Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
God prescribes feasts for the Hebrews: first, the Sabbath, verse 3; second, the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread, verse 5; third, Pentecost, verse 15; fourth, the feast of Trumpets, verse 24; fifth, the Day of Atonement, verse 27; sixth, the feast of Tabernacles, verse 34; seventh, the Assembly or Gathering, verse 36.
Vulgate Text: Leviticus 23:1-44
1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2. Speak to the children of Israel, and you shall say to them: These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall call holy. 3. Six days shall you do work: the seventh day, because it is the rest of the sabbath, shall be called holy; you shall do no work on it. It is the sabbath of the Lord, in all your dwellings. 4. These therefore are the holy feasts of the Lord, which you must celebrate in their seasons. 5. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at eventide, it is the phase of the Lord; 6. and on the fifteenth day of this month is the solemnity of unleavened bread of the Lord. Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread. 7. The first day shall be most solemn and holy to you; you shall do no servile work therein: 8. but you shall offer sacrifice by fire to the Lord seven days: and the seventh day shall be more solemn and more holy, and you shall do no servile work therein. 9. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 10. Speak to the children of Israel, and you shall say to them: When you have entered into the land which I will give you, and shall have reaped the harvest, you shall bring sheaves of ears of grain, the firstfruits of your harvest, to the priest; 11. who shall lift up the sheaf before the Lord, that it may be acceptable for you on the day after the sabbath, and shall sanctify it. 12. And on the same day that the sheaf is consecrated, a lamb without blemish, of the first year, shall be killed for a holocaust to the Lord. 13. And libations shall be offered with it, two tenths of fine flour sprinkled with oil for a burnt offering to the Lord, and a most sweet odor: likewise a libation of wine, the fourth part of a hin. 14. You shall not eat bread, nor parched grain, nor meal of the harvest, until the day that you offer thereof to your God. It is a precept forever throughout your generations and all your dwellings. 15. You shall count therefore from the day after the sabbath, in which you offered the sheaf of the firstfruits, seven full weeks, 16. even unto the day after the seventh week is completed, that is to say, fifty days; and so you shall offer a new sacrifice to the Lord, 17. out of all your dwellings, two loaves of the firstfruits, of two tenths of leavened flour, which you shall bake for the firstfruits of the Lord. 18. And you shall offer with the loaves seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one calf from the herd, and two rams, and they shall be for a holocaust with their libations, for a most sweet odor to the Lord. 19. You shall offer also a buck goat for sin, and two lambs of the first year for sacrifices of peace offerings. 20. And when the priest shall have lifted them up with the loaves of the firstfruits before the Lord, they shall fall to his use. 21. And you shall call this day most solemn and most holy: you shall do no servile work therein. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in all your dwellings and generations. 22. And when you shall have reaped the harvest of your land, you shall not cut it to the very ground, nor shall you gather the remaining ears of grain, but you shall leave them for the poor and for strangers. I am the Lord your God. 23. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 24. Say to the children of Israel: The seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall keep a sabbath, a memorial, with the sound of trumpets, and it shall be called holy: 25. you shall do no servile work therein, and you shall offer a holocaust to the Lord. 26. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 27. Upon the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the day of atonement; it shall be most solemn and shall be called holy: and you shall afflict your souls on that day, and shall offer a holocaust to the Lord. 28. You shall do no servile work in the time of this day, because it is a day of propitiation, that the Lord your God may be merciful unto you. 29. Every soul that is not afflicted on this day shall perish from among his people; 30. and whatsoever soul shall have done any work, I will destroy it from among its people. 31. You shall do no work therefore on that day; it shall be an everlasting ordinance unto you in all your generations and dwellings: 32. it is a sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls on the ninth day of the month. From evening unto evening you shall celebrate your sabbaths. 33. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 34. Say to the children of Israel: From the fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be kept the feast of tabernacles seven days to the Lord. 35. The first day shall be called most solemn and most holy: you shall do no servile work therein. 36. And seven days you shall offer holocausts to the Lord; the eighth day also shall be most solemn and most holy, and you shall offer holocausts to the Lord: for it is the day of assembly and collection: you shall do no servile work therein. 37. These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall call most solemn and most holy, and shall offer in them oblations to the Lord, holocausts and libations according to the rite of each day, 38. besides the sabbaths of the Lord, and your gifts, and those things that you offer by vow, or which you shall voluntarily give to the Lord. 39. From the fifteenth day therefore of the seventh month, when you shall have gathered all the fruits of your land, you shall celebrate the feasts of the Lord seven days: on the first day and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath, that is, a rest. 40. And you shall take to yourselves on the first day the fruits of the fairest tree; and branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick-leaved trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God; 41. and you shall celebrate the solemnity thereof seven days in the year: it shall be an everlasting ordinance in your generations. In the seventh month you shall celebrate the feasts, 42. and you shall dwell in bowers seven days: everyone that is of the race of Israel shall dwell in tabernacles, 43. that your posterity may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in tabernacles, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. 44. And Moses spoke concerning the solemnities of the Lord to the children of Israel.
