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Chapter 53SermC.1.53

Sermo 53

The Bridegroom's Voice and the Bride's Joy

The bride rejoices at the bridegroom's voice, recognizing how his inspiring presence instills holy fear and restful order in the community.

The voice of my beloved. When the bride sees the young women's newfound modesty and reverent fear — how, now that they had begun, they clearly didn't dare impose themselves on his sacred leisure, nor presume to disturb him as he rested in contemplation, as they had been the day before and the day before that — she recognizes that this has come about through the bridegroom's care and effort, and rejoicing in the spirit, whether because of their progress, now restrained from excessive and needless restlessness, or because of the greater freedom of rest that awaits her from now on, or even because of the bridegroom's favor and loving regard — indeed, because of his own eagerness in guarding, and his great zeal in defending, what is most sweet to him in his leisure, or rather his most fervent pursuits — she says that the voice of her beloved has been made for this reason, directed toward them. For the one who presides over others in anxiety scarcely ever, or only rarely, has secure leisure for himself, since he always fears that he will cause his subjects to suffer want and fail to please God, because he prefers his own rest and the sweetness of contemplation to the common good. Yet no small joy and sense of security comes at times to the one resting gently, when — from a certain fear and reverence for him infused by God into the hearts of his subjects — he understands that his rest is pleasing to God, who makes them bear their own hardships with a calmer spirit than they would dare rashly to disturb the welcome leisure of a spiritual father. For the righteous trembling of the little ones clearly signifies that they have heard within, as it were, his threatening and rebuking voice from afar — the one who speaks in the prophet: I, who speak righteousness. His voice is his inspiration, and the striking of righteous fear.

From Hearing to Sight: Faith's Ascent

The bride moves from hearing the bridegroom's voice to seeing him come, as Scripture everywhere places hearing before sight in the order of grace.

Having learned this from the voice, the bride, rejoicing and exulting, says, "The voice of my beloved."✦ She is a friend, and rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom's voice.✦ And she adds: "Look, he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills."✦ Having learned of the beloved's presence through hearing his voice, she immediately directs her well-trained, eager eyes toward seeing the one she had heard. Hearing leads to sight, because faith comes from hearing — the hearing by which hearts are cleansed so that God can be seen. For so you have it: "Faith cleansing hearts."✦✦ She sees, therefore, the one coming whom she had heard speaking, observing here also that order described by the Holy Spirit in the Prophet: "Hear, daughter, and see."✦ And so that you may notice more certainly that this is not by chance or accidentally, but rather from zeal and careful effort — for the reason, namely, that we set forth earlier — hearing is here placed before sight. Consider whether this same order of words is not also found observed in holy Job, where he speaks thus to God: "With the hearing of the ear I heard you, and now my eye sees you."✦ But also, where the Holy Spirit is mentioned as having descended upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost — is it not described as having hearing precede sight?✦

Pentecost: Sound Before Sight

The Pentecost narrative confirms the pattern: the Holy Spirit's coming was perceived first through sound, then through sight.

He says, for example: Suddenly a sound came from heaven, like a mighty wind arriving; and below: Divided tongues, like fire, appeared to them.✦ And so here, the arrival of the Holy Spirit is said to have been perceived first through hearing, and then through sight.✦ But enough on this point. Since you too, if you take care to put effort into this kind of inquiry, will perhaps be able to find several similar passages yourself in other places in Scripture.

Leaping Over Mountains: The Bridegroom's Course

The preacher turns to the difficult question of what the mountains and hills are over which the Bridegroom leaps, rejecting carnal imagery in favor of a spiritual reading.

