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Chapter 33SermC.1.33

Sermo 33

The Soul's Threefold Quest

The bride's longing to know where the beloved feeds and rests at midday unfolds into a threefold desire for justice, judgment, and the dwelling of God's glory.

Show me the one my soul loves, where you feed, where you rest at midday.✦ And another person says: Tell me, why do you judge me like this? Where no opinion is simply alleged, but the reason is examined, seeking to be instructed by correction, not to be found out.1 Likewise, another prays, saying: Show me your ways, Lord, and teach me your paths.✦ Whatever ways or paths she may have spoken of, he makes clear elsewhere: He has led me, he says, along the paths of justice.✦ So an inquisitive soul of God never stops seeking these three things: justice, judgment, and the place of the dwelling of the bridegroom's glory — as the way in which she may walk, the caution with which she may walk, and the dwelling toward which she may walk. Concerning this dwelling you have this in the prophet: One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I will seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; and again: Lord, I have loved the beauty of your house and the place of the dwelling of your glory.✦✦2 Furthermore, concerning the remaining two: Justice and judgment, he says, are the preparation of your seat.✦ Rightly does a devoted mind seek these three things: God's own dwelling place, and the preparation of that seat. And fittingly all these converge for the bride's advantage, toward the fullness of the virtues: so that she may be beautiful through the form of justice, cautious through knowledge of God's judgments, and chaste through longing for the presence, or the glory, of the bridegroom. Such a one is altogether what the bride of the Lord ought to be: beautiful, learned, and chaste. So the petition I placed last concerns a place. For she asks the one whom her soul loves to show her where he feeds his flock, and where he rests at midday.✦

The Shepherd's Resting Place

The soul delights in the pasture where the shepherd both feeds and lies down at midday, a place of perfect security, freedom, and awe.

And notice first how elegantly the spirit distinguishes love from the flesh by the way it feels: when it wants to name the beloved, it doesn't simply say 'The one I love,' but — 'Oh!' it says, 'the one my soul loves,' marking that love as spiritual.✦ Next, pay careful attention to what so delights her in that place of pasture. But don't let this pass you by either — the midday hour, and the fact that the place where the shepherd both feeds and lies down at the same time is the one most carefully sought out: that's a sign of great security. I think this is why 'lies down' was added: because in that place there's no need at all to stand and keep watch over the flock's safety, since the flock can still roam freely through the pastures even while the shepherd lies down and rests in the shade. Happy the region where the sheep go in and out as they please, and there's no one to frighten them.✦ Would someone grant me to see you — and for me to graze on the mountains together with those ninety-nine who are recorded as having been left there — when their shepherd graciously comes down to the one that had wandered off.✦ Without a doubt, the one who lies down nearby rests securely — the one who didn't hesitate to go far away, knowing that he would leave them in a safe place. Rightly the bride sighs for that place, rightly she yearns for the place of pasture — and of peace — but of rest, but of security, but of exultation, but of wonder, but of awe.

Sighing for the Heavenly Pasture

With tears and prophetic longing, the soul remembers Zion and yearns for the paradise where the Word is food and eternity is fullness.

And I too—miserable me! Think of how the memory of the one who lives far away and greets us from far off moves us to tears—clearly echoing the feeling and the words of those who say: 'By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept as we remembered you, Zion.' I want to cry out, and I do—together with the bride and with the prophet: 'Praise your God, Zion, for he has strengthened the bars of your gates and blessed your children within you.' He who has made your borders peace fills you with the richest wheat. Who wouldn't long to be fed there with all their heart—for the sake of its peace, its richness, and its fullness? There nothing is feared, nothing is scorned, nothing is lacking. A safe dwelling, a paradise; sweet food—the Word; overflowing, surpassing abundance: eternity.

Word and Sacrament

The soul contrasts the angel's direct feeding on the Word with the believer's veiled reception in sacrament, where faith is rich but understanding is poor.

I too have the Word, but in flesh; and truth is set before me, but in the Sacrament. An angel is fattened on the fat of grain, and is filled with grain while stripped; meanwhile I must be contained under a certain rind of the Sacrament — in the bran of flesh, the chaff of the letter, under the veil of faith.34 And these are the kind of things that, once tasted, bring death, unless they receive some seasoning — however little — from the first fruits of the Spirit.✦5 It is pure death for me in this pot, unless it is sweetened by the flour of the Prophet.67 In short, without the Spirit the Sacrament is received to judgment, and the flesh profits nothing, and the letter kills, and faith is dead.✦✦8 But it is the Spirit who gives life, so that I may live by them.✦9 But however abundantly the Spirit may make these things rich, the rind of the Sacrament and the fat of the grain are not received with equal sweetness — faith and outward form, memory and presence, eternity and time, face and mirror, the image of God and the form of a servant.✦✦10 In all these things, faith is rich for me, but understanding is poor. Is the taste of understanding and faith really of equal weight, when one serves for merit and the other for reward? So you see how great the distance is between these foods and between these places; and just as the heavens are raised above the earth, so those who dwell in them abound in greater goods.

Hurrying Toward Noonday Rest

The soul is urged to hasten toward a safer pasture and richer field, where the Lord feeds and rests in a midday that knows no evening.

Let's hurry on, then, children — let's hurry to a safer place, to sweeter pasture, to a richer and more fertile field. Let's hurry so that we may live without fear, thrive without running dry, and feast without surfeit. For you, Lord of hosts — you who judge all things with tranquility — there you also feed all things with the same ease and confidence. The very same one is both Lord of armies and shepherd of the sheep. So you both feed and cause us to rest alike — but not here. After all, you were standing watch when from heaven you looked down on one of your little sheep — I mean Stephen — being surrounded by wolves on the earth. And so I beg you, show me: where do you feed, where do you rest at midday? That is, lasting all day — for that midday is an entire day, and it knows no evening. And that is why a day in your courts is better than thousands elsewhere, because it knows no setting.

From Dawn to Rising Sun

The coming of mercy dawned with Christ's incarnation, yet the light was still faint and thin while he walked in the flesh.

But perhaps the morning had not yet broken — I mean, when the sanctified day first dawned on us: surely through the mercy of our God, by which the Rising One from on high has visited us. Truly, then we received your mercy, O God, in the midst of your temple — when in the shadow of death the morning light arose for us, and at dawn we saw the glory of the Lord. How many kings and prophets longed to see these things — and didn't see them! Why? Because it was still night, and that promised morning — the one to which mercy had been pledged — had not yet come. And so someone was praying: Let me hear your mercy in the morning, for I have hoped in you. There was, then, a certain dawn of this day — from the time when the sun of righteousness was announced to the earth through the archangel Gabriel, and a Virgin conceived God in her womb by the Holy Spirit and gave birth to him as a Virgin still, and then, as long as he was seen on earth, lived among people.✦✦ For throughout that entire time the light was so faint and slight — truly like the light of a dawn — that nearly everyone was unaware there was a day at all among them. In short, if they had recognized him, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.✦ And it was certainly being said to those few disciples themselves: 'A little light is still in you' — because the dawn was both the beginning, or rather the sign, of the day, while the Sun was still hiding his rays and by no means scattering them over the earth.✦ Paul too was saying this, because night has gone before but the day has drawn near — signifying that at that time there was still so little light that he preferred to say the day had drawn near rather than that it had come.✦ But when was he saying this? Surely when the Sun had returned from the dead and already raised himself to the heights of heaven.✦ How much more, then, when the likeness of sinful flesh — like a thick cloud — still overshadowed the dawn, in keeping with all the sufferings of our body, so that neither bitter death nor the shameful cross was absent?✦ How much more, I say, was the light then scanty and very thin — and that it seemed to come from the dawn rather than from the presence of the rising Sun?