Verse 2: These Are the Feasts of the Lord
2. THESE ARE THE FEASTS OF THE LORD — these are the festivals on which one must abstain from all servile work and devote oneself to divine worship. In Hebrew it is: these are the appointed feasts, which you shall call mikrae kodesh (Septuagint: kletas hagias), that is, holy convocations; for on these feasts the people were convoked to hear the law and for sacrifices and prayers.
Hence the sages of the Hebrews said concerning these feasts: "He who despises the solemnities, or the public assemblies of the Church, shall have no part in the world to come."
Hence the Church, by the institution of Pope St. Sylvester, calls all days ferias (festal days): first, because every Christian must every day abstain and cease from vices; second, because as regards ecclesiastical offices and the ministers of the Church, all days are ferias, that is, feasts; for they must devote themselves to nothing other than divine worship. So says Abulensis. Just as the Gentiles named the days after the seven planets, as if one of them ruled over each day, so that they say the day of the Sun, of the Moon, of Mars; and the Jews designated these days from the sabbath, so that they say the first, second, third, fourth of the sabbath, for the first, second, third, fourth day of the week: so Christians call their days ferias, so that they say feria prima, secunda, tertia, quarta (first, second, third, fourth feria).
In like manner, Diogenes, seeing his host preparing himself with such great zeal for a certain feast, said: "Does not a good man consider every day a feast? And indeed, if we live soberly, a very distinguished one. For the most sacred and most divine temple is this world; into this man is brought when he is born, that he may continually contemplate, not mute images, but living and moving likenesses, namely the sun, moon, stars, rivers, plants, animals," etc. The witness is Plutarch, in his book On Tranquility of Mind.
How far, then, do Christians stray from the purpose of feasts, who in the manner of the pagans rest from work on feast days, and devote themselves to luxury! The wise Epaminondas, though a pagan, perceived this; when the city was celebrating a feast and everyone was given over to wine and banquets, he met someone, looking unkempt and thoughtful; when asked why, he replied: "So that you may be free to enjoy leisure and feasting." The witness is Plutarch in his Life.
St. Nazianzen says admirably, Oration 44: "For us, to celebrate a feast is nothing other than for the soul to gather up some of those things which are firm and lasting." And St. Jerome, in his letter to Eustochium: "We must more carefully provide that we celebrate a solemn day not so much with abundance of food as with exultation of spirit; because it is very absurd to wish to honor with excessive satiety a Martyr whom you know pleased God by fasting." See St. Bernard, Sermon 3 On Advent. Finally, hear Isaiah, chapter 58, verse 13: "If you turn away your foot from the sabbath, from doing your own will on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight," etc. "when you do not go your own ways, and your own will is not found, so as to speak a word, then you shall delight in the Lord," etc. Pagans, then, celebrate feasts with their belly; Christians with their mind, worshipping God in spirit and truth. Rightly did the pagan Antisthenes, when asked, "What is a feast?" reply: "It is an enticement to gluttony, and an occasion for luxury;" the witness is Maximus, Sermon 27.
Note: The ferias or feasts of the Jews were twofold: for some were instituted by God, and others by the Jews themselves. Seven feasts were instituted by God: first, the sabbath; second, the Passover; third, Pentecost; fourth, the feast of Trumpets; fifth, the feast of Propitiation, or Atonement; sixth, the feast of Tabernacles; seventh, the feast of the Assembly or Collection. Omitted here is the eighth feast, the New Moon, concerning which see Numbers 28:11. Four feasts were instituted by the Jews: first, the feast of Lots, on the 13th of Adar, or February, in memory of the deliverance of the Jews through Esther, Esther 9:17, 26, 28, 29; second, the feast of the Dedication, or purification of the temple, which was done under Judas Maccabeus, 1 Maccabees 4:49; third, the feast of the fire received from heaven, 2 Maccabees 1:18; fourth, the feast on account of the slaying of Nicanor, 1 Maccabees 7:49, and 2 Maccabees 15:37: concerning which see Ribera, book 5 On the Temple, chapter 17 and following, and Genebrard in the Hebrew Calendar.