Now then, let's turn our attention to something that calls for more careful investigation and is harder to get into — and I freely admit I need the Holy Spirit's help with this, so I can bring to light what those mountains and hills actually are, over which the Church watched her Bridegroom leaping and bounding with joyful eyes, I believe as he hastened toward the redemption whose beauty she had longed for.✦ For I'm quite confident in this reading, and without hesitation, because something similar from the Prophet comes to mind, clearly foreshadowing and portraying the Savior's coming in the spirit: 'He has pitched his tent in the sun, and he himself, like a bridegroom going forth from his chamber.'✦1 He exults like a giant to run his course; his going forth is from the height of heaven, and his reaching even to its height.✦2 That course and return is well known; the starting point from which it sets out, and the goal toward which it's directed and brought to completion, is well known. So what then? Shall we picture for ourselves — whether reading this in the psalms or in the present canticle — a giant of towering stature, seized with love for some absent young woman, and as he hurries toward the embrace he longs for, leaping over these mountains and hills that we see rising with such massive bulk above the flatlands of the earth, so that some of them lift their peaks even above the clouds? But it's not right to imagine bodily fantasies of this kind, especially when we're dealing with this spiritual song, and it's not permitted to us at all, since we remember reading in the Gospel that 'God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit.'✦3

Holy Mountains, Heavenly Sheep

Scripture testifies that the heavenly city rests on holy mountains and that mountains and hills sing praises, pointing to rational heavenly spirits.

So who are these spiritual mountains and hills? That way, afterward, we can clearly recognize what kind of leaps the bridegroom — who is God, and therefore also spirit — was making in them or above them. If we take these to be the ones the Gospel records, in which ninety-nine sheep were left behind when their merciful shepherd came down to seek the one that had perished, the matter is still in darkness and understanding stalls: it's hard to figure out what other spiritual mountains or hills those spiritual and heavenly beatitudes might also dwell in or feed on (for they themselves are without doubt the sheep mentioned there).✦ And yet if there truly weren't some of them, the Truth would not have said this. But then the Prophet wouldn't have spoken long before about the heavenly city of Jerusalem, that its foundations are on holy mountains, if there truly hadn't been holy mountains there.✦ Finally, that heavenly dwelling truly has not only spiritual but also living and rational mountains and hills — hear Isaiah: 'Mountains and hills will sing praises before God.'✦

Mountains Fed on Mountains

Heavenly spirits are both mountains in their loftiness and sheep in their gentleness, sustained directly by the Word of life without the toil of earthly pilgrimage.

So who are these, if not the very same spirits, the inhabitants of heaven, whom we've said are called sheep by the Lord's voice, so that they themselves may be mountains who are sheep? Unless perhaps it seems absurd to you that mountains should be fed on mountains, or sheep on sheep. Taken literally, that certainly sounds harsh; but understood spiritually, it tastes sweet, if we attend carefully to how the shepherd of both flocks — Christ, the wisdom of God — administers the one same food of truth differently on earth and differently in the heavenly gatherings.4 For we mortal humans, during our time in this place of pilgrimage, must eat our bread in the sweat of our face — begging for it from outside, in labor and toil — that is, whether from learned men, or from sacred books, or at least through the things that were made, beholding the invisible things of God once they're understood.✦5 Angels, however, in the midst of all fullness — though not from themselves, yet in themselves — receive such gladness with such ease and happiness, and from this they live blessedly. For all are taught by God; and it's surely promised that chosen people will at some point attain the truth itself, and it's not yet granted to experience it with secure happiness.✦6

Humble Mountains, Obedient Sheep

Full of God and exalted in virtue, these heavenly mountains nevertheless bow in humble obedience and unceasing praise before the Shepherd.

So mountains are pastured on mountains, or sheep on sheep—since those heavenly spiritual natures find within themselves, from the Word of life, from which they sustain their blessed life, an abundant source that keeps the very same ones both mountains and sheep: mountains because of their fullness or loftiness, sheep because of their gentleness. Full of God as they are, exalted by their merits, heaped high with virtues, they nevertheless bow and bend their upright peaks, with complete and humble obedience, before the command of his surpassing majesty—like the gentlest of sheep, walking in everything at the nod of their shepherd and following him wherever he goes. And in these things, according to the prophet David, truly like holy mountains, as the first-created wisdom of all things, the foundations of the city of the Lord, firmly established from the beginning, stand firm—foundations that are assuredly one, in heaven and on earth, even though partly on pilgrimage and partly reigning. And from these, according to Isaiah, like certain living cymbals sounding well, there resounds a constant chorus of thanksgiving and a voice of praise, sweet and unceasing, filling them—just as we recalled a little earlier from the same prophet, that the mountains and hills will sing praises before God; and likewise what another, speaking to the Lord God, said: 'Blessed, he says, are those who dwell in your house, O Lord; they will praise you forever and ever.'✦