The Resurrection's Brighter Light

By dying and rising, Christ scattered a brighter solar presence, yet the full midday of his glory remains hidden from mortal eyes.

So it was dawn, and still fairly dim — that whole time of Christ's life on earth, that is — until, dying and rising again, the brighter light of his solar presence put the dawn to flight, and, morning having come, night was swallowed up in victory.✦ Finally you have: "And very early on the first day of the week they come to the tomb, the sun having now risen."✦ Was it not morning when the Sun rose? But the resurrection brought a new beauty and a light more serene than usual, because even if we once knew him according to the flesh, we now no longer know him.✦ It is written in the Prophet: "He put on beauty, he put on strength, and girded himself" — because, having shaken off the weak things of the flesh like certain clouds, he put on the robe of glory.✦ From then on the Sun was indeed lifted up, and gradually, at last spreading its rays over the earth, it began to appear brighter little by little everywhere, and to be felt hotter. But however much it may grow hot and grow strong, multiply and spread its rays through the entire course of our mortality — for he will be with us until the consummation of the age — the light will not yet reach midday, nor will it be seen in that fullness of his in which he is to be seen afterwards, except by those alone whom he himself deigns to honor with this vision.✦ O true midday — fullness of heat and light, the sun's station, the extermination of shadows, the drying up of marshes, the driving away of stenches!

The True Midday of the Saints

The soul longs for the eternal solstice of God's presence, where Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, and Paul beheld the Lord in surpassing light.

O everlasting solstice, when the day will no longer decline! O midday light, O spring mildness, O summer beauty, O autumn abundance; and, lest I seem to have passed over anything, O winter rest and festal quiet! Or certainly, if you prefer this reading, then winter alone has departed and withdrawn. Show me this place, he says, of such great brightness and peace and fullness, so that—just as Jacob, while still remaining in the body, saw the Lord face to face and his soul was saved; or certainly just as Moses saw him, not through figures and riddles or through dreams as other prophets did, but in a clearly surpassing way unknown to the rest, known only to himself and to God; or just as Isaiah, with the eyes of his heart revealed, saw him upon a high and exalted throne; or even how Paul, caught up into paradise, heard ineffable words and saw the Lord Jesus Christ with his own eyes—so I too, through the ecstasy of the mind, may deserve to contemplate you in your light and in your beauty, feeding more richly, resting more securely.✦✦✦✦

Feeding in the Shadows

In this life the soul feeds but is not filled, stands watch in fear, and knows only partial refreshment amid tears and pilgrimage.

For even though you feed us here, it's not to fullness; we're not allowed to lie down, but we must stand and keep watch because of nighttime fears. Alas! There's no clear light, no full refreshment, no safe place to stay — and so tell me where you feed, where you lie down at midday. You call me blessed when I hunger and thirst for justice. What does this compare to the happiness of those who are filled with the good things of your house, who feast and rejoice in the sight of God, and delight in joy? But even if I suffer something for the sake of justice, you still declare me blessed. And surely, to feed where you're afraid to suffer — that has its pleasure, but not its safety. Moreover, to feed and suffer at the same time — isn't that a troublesome kind of pleasure? Here, everything falls short of perfection for me; nothing goes beyond my desire, and nothing is safe. When will you fill me with joy in your presence?11 I will seek your face, Lord.12 Your face is midday.13 Show me where you feed, where you lie down at midday. I know well enough where you feed without lying down; show me where you feed and lie down. I'm not unaware of where you usually feed at other times; but I'd like to know where you feed at midday. For in the time of my mortality, and in the place of my pilgrimage, I have indeed grown accustomed under your care to be fed and to feed on the law, the prophets, and the psalms that speak of you; I have also rested in the Gospel pastures and among the apostles. Often, too, I have begged for sustenance from the deeds, words, and writings of the saints, as far as I was able, for myself and for those connected to me. But more often — since it was closer to hand — I have eaten the bread of sorrow and drunk the wine of compunction, and my tears have become my bread day and night, while it is said to me daily, 'Where is your God?'141516

The Face That Is Midday

Though the soul has known the shepherd's familiar pastures, it begs to be shown the unknown feeding place of midday.

Except from your table — for you have prepared a table in my sight against those who oppress me. From that same table, I say, I receive the benefit of your mercy, and from it I catch my breath whenever my soul is heavy, and whenever I am troubled.✦ These are pastures I've known and frequented, following you as shepherd; but show me, I beg, the ones I haven't yet known.

False Shepherds and Hidden Bread

False shepherds promise richer pastures but feed in darkness, and without the clear light of midday the soul is easily led astray.

There are also other shepherds who claim to be your companions but are not, keeping their own flocks and their own territories, filled with the pasture of death — and they feed in these, neither with you nor through you — and I have certainly never crossed their boundaries or drawn near to them. They are the ones who say, 'Look, here is Christ, look, there is him' — promising richer pastures of wisdom and knowledge, and they are believed, and many flock to them, and they make them sons of Gehenna twice over compared to themselves. Why is this, unless because there is no midday and no clear light there, so that truth may be recognized clearly — and falsehood is readily accepted in its place because of its plausibility, which is not easily distinguished from truth in the dark — especially because secret waters are sweeter, and hidden bread is more pleasing? And so I ask — point out to me where you pasture, where you rest at midday, that is, in the open — so that I won't be led astray and start wandering after the flocks of your companions, just as they themselves wander, with no firm hold on the truth, always learning and never arriving at the knowledge of truth. This bride, because of the various and empty dogmas of philosophers and heretics.

The Noonday Demon

The soul longs for noonday clarity to unmask the noonday demon, who disguises himself as an angel of light and tempts under the appearance of good.

It seems to me that the noonday light is desirable for us not only because of what was said before, but also because of the hidden snares of unseen powers — I mean seductive spirits who lie in wait, fitting their arrows to their bows so they can shoot at the upright in heart from the darkness. It's because of these threats, and above all, that I believe noonday is something we should long for too: so that in clear light we can detect the cunning of the devil, and so that we can easily tell the angel of Satan — the one who transforms himself into an angel of light — apart from our own angel.✦ For we can't guard ourselves against the assault and the noonday demon except in the noonday light itself.✦ I think the demon is called 'noonday' for this reason: there are some among the number of the wicked who, deservedly, are wrapped in the darkness and perpetual night of their own obstinate will — yet they know how to pretend to be daytime, and not just daytime but even noon, just like their prince, who is not content to be equal to God but even sets himself against God and exalts himself above what is called God, or what is worshipped as God. So unless the true noon — rising from on high — has shone into the heart of the one whom perhaps some noonday demon of this kind has been allowed to tempt, and has convicted and exposed the false one, there'll be no way to guard against it at all. Instead, it'll tempt and supplant the unwary and the heedless without any doubt, under the appearance of good — offering evil in the place of good, that is — and persuading them. And then noon — that is, a greater brightness — appears, tempting when it offers an image as though of a greater good.

Holy Zeal Turned to Ruin

The noonday demon twists even good practices—vigils, fasting, solitude, labor—into snares that weaken and shame the unwary.

How often, for instance, has it suggested anticipating the vigils, so as to mock the one who sleeps when he comes to the brethren's solemnities? How often has it prolonged fasts, so as to render the person useless for divine duties, and all the more by weakening them? How often, envying those advancing in monasteries, has it persuaded them to seek the desert under the pretext, as it were, of greater purity—and the wretches recognized at last how true is the saying they had read in vain: Woe to the one alone, because if he falls, he has no one to lift him up?✦ How often has it urged them on to manual labor more than was necessary, and, broken in strength, rendered them unfit for the other regular exercises? How many has it persuaded, to no little extent, to bodily exercise—which according to the Apostle is worth only a little—and defrauded them of true piety?✦ Finally, you yourselves have experienced how certain ones—to their shame, I say—who before could not be restrained (so vehemently in spirit were they carried to all things), afterward came down to such great sloth that, according to that word of the Apostle, though they began in the spirit, now they are being consumed in the flesh: how shamefully they entered a covenant with their own bodies, against which they had before cruelly proclaimed war.✦ You might see it—the shame of it! importunately seeking superfluous things, who before had most obstinately refused necessary ones.