Note: The feasts instituted by God had these three elements: first, rest from labors; second, the offering of sacrifices proper to each feast, different from others, and prescribed by God, as is clear from Numbers 28 and 29; third, ceremonies peculiar to each feast: for example, on the feast of the Passover or Unleavened Bread, the offering of a sheaf of grain was made; on Pentecost, the offering of new loaves was made; on the feast of Trumpets, there was the blast of trumpets; on the Day of Atonement, affliction and fasting were imposed; on the feast of Tabernacles, they dwelt in tents, and there they rejoiced with branches and fruits.
Verse 3: The Seventh Day Is the Rest of the Sabbath
3. THE SEVENTH DAY IS THE REST OF THE SABBATH. — In Hebrew: the seventh day is a sabbath of sabbaths, that is, a rest of rest, as if to say: The greatest rest and cessation from work shall be on the seventh day, and from this the day shall be called sabbath, that is, rest. Thus Plato used to say that the gods, having taken pity on the labors of men, instituted feasts, so that through them they might obtain some rest and relaxation from labors. This was the first and greatest feast of the Jews, the causes and meanings of which I shall set forth at Deuteronomy 5:12.
IT SHALL BE CALLED HOLY — that is, this sabbath day shall be holy, so that it can rightly be called holy, that is, dedicated to My worship. Thus often "to be called" is taken for "to be," as in Isaiah 9:6: "He shall be called (that is, He shall be) wonderful." Romans 9:25 and 26: "I will call those who were not My people, My people," as if to say: The Gentiles who before were not My people shall henceforth be My people, because they will be Christians: hence I will hold them and cherish them as My people.
YOU SHALL DO NO WORK ON IT — that is, none at all. Hence on the sabbath it was not permitted to light a fire, nor to cook food, nor to do any other kind of work, just as neither on the Day of Atonement, as is said in verse 31; but in all other feasts these things were permitted. Hence concerning them it is said here: "You shall do no servile work on them;" but concerning the sabbath and the feast of Atonement it is said absolutely and generally: "You shall do no work on it." Nevertheless the Jews could on the sabbath eat, drink, water their animals, as Christ asserts in Luke 13:15, prepare medicines, and in necessity gather and prepare food: because these things are necessary.
IT IS THE SABBATH OF THE LORD. — "Of the Lord," that is, dedicated to the Lord; or secondly, "of the Lord," that is, on which the Lord rested in the first creation of all things; thirdly, "of the Lord," meaning on which one must rest in honor of and for the worship of the Lord God, and this in all your dwellings, because in the tabernacle or temple there was no rest on the sabbath day; for then the priests sacrificed there, that is, they slaughtered, skinned, cut, and cooked the victims, and this is what Christ objects to the Jews in Matthew 12:5: "Have you not read in the law that on the sabbaths the priests in the temple violate the sabbath (materially), and are without guilt?"
Verse 5: On the Fourteenth Day of the Month, the Phase of the Lord
5. In the first month (Nisan, which corresponds partly to our March, partly to April), ON THE FOURTEENTH DAY OF THE MONTH AT EVENING, IT IS THE PHASE OF THE LORD. — For "at evening," in Hebrew it is "between the two evenings," that is, between the setting of the sun and night, namely at evening twilight, before the star called Vesper, or Hesperus, rises; for from the rising of this star night begins, and the 15th day; but the paschal lamb had to be sacrificed before the 15th day, at the end of the 14th day: therefore the 14th day was not a feast day, but only its evening, in which the passover was sacrificed. This is the second feast, namely of the Passover and Unleavened Bread, which because of its solemnity was celebrated for seven days, and this in memory of that great benefit by which God had freed and led the Hebrews out of Egypt.
It is the Phase of the Lord. — The Passover feast is dedicated to the Lord. For phase in Hebrew signifies a passing over, or rather a passing beyond: hence secondly, phase signifies the paschal lamb, which was sacrificed for the passing over of the destroying angel. Finally, thirdly, phase signifies the feast itself on which this lamb was sacrificed. See what was said on Exodus 12:11.
This feast of the Passover, therefore, was celebrated among the Jews; it is even more celebrated among Christians, who on it were freed not from the servitude of Pharaoh, but from the devil and death, through Christ rising again. Hence God illuminated it with great miracles. It is related in the Life of St. Marcellinus, Bishop of Embrun, whom Ado mentions in the Martyrology on the 12th of the kalends of May, that the baptistery which he himself had built near Embrun, on the holy vigils of Easter, was by the power of God flooded each year with sudden waters, and that this was customarily continued through the seven days of the same solemnity. And from this miracle they concluded that Easter should not be celebrated on the 14th day of the moon itself with the Jews, as the Quartodecimans wished, but on the following Sunday. For it was then that this miracle would occur.