The Bridegroom's Leaps Revealed

Returning to the Song of Songs image, the preacher shows from Psalm 18 that the Bridegroom's leap carried him from the height of heaven to earth, pitching his tent in the open light of the Incarnation.

So then, to return to the point from which we digressed a little — and, I think, necessarily — those are the mountains and hills on which the Church saw the heavenly Bridegroom leaping with wonderful eagerness as he hurried to embrace his own; and not only leaping, but even leaping over them. Would you like me to show you these leaps from the writings of the prophets and the apostles? Not that I'm going to start unrolling now every piece of evidence that idle hands can dig up on this subject in those writers (that would take too long, and there's no need); but I'll set down only what seems to establish briefly and clearly what is said about the Bridegroom's leaps. David says of him, 'He has pitched his tent in the sun, and he himself, like a bridegroom going out from his chamber, rejoiced like a giant to run his course; his going out is from the height of heaven.'✦ See what a leap he made, from the height of heaven to the earth! For indeed I find nowhere else that he pitched his tent in the sun — that is, in light and in the open — and deigned to reveal his presence, he who dwells in unapproachable light, except right here on earth.✦ In fact: 'He was seen on earth, and he lived among human beings.' On earth, I say — in the open, what is in the sun — he pitched his tent: namely, the body which he deigned to fit to himself from the Virgin's body, so that in it the invisible one might be seen in himself; and so 'all flesh would see the salvation of God,' when he came in the flesh.✦✦

Leaping Over Angels to Humanity

The Bridegroom did not stop at the highest angels but leapt over cherubim, seraphim, and every heavenly rank, descending even to human nature lower than angels.

He therefore leapt over the mountains — that is, over those highest spirits — when he descended all the way to them, graciously revealing to them the Sacrament hidden from the ages and the great mystery of piety.✦ But in leaping over these higher and more eminent mountains — the cherubim, that is, and the seraphim — and not only the dominations, principalities, and powers, but also the virtues, he deigned to descend even to the lower order of angels, as if to the hills. But did he perhaps remain among them, or in them? He leapt over the hills too. For he did not, as they say, take hold of angels, but he took hold of the seed of Abraham, which is certainly lower than angels, so that the word might be fulfilled that the aforementioned prophet spoke, addressing the Father about the Son: 'You made him a little less than the angels.'✦✦ Although this can certainly be rightly understood as a commendation of human nature — because man was created in the image and likeness of God, and was, by that reasoning, certainly made like an angel, yet he is a little lower than an angel because of his body taken from the earth. But hear the Apostle Paul openly declaring about him: 'Who, though he was in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal to God,' because he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, made in the likeness of men, and found in appearance as a man; and again: 'When the fullness of time came, God sent his Son, made of woman, made under the law, to redeem those who were under the law.'✦✦ Therefore the one who was made of woman and made under the law has, without any doubt, by his descending, leapt over not only the mountains — that is, the greater and higher beatitudes — but also the lesser angels, who are rightly designated by the name of hills in comparison with the higher ones.

Subjecting Himself to the Least

Christ's humility extended even to earthly subjects—Mary, Joseph, and John the Baptist—conquering all by lowliness, though the preacher must pause before descending further.

But whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than anyone at all who carries flesh upon the earth — even if that person is the great John the Baptist. For even if we confess that God became man, and that in the man he is far beyond — incomparably beyond — every principality and power, it is nevertheless certain that though he excelled in majesty, he yielded in weakness.7 And so he bounded over the mountains and leapt across the hills, since he showed himself most worthily lower not only to the higher spirits but also to the lower ones.8 He didn't merely subject himself to those heavenly spirits, but also to the very people who inhabit earthen houses — leaping over and conquering by his humility even the humility of men.9 Indeed, he was subject to Mary and Joseph when he was twelve years old in Nazareth; and at the Jordan, John's hands bowed him down when he was already a young man.10 But the day has declined, and it doesn't yet entirely please me to descend from these mountains.11

Resting on the Mountains

The preacher invites the congregation to rest and feed joyfully on these mountain-pastures with Christ the Shepherd and the holy angels, closing with a doxology.

But if we should want, this time, to explore all these things — to search out whatever delights and hidden pleasures hold us back — we must beware: either let the discourse heal its own pleasing brevity, or let a rich and excellent subject, owed careful attention, not be cheated by our haste. So let's rest here today, if you will, on these mountains — since it's good for us to be here, where we're placed in the pasture-land with Christ the Shepherd and the holy angels, and we feed more joyfully and more richly. And we ourselves are indeed the sheep of his pasture. Let's chew over, then, like the clean animals of the good Shepherd, what we've devoured with full appetite in today's discourse; and from the second discourse we'll more attentively take in the remaining parts of the same chapter, as the Bridegroom of the Church grants it — Jesus Christ our Lord, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Read the original Latin

Vox dilecti mei. Videns sponsa novam adolescentularum verecundiam, et verecundum timorem, quod scilicet de novo coepissent non audere se ingerere sancto otio ipsius, nec sicut heri et nudiustertius molestae fieri quiescenti in contemplatione praesumerent: agnoscit hoc sibi provenisse cura et opera sponsi; et exsultans in spiritu, sive pro illarum profectu, quae a nimia et superflua inquietudine compescuntur; sive pro sua deinceps futura liberiori quiete, sive etiam pro dignatione et favore sponsi, adeo pro hac ipsa eius quiete zelantis, et tanto studio defensantis suavissima otia sua, imo studia ferventissima, ait hoc facere vocem dilecti sui, huius rei gratia factam ad illas. Etenim is qui aliis praeest in sollicitudine, vix unquam, vel raro secure vacat sibi, dum semper timet sui penuriam facere subditis, et non placere Deo, quod communi utilitati propriam praefert quietem et contemplationis dulcedinem. Non autem parum gaudii et securitatis accedit interdum suaviter ferianti, cum ex metu quodam et reverentia erga se immissa divinitus cordibus subditorum, intelligit suam Deo placere quietem, qui facit ut illi aequo magis animo suas necessitates sustineant, quam patris spiritualis grata audeant otia temere perturbare. Nam iusta trepidatio parvulorum manifeste signat, audisse eos intus quasi minacem atque increpatoriam illius procul dubio vocem, qui in propheta loquitur: Ego qui loquor iustitiam. Vox eius, inspiratio eius est, ac iusti timoris incussio.

Comperta ergo hac voce, sponsa gaudens et exsultans: Vox, inquit, dilecti mei. Amica est, et gaudio gaudet propter vocem sponsi. Et addit: Ecce iste venit saliens in montibus, transiliens colles. Comperta ex auditu vocis dilecti praesentia, incunctanter intendit bene curiosos oculos ad videndum quem audierat. Auditus ducit ad visum, quia fides ex auditu, qua corda mundantur, ut possit videri Deus: sic enim habes: Fide mundans corda. Videt itaque venientem, quem loquentem audierat, observante etiam hic ordinem illum Spiritu sancto, qui apud Prophetam descriptus est ita: Audi, filia, et vide. Et ut certius advertas, non casu, neque fortuito, sed de studio magis et industria, ob illam scilicet rationem quam praemisimus, auditum hoc loco praemissum visui; vide si non hic ordo verborum a sancto quoque Iob observatus invenitur, ubi sic loquitur Deo: Auditu auris audivi te, et nunc oculus meus videt te. Sed et ubi Spiritus sanctus super apostolos in die Pentecostes descendisse memoratur, nonne auditus visum praevenisse describitur?