The Danger of Singular Will

Stubborn self-will and refusal to obey counsel cast out true devotion, for God rejects the sacrifices of the proud.

Even so, if some persist in their own stubborn defiance, refraining without discretion and causing notable disruption by their singularity to those with whom they ought to share one way of life in the same house — I honestly don't know whether they think they're keeping devotion, since people of this sort seem to me to have cast it even farther away. For those who have decided in their own eyes that they are wise, and resolved among themselves neither to yield to counsel nor to obey a command — let them see what answer they can give, not to me, but to the one who says: "Since to resist is like the sin of divination, and to refuse to yield is like the crime of idolatry."✦ He had already said beforehand that obedience is better than sacrifice, and listening is better than offering the fat of rams — that is, the abstinence of the stubborn.✦ Hence the Lord says through the Prophet: "Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?" signifying that the fasts of the proud or the unclean are not at all acceptable to him.

Four Temptations, Four Lights

Prophetic language describes four temptations—night's terror, the daytime arrow, darkness's roaming, and the noonday demon—each assailing the soul in turn.

But I'm honestly afraid that in condemning the superstitious, we may seem to be loosening the reins on the gluttonous — and that those people should hear, to their own danger, what is said here as a remedy.17 So listen, both sides: there are four kinds of temptations, and they're described for us in prophetic language. With a shield, truth will surround you — you won't fear the terror of night, or the arrow that flies by day, or the trouble that walks in the dark, or the assault and demon of midday. But pay attention too, all you others — this is something I hope will be profitable to everyone. We all sense and feel within ourselves — we who have turned to the Lord — what holy Scripture says: My son, as you draw near to the service of God, stand in fear and prepare your soul for temptation. So then, the beginnings of our conversion — as common experience shows — are first shaken by fear, which strikes newcomers at once with dread of a stricter life and the unfamiliar rigor of discipline.18 And this is called the terror of night — either because night in Scripture usually signifies adversity, or because what we undertake to suffer for hasn't yet been revealed to us. For if that day had dawned — the day whose light would let us see both our labors and our rewards together — there would be no fear of any labor at all, because desire for the rewards would overwhelm it. Its brightness will one day shine clearly, since the sufferings of this present time aren't worth comparing with the future glory that will be revealed in us.✦ But as it is, since these good things are hidden from our eyes and meanwhile night still covers this part of our life, we're surely assailed by the fear of those dark hours, and in exchange for blessings we can't see, we dread enduring the hardships that press in on us right now. So those who are just setting out must be watchful and pray against this first temptation, lest they be suddenly overtaken by a failure of heart and courage, by a storm that drives them from the good they've begun — and may that never happen! Let them spring back to their senses.

The Arrow of Empty Glory

After fear is overcome, the soul must guard against the arrow of vainglory and the hypocrisy that hides ambition behind a mask of devotion.

Once this temptation has been overcome, let us arm ourselves nonetheless against people's praises, which draw their material especially from a praiseworthy life. Otherwise we'll be exposed to the wound from the arrow that flies by day — which is empty glory.✦ Report does indeed fly, and that is why it flies by day — because it springs from works of light. If this is blown away like an empty breath, what remains is that something more solid must be brought forward from the world's riches and honors — if perhaps someone who doesn't care about praises still craves dignities. And see whether this order of temptation wasn't preserved in our Lord: after the suggestion that led to a sheer plunge into vanity, all the kingdoms of the world were shown and offered to him.✦ You, then, following the Lord's example, refuse those things too. Otherwise you'll inevitably be overtaken by the enemy's busy roaming in the darkness — which is hypocrisy. For that comes down from ambition, and its dwelling is in darkness — it hides what is and lies about what is not.

The Demon Who Waits for the Perfect

The noonday demon targets the perfect with disguised deception, but the true midday reveals falsehood and drives away fear.

But at every moment it busies itself, keeping up the outward appearance of devotion in order to hide true virtue, while at the same time laying claim to that very virtue and buying honors with it. The last temptation is the demon of midday, which characteristically lies in wait for the perfect—namely those who, as people of virtue, have overcome everything: pleasures, favors, honors. For what is now left to the one who tempts, against which he can fight openly against such a person? So he comes in secret, since he doesn't dare come openly; and one who has learned well enough to shrink from every open evil, the tempter tries to trip up with a false good. Those who can say with the Apostle, 'We are not ignorant of his craftiness'—the more they advance, the more carefully they are on guard against this snare. This is why Mary is troubled by the angelic greeting—suspecting a deception, unless I am mistaken—and why Joshua doesn't first welcome the angel as a friend until he has come to know that he is a friend. In the end, one questions whether the visitor is his own or an adversary's—as one who has experienced the craftiness of the midday demon. The Apostles themselves, too, when they were once laboring at the oars, with the wind against them and tossing the boat, seeing the Lord walking on the sea and thinking he was a ghost—so that they cried out in fear—didn't they openly put forward the midday suspicion of a demon? And remember what Scripture says: that at the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. Fourth, then—that is, in the highest and final place—this temptation is to be feared. And whoever sees that he stands in the highest position, let him understand that he must guard himself all the more watchfully against the attack and the demon of midday. Furthermore, to the disciples the true midday revealed itself in what they heard: 'I am; do not be afraid'—and the false suspicion was driven away from them.✦ Would that, whenever cloaked falsehood tries to creep in on us, the true midday rising from on high might also send forth its light and its truth for us, to expose that falsehood—and might divide light from darkness, so that we would not be noted by the prophet as those who put darkness for light and light for darkness.✦

Temptation in the Body of Christ

The four temptations are mapped onto the Church's history: persecution, heresy, and the creeping darkness of hypocrisy within.

Still—unless the length of this discourse gets tiresome—I'll try to assign these four temptations, each in its proper order, to the very body of Christ, which is the Church.✦ And look—I'll run through them as briefly as I can. Look at the early Church: wasn't it overwhelmed, right at the start, by an intensely fierce nocturnal fear? It was the time of night when everyone who killed the saints believed they were offering service to God.✦ But once that temptation was conquered and the storm had settled, she became illustrious; and according to the promise made to her, in a short time she was established in the pride of the ages. And the enemy, grieved that he had been thwarted of the nocturnal fear, craftily turned his aim to the arrow that flies in daylight, and wounded some within the Church by it.✦ And empty men, hungry for glory, rose up and wanted to make a name for themselves; and going out from the Church, they afflicted that same mother of theirs for a long time with various and perverse doctrines. But this plague too was driven back by the wisdom of the saints, just as the first had been by the patience of the martyrs.

Bitterness in a False Peace

Though freed from open persecution and heresy, the Church now suffers the incurable wound of hypocrisy and base ambition within her own household.