In like manner, in the year of the Lord 417, when an error had been made in celebrating the day of Easter, this error was declared by God through a miracle; for on the true paschal night, at the very hour of baptism, the baptistery of the church was miraculously filled with water, as Paschasius, Bishop of Lilybaeum, testifies, in St. Leo after letter 63, and from him Baronius, year of Christ 417, who also teaches from Cassiodorus that the same miracle was accustomed to happen in another fountain in Lucania. And Gregory of Tours testifies that the same was accustomed to happen in another fountain in Lusitania, book 1 of On the Glory of Martyrs, chapters 24 and 25. Sophronius teaches that the same happens in a fountain in Lycia, and that the water in it persists until Pentecost and then disappears, in the Spiritual Meadow, chapter 214.
Likewise the error of the Britons concerning the day of Easter was confuted through a miracle, by which St. Augustine, Bishop of the English, gave sight to a blind man, as the Venerable Bede reports, book 2 of the History of the English, chapter 2. In the Life of St. Maurilius, Bishop of Angers (who was a disciple of St. Martin), on September 5, it is narrated concerning a certain man whose name was Belgicus: on Easter day he had ordered his servants to clean the fields; they objected that it was Easter day; he pressed them and compelled them against their will; but when they attempted to hoe the crops, Belgicus was immediately struck with blindness, and cried out for them to stop. And when he had remained in that blindness for three years, finally by touching the garments of St. Maurilius as he passed by, he was healed.
In the Life of St. Mauritius it is narrated that on the very night of the resurrection, three servants from his monastery had given themselves to fishing and had indeed caught an abundance of fish, but two of them were deprived of the use of their hands and feet, their whole body being broken: the third was made both lame and deaf, who finally on the night of the resurrection, visiting the monastery of St. Bertin and invoking him with tears, was restored to health through his merits.
Hence also the emperors celebrated Easter day with great privileges, and granted freedom to the guilty. In the year of Christ 367, the Augusti Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian decreed and wrote back thus to Lampadius, prefect of the city: "On account of Easter day, which we celebrate with our inmost heart, we loose the chains of all whom guilt binds and prison has enclosed; as soon as Easter day arrives, let the prison hold no one enclosed, let the bonds of all be loosened." This rescript is found in book 8, On the Pardon of Crimes, of the Theodosian Code. The Emperor Theodosius gave the same indulgence to the guilty on the same feast in the East, as St. Chrysostom testifies, in his oration On Bishop Flavian.
Verse 6: The Solemnity of Unleavened Bread
6. AND ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THIS MONTH (the first and paschal month, namely Nisan), IS THE SOLEMNITY OF UNLEAVENED BREAD OF THE LORD. — Note: The days of unleavened bread began with the Passover, namely on the 14th day of the first month at the second evening, that is, at the beginning of the 15th day: they lasted for 7 days, which were therefore called paschal days, during which they ate bread that was not leavened, but unleavened. Hence these days ended on the 21st day of the first month at the second evening; for every feast day had a double evening, namely the first and the second, or the beginning one and the ending one, except for the feast of the Passover: for this had only one evening, namely the second of the 14th day. And so on the 14th day at evening the phase, or paschal lamb, was sacrificed, which they ate at night with unleavened bread: the following morning, which was the morning of the 15th day, was the solemnity of unleavened bread, because on that day the eating of unleavened bread began; for the preceding night belonged to this 15th day, not to the 14th. On the same 15th day they also sacrificed other paschal victims, which were therefore also called pascha, John 18:28: hence this day was solemn.
Note: Of these 7 days of unleavened bread, there were four observances. First, throughout all these seven days they ate unleavened bread. Second, they ceased from all servile work, but only on the first and seventh day: for on the remaining five intermediate days they could work and labor. Hence it follows from what was said in verse 1 that only the first day and the last were properly feast days, but not the five in between. Third, on each day sacrifices were offered, namely holocausts, as the Septuagint translates, which our Interpreter calls sacrifices by fire: for in Hebrew they are called ignitions, that is, sacrifices which are entirely consumed by fire in honor of God. The daily victims on these days, therefore, were two calves, one ram, seven yearling lambs, and one goat for sin, as is evident from Numbers 28:19; to which add another lamb, which was sacrificed on the second day with the grain ears, as is evident from verse 12. Fourth, ripening ears of barley were offered, and this was done only on the second day, not on the others. So say Abulensis, Ribera, and others.