Ait enim: Factus est repente de coelo sonus tanquam advenientis spiritus vehementis; et infra: Et apparuerunt illis dispertitae linguae tanquam ignis. Et hic ergo Spiritus sancti adventum primo auditus, dehinc visus percepisse refertur. Sed de hoc satis; quoniam tu quoque, si curas operam dare huiuscemodi inquisitioni, poteris et ipse fortassis in aliis Scripturae locis nonnulla similia reperire.

Nunc iam illud consideremus, quod diligentioris eget inquisitionis, et difficiliores habet accessus, ad quod nimirum omnino me egere fateor adiutorio Spiritus sancti, ut ponere in lucem possim, qui sint illi montes seu colles, super quos salientem, et transilientem eos, Ecclesia sponsum laetis spectavit obtutibus, credo cum properaret ad ipsius redemptionem, cuius concupierat decorem. Nam id quidem propterea ita et non dubie senserim, quoniam simile quid de Propheta occurrit mihi, evidenter in spiritu praevidente et exprimente Salvatoris adventum: In sole posuit tabernaculum suum, et ipse tanquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo. Exsultavit ut gigas ad currendam viam: a summo coelo egressio eius, et occursus eius usque ad summum eius. Cursus et recursus is notissimus est; a quo, et ad quid initus consummatusque, notissimum. Quid igitur? pingemus nobis, sive in psalmis ista legentes, sive in praesenti cantico, virum gigantem procerae staturae, absentis cuiuspiam mulierculae amore captum, et, dum properat ad cupitos amplexus, transilientem montes collesque hos, quos videmus mole corporea super plana terrae tanta altitudine eminentes, ut et supra nubes aliqui illorum verticem extulisse cernantur? Verum non decet istiusmodi corporeas phantasias imaginari, praesertim tractantes hoc canticum spirituale: sed nec licet omnino nobis, qui meminimus legisse in Evangelio, quia, spiritus est Deus, et eos qui adorant eum, in spiritu oportet adorare.

Qui sunt ergo hi spirituales montes et colles, ut postmodum consequenter agnoscamus, sponsus (qui Deus, ac per hoc et spiritus est) quales et cuiusmodi dabat saltus in illis, vel super illos? Si illos putamus, in quibus Evangelium refert olim fuisse relictas nonaginta novem oves, cum pius pastor earum venit unam in terris quaerere quae perierat; nihilominus adhuc in obscuro res est, et intellectus haeret: dum difficile sit invenire, spirituales illae et supercoelestes beatitudines (nam ipsae sunt sine dubio, quae ibi memoratae sunt oves) quos vel quales alios habeant spirituales similiter montes vel colles ad habitandum, pascendumve in illis. Verumtamen si non in veritate aliqui essent, Veritas hoc non dixisset. Sed neque Propheta longe ante de civitate superna Ierusalem protulisset, quia fundamenta eius sint in montibus sanctis, si non vere inibi essent montes sancti. Denique quod coelestis habitatio illa vere habeat, non modo spirituales, sed et vivos ac rationales montes collesque, audi Isaiam: Montes et colles cantabunt coram Deo laudes.

Quinam igitur isti nisi iidem ipsi coeli inhabitatores spiritus, quos Dominica voce oves diximus appellatos, ut ipsi sint montes qui oves? Nisi forte absurdum tibi videatur, aut in montibus montes, aut in ovibus oves pasci. Et iuxta litteram quidem durum sonat; secundum spiritualem autem intelligentiam dulce sapit, si subtiliter advertamus, quomodo utrarumque ovium pastor, Dei scilicet sapientia Christus, unum idemque pabulum veritatis aliter in terris, aliter in coelestibus gregibus suis administret. Nam nos quidem mortales homines interim in loco peregrinationis nostrae, in sudore vultus nostri comedere panem nostrum necesse habemus, foris illum in labore et aerumna mendicantes; id est, vel a doctis viris, vel a sacris libris, vel certe per ea quae facta sunt, invisibilia Dei intellecta conspicientes. Angeli autem in omni plenitudine, etsi non a semetipsis, tamen in semetipsis, tanta facilitate quanta et felicitate accipiunt, unde et beate vivunt. Sunt enim omnes docibiles Dei: quod sane electos hominum quandoque assecuturos certa veritate promittitur, et nondum experiri tribuitur felicitate secura.