Look at these times — set free, indeed, by God's mercy from both those forms of wickedness, yet clearly stained by the business that walks about in the darkness. Woe to this generation, corrupted by the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy!✦ If, however, what now hides itself behind sheer excess ought to be called hypocrisy — since it can no longer stay concealed, and impudence no longer even seeks to. A rotting decay creeps today through the entire body of the Church — and the wider it spreads, the more desperately it takes hold; and the more inwardly it reaches, the more dangerously. For if an open, heretical enemy rose up, it would be cast out and wither away; if a violent enemy hid itself, it would perhaps keep its distance. But as it is now — whom will it cast out, or from whom will it hide? All are friends, and all are enemies; all are close associates, and all are adversaries; all are household members, and none are peaceable; all are neighbors, and all seek only what is their own. They are ministers of Christ, and they serve Antichrist. Honored men walk about on the Lord's blessings, who show no honor to the Lord. That's where the tawdry glitter you see every day comes from—the theatrical dress, the royal pomp. That's where the gold on the bridles, saddles, and spurs comes from—and more spurs than altars gleam. That's where the splendid tables come from, and the food, and the goblets; that's where the feasts and the drunkenness come from; that's where the harp, the lyre, and the flute come from; that's where the overflowing wine-presses come from, and the storehouses so full they're bursting from this into that. That's where the jars of perfume come from, that's where the stuffed purses come from. It's for this kind of thing that the prelates, deans, archdeacons, bishops, and archbishops of churches want to be, and are. For these things don't rightly yield their fruit, but to that business which walks about in darkness. It was foretold long ago, and now the time of fulfillment has come: Look, in peace my bitterness is most bitter.✦ Bitter earlier in the slaughter of the martyrs, more bitter afterward in the struggle with heretics, most bitter now in the behavior of those inside the household. No one can drive them away or flee from them; they've grown so strong and multiplied beyond counting. The wound of the Church is inward and incurable, and so in peace its bitterness is most bitter. But in what peace? There is peace, and there is no peace.✦ Peace from the pagans, and peace from the heretics, but certainly not from the children. The voice of one weeping in this time: I nourished and raised up children, but they themselves have despised me.✦

The Coming of the True Midday

From this darkness a final midday demon will arise in the Antichrist, but the true and eternal Midday will destroy him with the brightness of his coming.

They despised me and stained me with a base life, with base gain, with base commerce, and finally with business that walks in darkness. It only remains that now a midday demon be made from their midst, to seduce any who are left remaining in Christ, still persisting in their simplicity.✦ Indeed, he has swallowed up the rivers of the wise and the torrents of the powerful, and he is so confident that the Jordan will flow into his mouth—that is, the simple and humble who are in the Church.✦ For he is the Antichrist, who will claim to be not only the day but also the midday, and will exalt himself above whatever is called God or worshiped as God. The Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him with the brightness of his coming, as the true and eternal Midday, the bridegroom and advocate of the Church, who is God over all, blessed forever.✦✦ Amen.

Read the original Latin

Indica mihi quem diligit anima mea, ubi pascas, ubi cubes in meridie. Et alius quidam: Indica, inquit, mihi cur me ita iudices. Ubi non sane sententiam causatur, sed scrutatur causam, erudiri flagellis petens, non erui. Item alius precatur, dicens: Vias tuas, Domine, demonstra mihi, et semitas tuas edoce me. Quas dixerit vias vel semitas, manifestat alibi: Deduxit me, inquit, super semitas iustitiae. Ergo tria ista anima curiosa Dei non cessat inquirere; iustitiam, et iudicium, et locum habitationis gloriae sponsi: tanquam viam in qua ambulet, cautelam qua ambulet, et ad quam ambulet mansionem. De qua mansione sic habes in propheta: Unam petii, inquit, a Domino, hanc requiram, ut inhabilem in domo Domini omnibus diebus vitae meae; et iterum: Domine, dilexi decorem domus tuae, et locum habitationis gloriae tuae. Porro de reliquis duobus: Iustitia et iudicium, ait, praeparatio sedis tuae.

Merito tria ista mens devota requirit, utpote sedem Dei, et sedis praeparationem. Et pulchre in sponsae praerogativam concurrunt pariter omnia ad consummationem virtutum, ut de forma iustitiae sit formosa, de iudiciorum notitia cauta, de desiderio praesentiae seu gloriae sponsi casta. Talem prorsus decet esse sponsam Domini, pulchram, eruditam et castam. Ergo petitio quam ultimam posui; istius est loci. Petit siquidem ab eo quem diligit anima sua, indicari sibi ubi pascat, et ubi cubet in meridie.

Et primo adverte quam eleganter amorem spiritus a carnis discernat affectu, dum dilectum exprimere magis ipsa affectione, quam nomine volens, non simpliciter: Quem diligo; sed: O, inquit, quem diligit anima mea, spiritualem designans dilectionem. Deinde quidnam eam in loco pascuae adeo delectet, diligenter attende. Sed nec illud praetereat te de hora meridiana, et quod is potissimum exploratur locus, in quo qui pascit, cubat simul: quod est magnae securitatis indicium. Arbitror enim ob hoc additum, Cubat, quod eo loci minime necesse sit stare, et vigilare super custodiam gregis, quando grex, etiam cubante pastore et pausante sub umbris, libere nihilominus discurrat in pascuis. Felix regio, in qua pro libitu oves ingrediuntur et egrediuntur, et non est qui exterreat. Quis mihi tribuat videre vos, meque pariter in montibus pasci una cum illis nonaginta novem quae illic relictae leguntur, cum pastor earum dignanter ad unam descendit quae erraverat? Secure procul dubio cubat prope, qui et longe recedere minime dubitavit, sciens quia in tuto eas relinqueret. Merito sponsa illo suspirat, merito inhiat loco pascuae simul et pacis, sed quietis, sed securitatis, sed exsultationis, sed admirationis, sed stuporis.

Nam et me miserum, heu! longe agentem et de longe salutantem, en ipsa eius recordatio ad lacrymas provocat, plane iuxta affectionem et vocem dicentium: Super flumina Babylonis illic sedimus et flevimus, dum recordaremur tui, Sion. Libet exclamare et me cum sponsa pariter et cum Propheta: Lauda Deum tuum, Sion; quoniam confortavit seras portarum tuarum, benedixit filiis tuis in te. Qui posuit fines tuos pacem, et adipe frumenti satiat te. Quis non illic vehementer cupiat pasci et propter pacem, et propter adipem, et propter satietatem? Nihil ibi formidatur, nihil fastiditur, nihil deficit. Tuta habitatio paradisus, dulce pabulum Verbum, opulentia multa nimis aeternitas.

Habeo et ego Verbum, sed in carne; et mihi apponitur veritas, sed in sacramento. Angelus ex adipe frumenti saginatur, et nudo saturatur grano; me oportet interim quodam sacramenti cortice esse contentum, carnis furfure, litterae palea, velamine fidei. Et haec talia sunt quae gustata afferunt mortem, si non de primitiis spiritus quantulumcunque accipiant condimentum. Prorsus mors mihi in olla, nisi ex prophetae farina dulcoretur. Denique absque spiritu et sacramentum ad iudicium sumitur, et caro non prodest quidquam, et littera occidit, et fides mortua est. Sed spiritus est qui vivificat, ut vivam in eis. At quantalibet sane abundantia spiritus pinguescant ista, non pari omnino iucunditate sumitur cortex sacramenti et adeps frumenti, fides et species, memoria et praesentia, aeternitas et tempus, vultus et speculum, imago Dei et forma servi. Nempe in omnibus his fides locuples mihi, intellectus pauper.

Nunquid vero par sapor intellectui fideique, cum sit in meritum ista, ille in praemium? Vides ergo tantum distare inter pabula, quantum et inter loca; et sicut exaltantur coeli a terra, ita habitantes in eis, bonis potioribus abundare?

Festinemus proinde, filii, festinemus ad locum tutiorem, ad pastum suaviorem, ad uberiorem et fertiliorem agrum. Festinemus ut habitemus sine metu, abundemus sine defectu, epulemur sine fastidio. Tu enim, Domine sabaoth, qui cum tranquillitate iudicas omnia, etiam cum securitate aeque omnia ibi pascis. Idem ipse et Dominus exercituum, et pastor ovium. Ergo et pascis, et cubas pariter, sed non hic. Denique stabas cum e coelo prospiceres unam ex tuis oviculis (Stephanum loquor) a lupis circumdari super terram. Et propterea, quaeso, indica mihi ubi pascas, ubi cubes in meridie; hoc est tota die: etenim illa meridies tota est dies, et ipsa nesciens vesperam. Et ideo melior dies illa in atriis tuis super millia, quia nescit occasum.