Verse 7: The First Day Shall Be Most Celebrated
7. THE FIRST DAY SHALL BE MOST CELEBRATED FOR YOU. — Of these 7 days of unleavened bread, the more celebrated were the first and the seventh, and these two were equally solemn. For the fact that our Translator calls the first day "most celebrated" and the seventh "more celebrated" amounts to the same thing: just as also the fact that he calls the seventh "holier" and the first "holy." For he only means to say that the first day and the seventh were celebrated and very holy above the rest. Hence in the Hebrew, in both places the same word is used, namely mikra kodesh, that is, "a holy convocation." Thus among the Latins the comparative sometimes does not have comparative force, but is used for the positive or superlative, as in: "Sadder, and her shining eyes suffused with tears."
Verses 10-11: You Shall Bring Sheaves of Grain to the Priest
10 and 11. When you shall have entered the land which I WILL GIVE YOU (Canaan: hence it is clear that these ceremonial laws and these feasts did not bind the Jews, nor were they observed by them in the desert), AND SHALL HAVE REAPED THE HARVEST, YOU SHALL BRING SHEAVES OF GRAIN, THE FIRST-FRUITS OF YOUR HARVEST, TO THE PRIEST: WHO SHALL LIFT UP THE SHEAF BEFORE THE LORD. — "Of grain," namely barley, which at that time, that is, in March or April, around Passover, ripens in Palestine.
Note: These first-fruits of grain were not universal, such that all were obligated to offer their sheaf, but as many as wished to offer did so of their own accord and out of devotion. From all of these the priest took one, which he offered to God; having offered it he roasted it and dried it; having dried it he shook it out, and ground the shaken-out grains, and from the ground flour, with incense and oil added at the same time, he took a handful, which he burned and offered as incense to the Lord; but the remaining sheaves of grain, together with their grains and flour, went to the right and use of the priests.
Tropologically, the sheaf of grain signifies the resurrection of Christ: hence it is offered on the day after the sabbath, that is, after the sacrifice of the passover lamb, because these were two days of Christ — one of His passion, the other of His resurrection. Hence also Christ, who is a bundle of myrrh on account of the bitterness of His passion, is also called a cluster of Cyprus, on account of the sweetness of His resurrection, says Rupert. Therefore, when we believe that Christ has risen, we offer, as it were, fresh ears of grain to the Lord in our faith and hope. So say Hesychius and Radulphus.
On the Day After the Sabbath
11. ON THE DAY AFTER THE SABBATH — as if to say: On the next, or second, day of unleavened bread, this sheaf of grain shall be offered; for "sabbath" here does not signify a sabbath properly so called, as Hesychius and Rupert thought, nor again does it signify all the days of unleavened bread and the Paschal feasts, as some have supposed; but it signifies only the feast of the first day of unleavened bread, because on that day complete rest was ordained (for this is why it is called "sabbath" in Hebrew) on account of the solemnity of the feast. This feast, therefore, because it was so solemn, is called a sabbath: for the sabbath was the first and greatest of feasts. Abulensis holds that this sheaf was offered not on the first but on the second day, because on the first day, being solemn, it was not permitted to reap them, not even for the sacred use of the offering. I would rather say that the first day was so taken up with its own solemnity and the Paschal sacrifices that there was no leisure, nor was it fitting on that day to roast these ears of grain.
AND HE SHALL SANCTIFY IT — he shall consecrate the sheaf of grain to the Lord, by the rite which is prescribed and explained in chapter II, at the penultimate verse.
Verses 12-13: A Lamb Shall Be Slain and Libations Offered
12 and 13. AND ON THE SAME DAY THAT THE SHEAF IS CONSECRATED, A LAMB SHALL BE SLAIN, AND LIBATIONS (in Hebrew mincha, that is, a grain offering) SHALL BE OFFERED.
13. LIBATIONS (that is, drink offerings) ALSO OF WINE, A FOURTH PART OF A HIN — that is, three sextarii. For a hin contained two congii, or twelve sextarii, as I said in chapter XIV, verse 10. What is said here about wine, understand the same about oil, namely that a fourth part of a hin of oil was added to this grain offering. For that oil had to be added to every grain offering is clear from chapter II, verse 1; hence also in Numbers XV the same measure of oil and wine is always added to each sacrifice. Moreover the libations, that is, the wines themselves, were poured out in honor of the Lord, as is said here; but the oil mixed with flour was burned by fire as an offering to God, which should be understood of the handful that was burned to God from this oiled flour: for the remainder of the flour or grain offering went to the priest, as was said in chapter XXIII, and in chapter VI, verse 16. So Abulensis.