Pascuntur proinde in montibus montes, vel oves in ovibus, cum sane supernae illae substantiae spirituales intra semetipsas de Verbo vitae, unde suam beatam perpetuent vitam, affluenter inveniunt, iidem ipsi et montes, et oves: montes, propter plenitudinem vel celsitudinem; oves, propter mansuetudinem. Pleni quippe Deo, celsi meritis, cumulati virtutibus, nihilominus tamen erectos vertices tota et humili obedientia submittunt et inclinant illius longe supereminentis imperio maiestatis, tanquam oves mansuetissimae ad nutum sui pastoris per omnia ambulantes, et sequentes eum quocunque ierit. Et in his, secundum prophetam David, vere montibus sanctis, tanquam prima omnium creata sapientia, fundamenta civitatis Domini ab initio firmiter stabilita consistunt; quae utique una est in coelo et in terra, licet ex parte peregrinans, et ex parte regnans. Et ex his nihilominus, iuxta Isaiam, tanquam quibusdam vitalibus cymbalis bene sonantibus, iugis resonat gratiarum actio, et vox laudis, suavi et incessabili voce implentibus, quod ex eodem Propheta paulo ante memoravimus, quia montes et colles cantabunt coram Deo laudes: et item quod ille alius loquens ad Dominum Deum: Beati, ait, qui habitant in domo tua, Domine: in saecula saeculorum laudabunt te.

Hi ergo: ut ad id recurramus, unde aliquantulum, sed, ut puto, necessarie digressum est: illi sunt montes atque colles, in quibus Ecclesia vidit coelestem sponsum mira alacritate salientem, cum ad suos properaret amplexus; nec modo salientem, sed et transilientem eos. Vis tibi hos saltus ex litteris prophetarum, apostolorumque demonstrem? Non quod nunc omnia, quae de hac re apud illos ab otiosis inveniri queunt, testimonia replicare incipiam (hoc enim longum est, et opus non est); sed ea tantum modo pono, quae breviter et aperte astruere videantur id quod dicitur de sponsi saltibus. Dicit de illo David quia posuit in sole tabernaculum suum, et ipse tanquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo: exsultavit ut gigas ad currendam viam, a summo coelo egressio eius. En quantum saltum dedit, a summo coelo ad terras. Sane enim non invenio alibi, ubi in sole posuerit tabernaculum suum, id est, in luce et in manifesto suam dignatus sit exhibere praesentiam ipse lucis inaccessibilis habitator, nisi utique in terris. Denique: In terris visus est, et cum hominibus conversatus est. In terris, inquam, palam, quod est in sole, posuit tabernaculum suum, corpus videlicet, quod de Virginis corpore ad hoc sibi aptare dignatus est, ut in eo in se invisibilis videretur; et sic videret omnis caro salutare Dei, cum in carne venisset.