At matutinum forsitan habuit, cum primum videlicet dies sanctificatus illuxit nobis, per viscera utique misericordiae Dei nostri, in quibus visitavit nos Oriens ex alto. Vere tunc suscepimus, Deus, misericordiam tuam in medio templi tui, cum in medio umbrae mortis exortus matutini lux orta est nobis, et mane vidimus gloriam Domini. Quanti reges et prophetae voluerunt videre, et non viderunt? Quare? nisi quia nox erat, et necdum venerat illud exspectatum mane, cui fuerat repromissa misericordia? Unde et orabat quis dicens: Auditam fac mihi mane misericordiam tuam, quia in te speravi.

Fuit namque quaedam huius aurora diei, ex quo sol iustitiae per archangelum Gabrielem nuntiatus est terris, et Virgo Deum in utero de Spiritu sancto concepit et peperit Virgo, ac deinceps, quoad in terris visus est, et cum hominibus conversatus est. Nam usque adeo per totum id temporis lux pusilla, et tanquam lux revera aurorae apparuit, ut diem esse interim apud homines pene universitas ignoraret. Denique si cognovissent, nunquam Dominum gloriae crucifixissent. Et utique ipsis paucis discipulis dicebatur: Adhuc modicum lumen in vobis est; eo quod aurora esset et initium, vel potius indicium diei, dum Sol adhuc absconderet radios suos, et minime eos spargeret super terram. Paulus quoque dicebat, quoniam nox praecessit, dies autem appropinquavit, significans esse tunc adhuc adeo modicum lumen, ut propinquasse, quam venisse diem dicere maluerit. Quando autem hoc dicebat? Profecto quando Sol reversus ab inferis, iam se ad alta coeli sustulerat. Quanto magis cum adhuc similitudo carnis peccati instar densae nubis operiret auroram, iuxta omnes nimirum nostri corporis passiones, ita ut neque amara mors, nec crux probrosa defuerit?

quanto magis, inquam, tunc exigua tenuisque admodum lux fuit, et quae de aurorae magis, quam de Solis prodire praesentia videretur?

Erat ergo aurora, et ipsa subobscura satis, tota illa Christi videlicet conversatio super terram, usque dum occumbens et rursum exoriens, solaris suae praesentiae lumine clariori fugavit auroram, et mane facto absorpta est nox in victoria. Denique habes: Et valde mane una sabbatorum veniunt ad monumentum, orto iam sole. Annon mane fuit, quando ortus est Sol? Attulit autem novum de resurrectione decorem, et sereniorem solito lucem, quoniam etsi noveramus eum secundum carnem, sed nunc iam non novimus. Est scriptum in Propheta: Decorem induit, induit fortitudinem, et praecinxit se; quod carnis infirma, tanquam nubila quaedam excusserit, stolam gloriae induens. Sane extunc elevatus est Sol, et sensim demum diffundens suos radios super terram, coepit paulatim ubique clarior apparere, fervidiorque sentiri. Verum quantumlibet incalescat et invalescat, multiplicet et dilatet radios suos per omnes huius nostrae mortalitatis curriculum (erit enim nobiscum usque ad consummationem saeculi; non tamen ad meridianum perveniet lumen, nec in illa sui plenitudine videbitur modo, in qua videndus est postea, ab his duntaxat, quos hac visione ipse dignabitur. O vero meridies, plenitudo fervoris et lucis, solis statio, umbrarum exterminatio, desiccatio paludum, fetorum depulsio!

O perenne solstitium, quando iam non inclinabitur dies! o lumen meridianum, o vernalis temperies, o aestiva venustas, o autumnalis ubertas; et, ne quid videar praeteriise, o quies et feriatio hiemalis! Aut certe, si hoc magis probas, sola tunc hiems abiit et recessit. Hunc locum, inquit, tantae claritatis et pacis et plenitudinis indica mihi, ut quemadmodum Iacob adhuc in corpore manens vidit Dominum facie ad faciem, et salva facta est anima eius; vel certe sicut Moyses vidit eum, non per figuras et aenigmata, seu per somnia, uti prophetae alii, sed modo plane praecellenti atque inexperto caeteris, sibi noto et Deo; vel sicut Isaias revelatis oculis cordis vidit eum super solium excelsum et elevatum; vel etiam quomodo Paulus raptus in paradisum audivit verba ineffabilia, et Dominum suum Iesum Christum vidit oculis suis; ita ego quoque te in lumine tuo et in decore tuo per mentis excessum merear contemplari pascentem uberius, quiescentem securius.

Nam et hic pascis, sed non in saturitate; nec cubare licet, sed stare et vigilare oportet propter timores nocturnos. Heu! nec clara lux, nec plena refectio, nec mansio tuta: et ideo indica mihi ubi pascas, ubi cubes in meridie. Beatam me dicis cum esurio et sitio iustitiam. Quid hoc ad illorum felicitatem, qui repleti sunt in bonis domus tuae, qui epulantur et exsultant in conspectu Dei, et delectantur in laetitia? Sed et si quid patior propter iustitiam, nihilominus beatam pronuntias. Et certe pasci ubi timeas pati, iucunditatem habet, sed non securitatem. Porro autem pasci et pati simul, nonne molesta iucunditas est?

Omnia mihi hic cedunt citra perfectum, plura praeter votum, et tutum nihil. Quando adimplebis me laetitia cum vultu tuo? Vultum tuum, Domine, requiram. Vultus tuus meridies est. Indica mihi ubi pascas, ubi cubes in meridie. Scio satis ubi pascas non cubans; indica mihi ubi pascas et cubes. Non ignoro ubi aliis temporibus pascere soleas; sed scire velim ubi in meridie pascas. Nam in tempore quidem mortalitatis meae, et in loco peregrinationis meae consuevi sane sub tua custodia pasci, et pascere in lege, et prophetis, et psalmis de te; nec non in evangelicis pascuis, et apud apostolos similiter requievi; frequenter etiam de gestis sanctorum, et verbis, et scriptis eorum, victum mihi atque attinentibus mihi mendicavi ut potui; frequentius autem (quoniam is magis ad manum fuit) manducavi panem doloris, et vinum compunctionis bibi; et factae sunt mihi lacrymae meae panes die ac nocte, dum dicitur mihi quotidie: Ubi est Deus tuus?

Nisi quod de mensa tua; siquidem parasti in conspectu meo mensam adversus eos qui tribulant me : de ipsa, inquam, tuae quidem beneficio miserationis, accipio, in quo utcunque respiro, quoties tristis est anima mea, et quoties conturbat me. Haec pascua novi et frequentavi te secuta pastorem; sed indica, quaeso, etiam quae non novi.

Sunt quidem et alii pastores, qui dicunt se esse sodales tuos, et non sunt, habentes greges suos, et fines suos pabulo mortis refertos, in quibus pascunt nec tecum, nec per te, quorum utique terminos non intravi, nec appropiavi eis. Ipsi sunt qui dicunt: Ecce hic est Christus, ecce illic est; promittentes sapientiae et scientiae pascua uberiora, et creditur eis, et confluunt ad eos multi, et faciunt eos filios gehennae duplo quam se. Cur hoc, nisi quia non est ibi meridies et perspicua lux, ut liquido veritas cognoscatur; facileque pro ea recipitur falsitas propter verisimilitudinem, quae non facile in obscuro a vero discernitur, praesertim quia aquae furtivae dulciores sunt, et panis absconditus suavior? Et propterea quaeso, ut indices mihi ubi pascas, ubi cubes in meridie, id est in manifesto, ne seducta incipiam vagari post greges sodalium tuorum, quemadmodum et ipsi vagi sunt, nulla stabiles certitudine veritatis, semper discentes, et nunquam ad scientiam veritatis pervenientes. Haec sponsa propter philosophorum et haereticorum varia et vana dogmata.