Verse 14: You Shall Not Eat Bread Nor Parched Grain
14. YOU SHALL NOT EAT BREAD NOR PARCHED GRAIN NOR GROATS FROM THE HARVEST UNTIL THE DAY WHEN YOU SHALL OFFER FROM IT TO YOUR GOD — the sheaf of grain just mentioned; for God claims it for Himself as the first-fruits of the crops.
Note: "Parched grain" (polentam), that is, roasted spelt or barley. So the Septuagint and the Hebrews. For "groats" (pultes), the Hebrew has "ears of grain"; but it is certain that raw, unprocessed ears are not meant here, for those are not customarily eaten; nor even roasted ears, or roasted and ground grain formed into bread, because bread has already been mentioned. Aptly, therefore, our translator understood the ears here as crushed, that is, flour drawn out into groats and cooked: for the subject here is flour not raw but cooked; for only this is customarily eaten, and flour is cooked either into bread, or into parched grain, or into groats.
Verses 15-16: The Fifty Days of Pentecost
15 and 16. YOU SHALL COUNT, THEREFORE, FROM THE DAY AFTER THE SABBATH, ON WHICH YOU OFFERED THE SHEAF OF FIRST-FRUITS (of grain), SEVEN FULL WEEKS, UNTIL THE DAY AFTER THE COMPLETION OF THE SEVENTH WEEK, THAT IS FIFTY DAYS, AND SO YOU SHALL OFFER A NEW SACRIFICE TO THE LORD. — Here is described the third feast, namely Pentecost, which was celebrated on the fiftieth day after the Passover. And so from the day after the sabbath — not a sabbath properly so called, but the sabbath meaning the Passover and the solemnity of unleavened bread, that is, from the second day of unleavened bread (as I said just above), on which they had offered the sheaf of grain — the Hebrews counted seven weeks, that is 49 days, so that the following day, the fiftieth, was Pentecost. That this is so is clear, first, from Josephus, who teaches it plainly in Book III of the Antiquities, chapter X. Secondly, the same is clear from the practice of the Jews, and from the first Pentecost, which the Hebrews celebrated on the sixth day of the third month, as I showed in Exodus XIX, 11. For from the second day of unleavened bread, which was the second day after the departure from Egypt and was the sixteenth day of the first month, up to the sixth day of the third month, which was the day of Pentecost, fifty days are counted. Hence also in the Jewish calendars, Pentecost is still today assigned to the sixth day of the third month. So Abulensis, Cajetan, Oleaster, Ribera in Book V On the Temple, chapter VII, and Genebrardus in the Calendar of the Hebrews, which he prefixed to the Psalms.
Note here that the Jews have a fixed Passover and Pentecost: for since they use lunar months and celebrate Passover on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, that is, at the full moon, hence by counting fifty days they necessarily celebrate Pentecost on the sixth day of the third month. But Christians, since they have not lunar but solar months, hence just as they have a movable Easter, so also a movable Pentecost, so that they celebrate it now on the tenth of May, now on the twentieth, now on the thirtieth, now on the tenth of June, now on the twelfth.
From what has been said, it is clear that these fifty days of Pentecost are to be counted from the second day of unleavened bread, not exclusively, as Radulphus and Ribera maintain (Book V On the Temple, chapter VII) — for then there would be not fifty but only forty-nine days — but inclusively. For if from the sixteenth day of the first month inclusively, you count the remaining fifteen days of the same month, then count twenty-nine days of the second month (for the months of the Hebrews, being lunar, alternated between twenty-nine and thirty days), and finally add six days of the third month (for on the sixth day came Pentecost), you will find exactly fifty days.
Note: We Christians, just as we do not celebrate Easter on the day the Jews do, namely the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan, but on the Sunday following it, and this in memory of the resurrection of Christ, which took place on a Sunday: so consequently we do not celebrate Pentecost on the same day as the Jews, but on the fiftieth day from the Sunday of Easter, that is, of the resurrection of Christ, which necessarily likewise falls on a Sunday: for on a Sunday, which was Pentecost, that is, the fiftieth day from Easter, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles, and the new law was promulgated in Zion, Acts II, just as the old law was formerly promulgated on Sinai on the same fiftieth day from the Passover. Hence St. Augustine, Sermon 154 On the Seasons; Clement of Rome, Book V of the Constitutions, last chapter; Isidore, Albinus, and others who write on the offices of the Church, and St. Leo, Sermon 1 On Pentecost, count the fifty days of Pentecost not from the Jewish Passover, nor from the day of Christ's passion (for then there would be not fifty but fifty-two days), but from the very Sunday of Christ's resurrection. Furthermore, lest the Christian Pentecost should coincide with the Jewish Pentecost — lest, that is, we Christians should seem to be observing the ancient Jewish Pentecost — for this reason the first Christian Pentecost, on which the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles, does not seem to have coincided with the Jewish Pentecost. This is proved thus: for in the year in which Christ suffered and rose again, the Jewish Passover fell on a Thursday, and the first day of unleavened bread on a Friday, the day on which Christ suffered; and consequently the second day of unleavened bread fell on a Saturday. Now count fifty days from that Saturday, and you will find that the fiftieth day, the Jewish Pentecost, likewise fell on a Saturday, which immediately preceded the Sunday of the Christian Pentecost, on which the Holy Spirit descended. So then the Jews celebrated their Pentecost on the Saturday, while the Apostles and Christians celebrated on the Sunday. So Hugh, Lyra, Abulensis, Cajetan (either here or at Acts II), Josephus, Book III of the Antiquities, chapter XIII, and Francis Suarez, Part III, Question LIII, disputation 46, section 1; the Rabbis teach the same.
