Quomodo perfectum Sabbatum in Dei dilectione reperitur, et quomodo quinquagesimus annus huic dilectioni comparetur
The Sabbath of Sabbaths
The purified soul, inflamed by divine love, enters the sanctuary of God's presence to keep the perfect Sabbath in contemplation, and this rest is prefigured by the Jubilee year and the fullness of the Spirit given after Christ's glorification.
Truly, once the mind is purified by this twofold love, the more devoutly and the more securely it longs for the blessed embraces of the divine nature — so that, inflamed by an overwhelming desire, it may pass beyond the veil of the flesh and enter into that sanctuary where the spirit becomes Christ Jesus before his face, and be completely absorbed by that ineffable light and by that unaccustomed sweetness. And with silence made from all bodily things, from all sensible things, from all changeable things, into that which is, and so always is, and itself is, it may fix its keen gaze upon that One — at rest and seeing that the Lord himself is God, and within the sweet embraces of his glory, keeping the Sabbath without doubt, the Sabbath of Sabbaths.✦ This is the Jubilee year, in which a man returns to his own possession — namely, his Creator — so that he may surely be possessed and may possess, be held and may hold, be grasped and may grasp. This is the possession that was torn away at the cheap price of sin — with man's love flowing away from him by whom he was made, and clinging to the thing by which it was made. To this Sabbath the fiftieth number is rightly dedicated, in which servile fear is driven out — not only the desire of the flesh, but even its memory is put to sleep, and the spirit is conceived. 'Before,' he says — that is, before Pentecost — 'the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified' (John 7).✦ 7). Not entirely not given — but not with such fullness, not with such perfection. It is indeed given in the first Sabbath, and it is also given in the second, but in the Sabbath of Sabbaths its fullness is poured in.
The Twin Sabbaths and the Growth of Love
Before Christ's glorification the Spirit was not yet given in fullness, but once love is poured out, the sevenfold Spirit multiplies through stages of spiritual advancement — the seventh day, seventh year, and fiftieth year — each bringing deeper rest and freedom.
In that twin Sabbath, then, Jesus appears small, not great; humble, not exalted; wronged, not glorified. The Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.✦ But because love is poured into our hearts, and not otherwise than through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom.✦1 5), where the sevenfold number is observed, but through the multiplication of that very sevenfold number, the growth of that same love is recognized.2 For the seventh day is, as it were, the beginning of love; the seventh year, its advancement; and the fiftieth year, which comes after seven times seven, is its fullness. In each stage, rest; in each, freedom; in each, a kind of spiritual sabbath-keeping.3 First, rest in the purity of conscience; then, in the sweetest union of many minds; and finally, in the contemplation of God himself. In the first Sabbath one is freed from sin; in the second, from greed; in the third, from all discord whatsoever.
The Three Stages of the Soul's Ascent
The soul ascends through three stages: first tasting Christ's sweetness in his humanity, then seeing his perfection in love, and finally contemplating his sublimity in his Godhead, as it is gathered into itself, stretched beyond itself, and swept above itself.
In the first stage, the soul tastes how sweet Jesus is in his humanity; in the second, it sees how perfect he is in love; in the third, how sublime he is in his Godhead. In the first stage, the soul is gathered back into itself; in the second, it is stretched out beyond itself; in the third, it is swept above itself.
Read the original Latin
Verum hac gemina dilectione purgata mens, tanto devotius, quanto securius, ad ipsius divinitatis felices gestit amplexus, ita ut nimio desiderio succensa velamen carnis excedat, intransque in illud sanctuarium, ubi spiritus fit ante faciem suam Christus Jesus, ab illo ineffabili lumine, ab illa inusitata dulcedine penitus absorbeatur ; factoque silentio ab omnibus corporalibus, ab omnibus sensibilibus, ab omnibus mutabilibus, in id quod est, et sic semper est, et ipsum est, in illud unum perspicacem figat intuitum ; vacans et videns quoniam Dominus ipse est Deus, et inter claritatis ipsius suaves amplexus, sabbatizans sine dubio Sabbatum sabbatorum. Hic annus jubilaeus, in quo homo ad suam possessionem revertitur, ipsum videlicet Auctorem suum, ut nimirum possideatur et possideat, habeatur et habeat, teneatur et teneat. Ipsa est possessio, quae distracta vili peccati pretio, amore hominis diffluente ab eo, a quo factus est, et inhaerente rei, qua facta est. Huic Sabbato non immerito quinquagenarius numerus dedicatur, in quo servilis timor expellitur, carnis non solum concupiscentia, sed et memoria consopitur, spiritus concipitur. Ante, inquit, id est ante Pentecosten, Spiritus non erat datus, quia Jesus nondum erat glorificatus (Joan. vii). Non omnino non datus, sed non tanta plenitudine, non tanta perfectione. Datur profecto in Sabbato primo, datur et in secundo, sed in Sabbato sabbatorum ejus infunditur plenitudo.
In gemino enim illo Sabbato Jesus cernitur parvus, non magnus ; humilis, non sublimis ; injuriatus, non glorificatus. Ideo Spiritus nondum erat datus, quia Jesus nondum erat glorificatus. Verum quia charitas diffunditur in cordibus nostris, non alias nisi per Spiritum sanctum qui datus est nobis (Rom. v), ubi septenarius numerus custoditur, sed ipsius septenarii multiplicatione, profectus ipsius charitatis dignoscitur. Nam septimus dies quasi charitatis est inchoatio, septimus annus promotio, quinquagesimus annus, qui est post septies septem, ejus est plenitudo. In singulis requies, in singulis vacatio, in singulis spiritualis quaedam sabbatizatio. Primo requies in puritate conscientiae ; deinde in multarum mentium dulcissima conjunctione ; postremo in ipsius Dei contemplatione. In primo Sabbato vacatur a crimine; in secundo a cupiditate ; in tertio ab omni prorsus dissensione.
In primo gustat mens, quam dulcis est Jesus in humanitate; in secundo videt quam perfectus in charitate; in tertio quam sublimis in Deitate. In primo colligitur ad se; in secundo extenditur extra se; in tertio rapitur supra se.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Exod.3.14 — And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And he said, 'Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.'
- ↩John.7.39 — Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
- ↩John.7.39 — Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
- ↩Rom.5.5 — And hope does not put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Notes
- 1 ↩charitas rendered as 'love' per lexeme policy default; the theological-virtue sense is strong here but 'charity' is also defensible.
- 2 ↩septenarius numerus — the 'sevenfold number' refers to the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit or the seven-day/week cycle; the precise referent is left open here.
- 3 ↩sabbatizatio is a rare medieval formation; rendered as 'sabbath-keeping' to preserve the neologism's force while remaining readable.
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