Mihi vero videtur non solum propter ea, sed et propter dolos invisibilium potestatum, sicut sunt seductorii spiritus, sedentes in insidiis, et parantes sagittas suas in pharetra, ut sagittent in obscuro rectos corde: propter hos, inquam, et maxime, videtur mihi illa meridies optanda etiam nobis, ut clara luce deprehendamus astutias diaboli, atque angelum Satanae illum, qui se transfigurat in angelum lucis, ab angelo nostro facillime discernamus. Non enim aliter nos custodire sufficimus ab incursu et daemonio meridiano, nisi in meridiano aeque lumine. Quod quidem daemonium idcirco meridianum dictum existimo, quia sunt aliqui de numero malignorum, qui cum merito tenebrosae obstinataeque voluntatis suae nox et nox perpetua sint, diem tamen se ad fallendum simulare noverunt, nec modo diem, sed et meridiem, sicut eorum princeps non contentus esse aequalis Deo, etiam adversatur, et extollitur supra id quod dicitur, aut quod colitur Deus. Itaque nisi cordi illius, quem forte aliquod istiusmodi daemonium meridianum tentandum acceperit, oriens ex alto illuxerit verus meridies, qui falsum convincat et prodat, non poterit omnino caveri, sed tentabit et supplantabit sine dubio sub specie boni, pro bono scilicet malum incauto et improvido persuadens. Et tunc meridies, id est maior claritas, apparet, tentans, cum quasi boni maioris imaginem praefert.

Quoties, verbi causa, suggessit anticipare vigilias, quo ad solemnia fratrum illuderet dormitanti? Quoties, produci ieiunia, ut divinis obsequiis eo inutilem redderet, quo imbecillem? Quoties bene proficientibus in coenobiis invidens, obtentu quasi maioris puritatis eremum petere persuasit, et cognoverunt miseri tandem, quam verus sit sermo quem frustra legerant: Vae soli, quoniam si ceciderit, non habet sublevantem? Quoties ad opus manuum plus, quam opus fuerat, incitavit; et fractum viribus, caeteris regularibus exercitiis invalidum reddidit? Quam multis exercitationem corporis, quae iuxta Apostolum ad modicum valet, non modicam persuasit, et pietate fraudavit? Denique ipsi experti estis, quomodo quidam, ad verecundiam illorum dico, qui ante inhiberi non poterant (ita in spiritu vehementi ad omnia ferebantur), post ad tantam ignaviam devenerunt, ut secundum illud Apostoli, cum spiritu coeperint, nunc carne consummentur : quam turpe iniere foedus cum suis corporibus, quibus crudele ante indixerant bellum. Videas, proh pudor! importune superflua quaeritare, qui prius necessaria obstinatissime recusabant.

Quanquam si qui in sua forte invicti obstinatione perdurant, indiscretius abstinentes, et singularitate notabili conturbantes eos, cum quibus habitare debent unius moris in domo; haud scio sane an se existiment pietatem retinere, cum huiusmodi mihi videantur et longius abiecisse. Nam qui sapientes in oculis suis decreverunt apud se nec consilio acquiescere, nec praecepto, videant quid respondeant, non mihi, sed dicenti: Quoniam quasi peccatum ariolandi est repugnare, et quasi scelus idololatriae nolle acquiescere. Praemiserat autem quia melior est obedientia quam victima et auscultare magis quam offerre adipem arietum, id est abstinentiam contumacium. Unde Dominus per Prophetam: Nunquid manducabo, ait, carnes taurorum, aut sanguinem hircorum potabo? significans minime sibi accepta fore ieiunia superborum vel immundorum.

Sed sane vereor, ne damnantes superstitiosos, videamur frena laxare gulosis; et audiant illi ad periculum sui, quod ad remedium his dicitur. Quamobrem audite, utraque pars, quatuor esse tentationum genera, et ipsa nobis ita prophetico sermone describi. Scuto, inquit, circumdabit te veritas eius; non timebis a timore nocturno, a sagitta volante in die, a negotio perambulante in tenebris, ab incursu et daemonio meridiano. Attendite nihilominus et vos alii, quod omnibus spero profuturum. Illud omnes in nobis sentimus et sensimus qui conversi sumus ad Dominum, quod sancta Scriptura dicit: Fili, accedens ad servitutem Dei, sta in timore, et praepara animam tuam ad tentationem. Itaque primordia nostrae conversionis, iuxta communis quidem experientiae rationem, primus exagitat timor, quem intrantibus statim horror vitae ingerit arctioris, et insuetae austeritas disciplinae. Atque is timor nocturnus dicitur, vel quia nox in Scripturis designare solet adversa, vel quoniam propter quod adversa pati aggredimur, id nondum revelatum est. Si enim dies ille luceret, in cuius lumine pariter et labores et praemia videremus; timor omnino quorumvis laborum nullus esset prae desiderio praemiorum.

dum clara luce appareret quoniam non sunt condignae passiones huius temporis ad futuram gloriam, quae revelabitur in nobis. Nunc vero quoniam abscondita sunt ab oculis nostris, et nox est interim in hac parte; tentamur nimirum a timore nocturno, et pro bonis quae non videmus, formidamus quae impraesentiarum sunt adversa tolerare. Vigilandum proinde et orandum primo intrantibus contra hanc primam tentationem, ne subito praeoccupati a pusillanimitate spiritus et tempestate, a bono coepto, quod absit! resiliant.

Superata autem hac tentatione, armemus nos nihilominus et adversus hominum laudes, quae de laudabili potissimum vita sumunt materiam. Alioquin patebimus vulneri a sagitta volante in die, quae est inanis gloria. Fama siquidem volat; et ideo in die, quia ex operibus lucis. Si haec exsufflatur tanquan inanis aura, restat ut solidius aliquid afferatur de divitiis et honoribus saeculi, si forte qui non curat laudes, appetat dignitates. Et vide, si non hic ordo tentandi servatus est in Domino nostro, cui post suggestum ad solam vanitatem praecipitium, ostensa sunt omnia regna mundi atque oblata. Tu ergo exemplo Domini et ista renue. Aliter necesse est circumveniri te a negotio perambulante in tenebris, quod est hypocrisis. Etenim ista de ambitione descendit, et in tenebris habitatio eius: quippe abscondit quod est, et quod non est mentitur.

Negotiatur autem omni tempore, formam retinens pietatis ad sese occultandum, virtutem autem eius vindicans, et emens honores.

Postrema tentatio est daemonium meridianum, quod solea maxime insidiari perfectis, qui videlicet, tanquam viri virtutum, omnia superaverint; voluptates, favores, honores. Quid enim iam superest ei qui tentat, in quo possit pugnare palam adversus huiusmodi? Venit proinde occultus, qui manifestus non audet; et quem satis expertus est apertum omne horrere malum, falso bono supplantare molitur. Qui autem dicere possunt cum Apostolo: Non enim ignoramus astutias eius; quo plus proficiunt, eo magis solliciti sunt cavere a laqueo isto. Hinc est quod Maria angelica salutatione turbatur, dolum, nisi fallor, suspicans; et Iosue non prius amicum angelum suscipit, quam esse amicum noverit. Denique sciscitatur, suusne sit, an adversariorum, tanquam qui expertus sit daemonii meridiani versutias. Apostoli quoque aliquando cum laborarent in remigando, vento adversante et iactante naviculam, videntes Dominum ambulantem super mare, et putantes esse phantasma, ita ut clamarent prae timore, nonne apertam meridiani suspicionem daemonii praetenderunt? Et recordamini Scripturae dicentis, quia quarta vigilia noctis venit ad eos ambulans supra mare.