You will object: In Acts II, 4, it is said: "When the days of Pentecost were being fulfilled," or as the Greek has it, "when the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled, suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind." But St. Luke there seems entirely to be speaking of the Pentecost then in common use, namely the Jewish one; for up to that point no Christian Pentecost had been instituted or celebrated. Therefore the Holy Spirit descended on the Jewish Pentecost, and consequently the first Jewish and Christian Pentecost was one and the same, falling on a Sunday. Because of this argument, some indeed hold that the Pentecost of both groups was the same at that time. Hence they suppose that in the year Christ suffered, the first day of unleavened bread did indeed fall on a Friday, but was transferred from the fifteenth day of the month to the sixteenth, that is, to Saturday, lest two feasts — the first of unleavened bread and the sabbath, on which work was forbidden — should coincide. And consequently they suppose the second day of unleavened bread that year fell on Easter Sunday, from which to Pentecost Sunday there are exactly fifty days.
But this transfer of feasts cannot be solidly proved from Scripture or the Fathers; indeed it contradicts the Evangelists, who assert that Christ celebrated the Passover with the Jews according to the law, namely on the fourteenth day of the moon in the evening, so that the fifteenth, which was the first day of unleavened bread, namely Friday, was the day Christ suffered, and consequently the second day of unleavened bread, from which the fifty days of Pentecost are to be counted, fell on a Saturday.
Others hold that in the year Christ suffered, this offering of the sheaves, from which the fifty days of Pentecost were to be counted, was transferred from the second day of unleavened bread to the third, for the reason that the second day of unleavened bread fell on a Saturday, on which it was not permitted to reap grain. Therefore the harvest was gathered and offered on the third day, namely Easter Sunday, from which to Pentecost Sunday there are exactly fifty days.
But the same objection can be raised against this view as against the former. Moreover, its foundation, namely that it was not permitted to reap these sheaves on the sabbath, does not seem true; for on the sabbath it was permitted to slaughter, skin, cut, and burn the lamb morning and evening, and other victims besides. Therefore much more was it permitted to reap a few ears of grain for the offering and sacrifice. Secondly, if it was not permitted to reap them on the sabbath, they could and should have reaped them one or two days before, rather than transfer this feast and sacrifice from the day prescribed by law, namely the sabbath, to another, namely Sunday. Thirdly, it is an obstacle that the Jews celebrated their Pentecost in imitation of the first one on which they received the law on Sinai, Exodus XIX, 11; for that first Pentecost was the norm and model for all subsequent ones, which were instituted and conformed to the memory and pattern of the first. But that first one was celebrated on the fiftieth day from the second day of unleavened bread, which then fell on a Saturday; for the first day of unleavened bread, on which they went out of Egypt, fell on a Friday, as I showed in Exodus XII, 41. Therefore the second day of unleavened bread then fell on a Saturday.
For if from this second day of unleavened bread, that is, from the sixteenth day of the first month, which then fell on a Saturday, you count fifty days, you will arrive at the sixth day of the third month, on which they celebrated Pentecost. Now if at that time they could count fifty days of the first Pentecost from a Saturday, then in subsequent years also they could do the same thing.