Saliit ergo in montibus, id est in illis supremis spiritibus, cum ad eos usque descendit, sacramentum a saeculis absconditum, et magnum pietatis mysterium eis dignanter aperiens. Sed transiliens hos superiores atque eminentiores montes, cherubin scilicet atque seraphin, nec non dominationes, principatus et potestates, virtutesque etiam ad inferiorem usque angelorum ordinem descendere, tanquam ad colles dignatus est. Sed nunquid vel in illis remansit? Transiliit et colles. Non enim, inquit, angelos, sed semen Abrahae apprehendit, quod utique angelis inferius est, ut sermo impleretur, quem dixit memoratus Propheta, loquens ita ad Patrem de Filio: Minuisti eum paulo minus ab angelis. Quanquam hoc sane ad commendationem naturae humanae dictum possit intelligi, quod homo ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei conditus, ac praedictus ratione ad instar utique angeli, modicum tamen distet ab angelo propter corpus de terra. Sed audi apostolum Paulum aperte pronuntiantem de eo: Qui cum in forma Dei esset, non rapinam arbitrabatur esse se aequalem Deo: quia semetipsum exinanivit, formam servi accipiens, in similitudinem hominum factus, et habitu inventus ut homo; et rursum: Ubi venit, inquit, plenitudo temporis, misit Deus Filium suum, factum ex muliere, factum sub lege, ut eos qui sub lege erant redimeret. Qui ergo factus ex muliere, factus et sub lege est, procul dubio non solum montes, id est maiores superioresque beatitudines, sed etiam minores angelos descendendo transiliit, qui quidem in comparatione superiorum, merito collium nomine designantur.

Caeterum qui minor est in regno coelorum, maior est quovis carnem portante super terram, etiamsi sit ille magnus Ioannes Baptista. Nam etsi sane Deum hominem fateamur, etiam in homine super omnem principatum et potestatem longe incomparabiliter praeeminere; certum tamen quia etsi praeit maiestate, sed infirmitate succubuit. Ita ergo saliit in montibus, et transiliit colles, cum non solum superioribus, sed et inferioribus spiritibus dignantissime se inferiorem exhibuit. Nec modo illis supernis spiritibus, sed et ipsis qui domos luteas inhabitant, subiectum se exhibuit, transiliens et vincens humilitate etiam hominum humilitatem. Erat denique subditus Mariae et Ioseph, cum esset duodennis, in Nazareth : et apud Iordanem Ioannis se manibus iam iuvenis inclinavit. Sed et inclinata est dies, nec adhuc omnino de his montibus descendere libet.

