the sense is that the capacity to teach well is a gift of the Spirit, not a product of human diligence alone.
  5. 5 ↩sermo superior: 'higher discourse' or 'earlier discourse'; the referent is uncertain — possibly a prior sermon in the series or a heavenly word. The parenthetical '(a quo videlicet, si bene memini, quartus est iste)' indicates the speaker's recollection that the current sermon is the fourth in a sequence originating from that higher source.
  6. 6 ↩in supernis … iudicium iam factum: possible allusion to a heavenly judgment or divine verdict; no clear Moses-source anchor identified.

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