Quarto igitur, id est supremo demum loco, haec tentatio formidetur, et quo se in summo stare quis viderit, eo sibi vigilantius ab incursu et daemonio meridiano cavendum intelligat. Porro discipulis verus se manifestavit meridies in eo quod audierunt: Ego sum, nolite timere; et falsi suspicio ab eis depulsa est. Utinam et nobis, quoties palliata falsitas molitur irrepere, emittat lucem suam et veritatem suam ad prodendam illam oriens ex alto verus meridies, et dividat lucem a tenebris, ut non notemur a propheta tanquam ponentes lucem tenebras, et tenebras lucem.

Adhuc, nisi taedio fuerit longitudo sermonis, has quatuor tentationes tentabo suo ordine assignare ipsi corpori Christi, quod est Ecclesia. Et ecce quam brevius possum percurro. Videte primitivam Ecclesiam, si non primo pervasa est acriter nimis a timore nocturno. Erat enim nox, quando omnis qui interficeret sanctos, arbitrabatur obsequium se praestare Deo. Hac autem tentatione devicta et sedata tempestate, inclyta facta est, et iuxta promissionem ad se factam, in brevi posita in superbiam saeculorum. Et dolens inimicus quod frustratus esset, a timore nocturno convertit se callide ad sagittam volantem in die, et vulneravit in ea quosdam de Ecclesia. Et surrexerunt homines vani, cupidi gloriae, et voluerunt sibi facere nomen: et exeuntes de Ecclesia, diu eamdem matrem suam afflixerunt in diversis et perversis dogmatibus. Sed haec quoque pestis depulsa est in sapientia sanctorum, sicut et prima in patientia martyrum.

En tempora ista libera quidem Deo miserante ab utraque illa malitia; sed plane foeda a negotio perambulante in tenebris. Vae generationi huic a fermento Pharisaeorum, quod est hypocrisis! si tamen hypocrisis dici debet, quae iam latere prae abundantia non valet, et prae impudentia non quaerit. Serpit hodie putida tabes per omne corpus Ecclesiae, et quo latius, eo desperatius; eoque periculosius, quo interius. Nam si insurgeret apertus inimicus haereticus, mitteretur foras et aresceret; si violentus inimicus, absconderet se forsitan ab eo. Nunc vero quem eiiciet, aut a quo abscondet se? Omnes amici, et omnes inimici; omnes necessarii, et omnes adversarii; omnes domestici, et nulli pacifici; omnes proximi, et omnes quae sua sunt quaerunt. Ministri Christi sunt, et serviunt Antichristo.

Honorati incedunt de bonis Domini, qui Domino honorem non deferunt. Inde is quem quotidie vides meretricius nitor, histrionicus habitus, regius apparatus. Inde aurum in frenis, in sellis et calcaribus, et plus calcaria quam altaria fulgent. Inde splendidae mensae et cibis, et scyphis; inde commessationes et ebrietates; inde cithara, et lyra, et tibia; inde redundantia torcularia, et promptuaria plena, eructantia ex hoc in illud. Inde dolia pigmentaria, inde referta marsupia. Pro huiusmodi volunt esse et sunt ecclesiarum praepositi, decani, archidiaconi, episcopi, archiepiscopi. Nec enim haec merito cedunt, sed negotio illi, quod perambulat in tenebris.

Olim praedictum est, et nunc tempus impletionis advenit: Ecce in pace amaritudo mea amarissima. Amara prius in nece martyrum, amarior post in conflictu haereticorum, amarissima nunc in moribus domesticorum. Non fugare, non fugere eos potest; ita invaluerunt, et multiplicati sunt super numerum. Intestina et insanabilis est plaga Ecclesiae; et ideo in pace amaritudo eius amarissima. Sed in qua pace? Et pax est, et non est pax. Pax a paganis, et pax ab haereticis; sed non profecto a filiis. Vox plangentis in tempore isto: Filios enutrivi et exaltavi, ipsi autem spreverunt me.