Caeterum si hac vice voluerimus cuncta horum, prout delectat, explorare amoena, abdita perscrutari; verendum ne aut sermo grata brevitate cureat, aut larga excellensque materies debita diligentia festinatione fraudetur. Pausemus proinde hodie iam, si placet, in montibus istis; quoniam bonum est nos hic esse, ubi a pastore Christo una cum sanctis angelis in loco pascuae collocati, et iucundius pascimur, et uberius. Et nos siquidem oves pascuae eius. Ruminemus ergo, tanquam munda animalia boni pastoris, quae hodierno sermone tota aviditate glutivimus; sermone altero residua capituli eiusdem attentius percepturi, largiente sponso Ecclesiae Iesu Christo Domino nostro, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Song.2.8 — The voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills.
  2. ↩Song.2.8-Song.2.9 — The voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. Song.2.9 — My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.
  3. ↩Song.2.8 — The voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills.
  4. ↩Acts.15.9 — and he made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
  5. ↩Rom.10.17 — So then, faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
  6. ↩Ps.44.11 — You have made us turn back from the foe, and those who hate us have plundered for themselves.
  7. ↩Job.42.5 — I had heard of you with the hearing of my ear, but now my eye has seen you.
  8. ↩Acts.2.2-Acts.2.4 — And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Acts.2.3 — And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed, and it sat upon each one of them. Acts.2.4 — And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
  9. ↩Acts.2.2-Acts.2.3 — And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Acts.2.3 — And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed, and it sat upon each one of them.
  10. ↩Acts.2.2-Acts.2.4 — And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Acts.2.3 — And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed, and it sat upon each one of them. Acts.2.4 — And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
  11. ↩Song.2.8-Song.2.9 — The voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. Song.2.9 — My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.
  12. ↩Ps.18.6;Ps.20.5 — The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. Ps.20.5 — May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your counsel.
  13. ↩Ps.18.6-Ps.18.7;Ps.20.5-Ps.20.6 — The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. Ps.18.7 — In my distress I called upon the LORD, and to my God I cried for help. He heard my voice from his temple, and my cry before him entered his ears. Ps.20.5 — May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your counsel. Ps.20.6 — Now we will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will raise our banners. The LORD will fulfill all your petitions.
  14. ↩John.4.24 — God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
  15. ↩Luke.15.3-Luke.15.7;Matt.18.12-Matt.18.13 — And he told them this parable, saying: Luke.15.4 — 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.
  16. ↩Ps.86.1 — A Prayer of David. Incline your ear, O LORD, answer me, for I am poor and needy.
  17. ↩Isa.55.12 — For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
  18. ↩Gen.3.19 — By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, for from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
  19. ↩John.6.45 — It is written in the prophets, "They will all be taught by God." Everyone who has heard from the Father and has learned comes to me.
  20. ↩Ps.84.4 — Even the sparrow has found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she lays her young — by your altars, O LORD of Hosts, my King and my God.
  21. ↩Ps.19.4-Ps.19.5 — There is no speech, and there are no words; their voice is not heard. Ps.19.5 — Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
  22. ↩1Tim.6.16 — He alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no one among human beings has seen or is able to see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
  23. ↩Isa.40.5 — And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
  24. ↩John.1.14 — And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
  25. ↩1Tim.3.16 — And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: who was revealed in flesh, justified in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
  26. ↩Heb.2.16 — For surely it is not angels that he helps, but the seed of Abraham he helps.
  27. ↩Ps.8.6 — You have made him a little lower than God, and crowned him with glory and honor.
  28. ↩Phil.2.6-Phil.2.7 — who, existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to exploit, Phil.2.7 — but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness, and appearing as a human being.
  29. ↩Gal.4.4-Gal.4.5 — But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, Gal.4.5 — in order to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The quoted span 'In sole posuit tabernaculum suum, et ipse tanquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo' is a direct citation of Psalm 18:6 (Vulgate)/Psalm 19:5 (Hebrew numbering). The Moses reference policy will resolve final quotation status.
  2. 2 ↩Continuation of Psalm 18:6-7 (Vulgate)/Psalm 19:5-6 (Hebrew). The psalm imagery of the sun's course from one end of heaven to the other is applied to the Savior's coming.
  3. 3 ↩The quoted span 'spiritus est Deus... in spiritu oportet adorare' echoes John 4:24 ('God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth'). Moses reference policy will resolve final quotation status.
  4. 4 ↩Durum sonat is rendered 'sounds harsh' rather than 'is hard' to capture the auditory metaphor and the contrast with dulce sapit ('tastes sweet') in spiritual understanding.
  5. 5 ↩Gen 3:19 (Vulgate): in sudore vultus tui comedes panem tuum. The clause alludes to the post-lapsarian condition of human toil.
  6. 6 ↩Possible allusion to John 6:45: 'And they shall all be taught by God' (docibiles Dei), echoing the Vulgate phrasing.
  7. 7 ↩The paradox rests on the contrast between Christ's divine preeminence and his voluntary human weakness; 'praeit maiestate' and 'infirmitate succubuit' frame the two natures in tension.
  8. 8 ↩The image of 'leaping' over mountains and hills conveys Christ's willingness to descend through every rank of spiritual being; 'cum' here is read as causal ('since') rather than concessive, fitting the argument that his descent was purposeful.
  9. 9 ↩'vincens humilitate etiam hominum humilitatem' — the sense is that Christ's humility surpassed and overcame even the lowliness of human beings; the paradox is that humility itself is 'conquered' by a greater humility.
  10. 10 ↩'se manibus inclinavit' — the ablative 'manibus' is read as ablative of means ('by the hands of John'), indicating John baptized Christ; 'iuvenis' is predicative, suggesting Christ was already a young man at the time.
  11. 11 ↩'inclinata est days' is a metaphorical way of saying the day is spent or drawing to a close; 'libet' is impersonal with an implied dative of person ('it does not please me/us'); the speaker signals that the sermon will continue on another occasion.

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