Spreverunt et maculaverunt me a turpi vita, a turpi quaestu, a turpi commercio, a negotio denique perambulante in tenebris. Superest ut iam de medio fiat daemonium meridianum ad seducendos si qui in Christo residui sunt, adhuc permanentes in simplicitate sua. Siquidem absorbuit fluvios sapientium, et torrentes potentium, et habet fiduciam ut Iordanis influat in os eius, id est simplices et humiles qui sunt in Ecclesia. Ipse enim est Antichristus, qui se non solum diem, sed et meridiem mentietur, et extolletur supra id quod dicitur, aut quod colitur Deus: quem Dominus Iesus interficiet spiritu oris sui, et destruet illustratione adventus sui, utpote verus et aeternus Meridies, sponsus et advocatus Ecclesiae, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Song.1.7 — Tell me, whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who wanders beside the flocks of your companions?
  2. ↩Ps.25.4-Ps.25.5 — Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; your paths, teach me. Ps.25.5 — Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
  3. ↩Prov.8.20 — In the way of righteousness I walk, in the midst of the paths of justice.
  4. ↩Ps.27.4 — One thing I have asked of the LORD, and this I will seek: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.
  5. ↩Ps.27.8;Ps.26.8 — My heart says of you, 'Seek my face.' Your face, LORD, I will seek. Ps.26.8 — LORD, I love the dwelling place of your house, and the place where your glory dwells.
  6. ↩Ps.89.14 — Yours is an arm with might; strong is your hand, high is your right hand.
  7. ↩Song.1.7 — Tell me, whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who wanders beside the flocks of your companions?
  8. ↩Song.1.7 — Tell me, whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who wanders beside the flocks of your companions?
  9. ↩John.10.9 — I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will go in and out, and will find pasture.
  10. ↩Luke.15.4-Luke.15.7;Matt.18.12-Matt.18.14 — Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until he finds it? Luke.15.5 — And when he finds it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Luke.15.6 — And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Luke.15.7 — I tell you, there will be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents more than over ninety-nine righteous persons who have no need of repentance. Matt.18.12 — What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? Matt.18.13 — And if it happens that he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray. Matt.18.14 — So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
  11. ↩Rom.8.23 — Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
  12. ↩John.6.63 — It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no benefit. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
  13. ↩2Cor.3.6 — who also has made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
  14. ↩John.6.63 — It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no benefit. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
  15. ↩Phil.2.7 — but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness, and appearing as a human being.
  16. ↩2Cor.3.18 — And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
  17. ↩Luke.1.26-Luke.1.38 — In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee whose name was Nazareth, Luke.1.27 — to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. Luke.1.28 — And coming to her, he said, 'Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.' Luke.1.29 — But she was troubled at his message, and she kept pondering what sort of greeting this might be. Luke.1.30 — And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Luke.1.31 — And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. Luke.1.32 — He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. Luke.1.33 — And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. Luke.1.34 — But Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I have not known a man?" Luke.1.35 — And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore also the one to be born will be called Son of God." Luke.1.36 — And behold, Elizabeth your kinswoman—she too has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren. Luke.1.37 — For nothing will be impossible with God. Luke.1.38 — And Mary said, 'Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her.
  18. ↩Luke.1.34-Luke.1.35;Isa.7.14 — But Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I have not known a man?" Luke.1.35 — And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore also the one to be born will be called Son of God." Isa.7.14 — 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.
  19. ↩1Cor.2.8 — None of the rulers of this age understood it; for if they had understood, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
  20. ↩John.12.35 — Jesus said to them, "The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, so that darkness does not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going."
  21. ↩Rom.13.12 — The night is far gone, and the day is at hand; let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
  22. ↩Luke.24.1-Luke.24.7;Ps.18.6 — Now on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. Luke.24.2 — But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Luke.24.3 — But when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. Luke.24.4 — And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood beside them in dazzling apparel. Luke.24.5 — And when the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, 'Why do you seek the Living One among the dead?' Luke.24.6 — He is not here, but has been raised. Remember how he spoke to you while he was still in Galilee, Luke.24.7 — saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again. Ps.18.6 — The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me.
  23. ↩Rom.8.3 — For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.
  24. ↩1Cor.15.54 — But when this perishable puts on imperishability, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.'
  25. ↩Mark.16.2 — And very early on the first day of the week, they come to the tomb when the sun has risen.
  26. ↩2Cor.5.16 — So then, from now on we know no one according to the flesh. Even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, we no longer know him that way.
  27. ↩Ps.93.1 — The LORD reigns, robed in majesty; the LORD is robed, girded with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
  28. ↩Matt.28.20 — teaching them to observe everything I commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
  29. ↩Gen.32.30 — So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, 'For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been preserved.'
  30. ↩Num.12.8 — Mouth to mouth I speak with him, plainly and not in riddles; the form of the LORD he beholds. So why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
  31. ↩Isa.6.1 — In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple.
  32. ↩2Cor.12.4 — that he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a person to speak.
  33. ↩Ps.23.5 — You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
  34. ↩Ps.11.2 — For look, the wicked bend the bow; they set their arrow on the string, to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.
  35. ↩Ps.91.6 — Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that ravages at midday.
  36. ↩Eccl.4.10 — For if they fall, the one will lift up his companion; but woe to the one who falls when there is no second one to raise him up.
  37. ↩1Tim.4.8 — For bodily training has some benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.
  38. ↩Gal.5.17 — For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do the things you wish.
  39. ↩1Sam.15.23 — For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and iniquity and idolatry are stubbornness. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you from being king.
  40. ↩1Sam.15.22 — And Samuel said, "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
  41. ↩Rom.8.18 — For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is about to be revealed to us.
  42. ↩Ps.91.5-Ps.91.6 — You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, Ps.91.6 — Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that ravages at midday.
  43. ↩Matt.4.8-Matt.4.9 — Again, the devil takes him to a very high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Matt.4.9 — And he said to him, 'All these things I will give you, if you fall down and worship me.'
  44. ↩Matt.14.27;Mark.6.50;John.6.20 — But Jesus spoke to them at once, saying, 'Take heart! It is I. Do not be afraid.' Mark.6.50 — For they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke with them and said to them, 'Take heart! It is I. Do not be afraid.' John.6.20 — But he said to them, "I am. Do not be afraid."
  45. ↩Isa.5.20 — Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
  46. ↩Eph.1.22-Eph.1.23;Col.1.18 — And he put all things under his feet, and gave him as head over all things to the church. Eph.1.23 — which is his body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all. Col.1.18 — And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might have first place in everything.
  47. ↩John.16.2 — They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, an hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God.
  48. ↩Ps.91.5 — You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
  49. ↩Mark.8.15;Matt.16.6;Luke.12.1 — And he was instructing them, saying, 'Watch out, beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.' Matt.16.6 — Jesus said to them, "Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Luke.12.1 — Meanwhile, when the myriads of the crowd had gathered so thickly that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first: "Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy."
  50. ↩Isa.38.17 — Behold, it was for my peace that I had great bitterness; but you have held fast to my soul, rescuing it from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
  51. ↩Jer.6.14 — They have treated the brokenness of my people superficially, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.
  52. ↩Isa.1.2 — Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: I have raised and exalted children, but they have rebelled against me.
  53. ↩Ps.90.6 — In the morning it flourishes and fades; by evening it withers and dries up.
  54. ↩Job.22.16 — who were cut down before their time, whose foundations were swept away by a river.
  55. ↩Isa.11.4 — But with righteousness he will judge the poor, and with equity he will decide for the meek of the earth; and he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will put the wicked to death.
  56. ↩2Thess.2.8 — And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord [Jesus] will destroy with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of his coming.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩erui is uncertain in sense; likely 'to be found out / exposed' as contrast with erudiri 'to be instructed'; the contrast drives the spiritual meaning.
  2. 2 ↩inhabilem is ambiguous in form; taken here as a purpose/result clause 'that I may dwell,' which fits the Psalm source and the devotional sense.
  3. 3 ↩nudo rendered 'while stripped' (ablative of manner/state); the angel feeds unencumbered by earthly husk, contrasting with the human condition under sacramental veils.
  4. 4 ↩Extended metaphor: grain = Word/fat (adeps frumenti) vs. husk/bran/chaff/veil = flesh/letter/sacrament. The contrast is between angelic direct nourishment and human mediated reception.
  5. 5 ↩primitiis spiritus: 'first fruits of the Spirit' — candidate allusion to Rom 8:23 (primirivis spiritus); rendered literally, Moses resolution deferred.
  6. 6 ↩in olla: 'in the pot' — likely allusion to 2 Kings 4:38–41 (the pot of death in Gilgal, Elisha's flour purging it). 'prophetae farina' = the Prophet's flour, echoing the prophetic power that turns death to life.
  7. 7 ↩dulcoretur: form uncertain (passive subjunctive 'be sweetened'); rendered per normalized text.
  8. 8 ↩Clauses echo John 6:63 (spiritus est qui vivificat, caro non prodest quidquam) and 2 Cor 3:6 (littera occidit). Rendered per normalized text; Moses resolution deferred.
  9. 9 ↩Continues John 6:63; 'in eis' ('by them') likely refers back to the preceding elements (sacrament, letter, faith) — life comes through these realities when the Spirit quickens.
  10. 10 ↩Extended contrast between the outward sacramental form (cortex, species, praesentia, forma servi) and the inner divine reality (adeps frumenti, fides, memoria, aeternitas, vultus, imago Dei). The pairing is complex; rendered to preserve the parallel structure.
  11. 11 ↩Cum vultu tuo renders 'with your countenance/presence'; the phrase echoes the Vulgate idiom for beholding God's face (cf. Ps 16[17]:15, Ps 104[105]:4), and here carries both the desire for joy and for intimate access to God.
  12. 12 ↩Direct echo of the psalmic 'Vultum tuum, Domine, requiram' (Ps 26[27]:8); candidate resolution deferred to scripture-allusion stage.
  13. 13 ↩Meridies ('midday') functions here as a metaphor for full, bright clarity and the height of divine illumination; the face of God is not a time of day but the fullness of light and rest.
  14. 14 ↩Pasci and pascere are used in a double sense: to be fed by God and to feed on the Scriptures. The rendering keeps both layers — 'be fed' (passive, received) and 'to feed on' (active, meditating) — to preserve the devotional richness.
  15. 15 ↩Compunctionis is rendered 'compunction' per lexeme policy; it denotes grace-pierced sorrow for sin, not generic guilt or shame.
  16. 16 ↩The closing quotation 'Ubi est Deus tuus?' echoes Ps 41:3 (Vulgate) / Ps 42:3 (Hebrew) and is also taken up in Ps 79:10 and Joel 2:17; candidate resolution deferred to scripture-allusion stage.
  17. 17 ↩gulosis: case form ambiguous (dat/abl pl or substantive); rendered as 'on the gluttonous' assuming dative/ablative of person affected.
  18. 18 ↩arctioris: comparative of arctus ('stricter, tighter'); rendered as 'stricter' modifying life (vitae arctioris).

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