I respond, therefore, and say that St. Luke is speaking of the Christian Pentecost, not the Jewish one. For the Christian Pentecost was observed and flourished among Christians, not only when St. Luke was writing, but also from its very beginning, namely from the first Pentecost, which fell on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Christ. That this is so is proved: First, because St. Luke, a Christian, writes to Christians, not to Jews (hence he writes in Greek, not in Hebrew), the origin of Christianity and its sacred rites and feasts. Therefore he is treating of the Christian Pentecost, not the Jewish. Secondly, because in chapter 1, he plainly shows that he is treating of the mysteries and deeds of Christ, which Christians at Easter, Pentecost, and other feasts recall and celebrate. Let chapter 1 be read attentively, and it will be found to be so. Therefore just as in chapter 1 he counts forty days from Christ's resurrection to His ascension, so immediately in chapter II, from the same resurrection, and not from the Jewish Passover, he counts fifty days of Pentecost. Thirdly, because Christians celebrate their Pentecost in imitation of the first, which Luke describes in Acts II; therefore that one was Christian. Fourthly, that St. Luke describes here the origin of the Christian Pentecost is the view of the Church, which reads and recalls his narrative about Pentecost every year on the feast of Pentecost. The meaning, therefore, is: "When the days of Pentecost were being fulfilled," that is, when the fiftieth day was being completed, on which the Christian Pentecost was to be instituted and ratified by Christ for Christians, through the sending of the Holy Spirit, whom He Himself had promised (Acts I), and through the promulgation of the new law. For St. Luke alludes to the figure, namely to the institution of the Mosaic Pentecost, Exodus XIX, 16, where it is said of it: "And now the third day had come (which was the fiftieth from the Passover, that is, Pentecost), and behold thunders began to be heard, and lightning to flash, and a very thick cloud to cover the mountain, and the blast of the trumpet sounded exceedingly loud." For in a similar way, regarding the antitype, namely the Christian Pentecost, St. Luke says: "When the days of Pentecost were being fulfilled, etc., suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, etc. And there appeared to them parted tongues, as of fire, and it sat upon each of them." Just as Moses, therefore, in Exodus XIX, speaks of the Jewish Pentecost and its institution, so St. Luke speaks here of the Christian Pentecost and its institution. Fifthly, because immediately from this its institution, the Christian Pentecost began to be celebrated by Christians, as I shall show presently. Therefore Luke is treating of it, not of the Jewish one.
The foundation of all these points is that Christ through the new law willed to abolish the old law with its sacred rites and feasts, and to substitute new and Christian ones in their place. Hence He also willed that the first Christian Pentecost should follow the Jewish one on the next day, to signify that, with the Jewish one excluded and abolished, He Himself was thenceforth instituting and ratifying the new one. For on the first Pentecost, that is, on the fiftieth day from Christ's resurrection, He sent the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, and through them on that same day promulgated His evangelical law — namely, that since the law of Moses was now abolished, the evangelical law was henceforth to be accepted and observed by all. Wherefore at the same time, having abolished the Passover, Pentecost, and other feasts of the Jews, He tacitly instituted His own Easter, Pentecost, and feasts, and soon willed that through the Apostles the same should be ratified and instituted expressly and in detail everywhere on earth.
Moreover, that Christians from the very beginning, namely from this first Christian Pentecost, began to celebrate and name it every year — not the Jewish one, but the Christian — as Luke names it here saying, "When the days of Pentecost were being fulfilled," is proved first, because on this first Pentecost the abrogation of the old law and all its sacred rites and feasts took place, and the public promulgation of the new law and its sacred rites, and consequently its feasts, was made. Therefore the Apostles and Christians, obedient to this promulgation, thenceforth celebrated the Christian Passover and Pentecost, not the Jewish; otherwise they would have sinned against the evangelical law. In a similar manner, in the same year in which on the fiftieth day from the first Passover God gave the law to the Hebrews on Sinai, by the precept of God issued at this place in Leviticus, Pentecost was ratified and thenceforth observed by the Jews. Secondly, because the Apostles, going to preach to the Gentiles, immediately upon their conversion instituted and handed down to them the sacred rites and feasts of Christ (for the Christian religion, like any other, cannot exist without feasts and sacred rites); for they could not hand down to them the Jewish Passover and Pentecost. For then they would have compelled the Gentiles to Judaize, and instead of Christianity would have handed them Judaism — which would have been a great sin, diametrically opposed to their office, to which they had been sent and commissioned by Christ. Again, who would doubt that the Apostles and first Christians, burning with love for Christ, recalled each year with anniversary remembrance the day of His resurrection, ascension, and the sending of the Holy Spirit, and such great benefits and merits of His toward the Church? They therefore celebrated the Christian Easter and Pentecost, not the Jewish. Thirdly, because the Apostles immediately after Christ's ascension changed the sabbath to the Lord's Day and began to observe it in honor of Christ's resurrection (for Christ rose on a Sunday). Therefore much more did they immediately transfer Moses' Passover to the Passover of Christ, that is, to a Sunday; for the Christian Easter is properly the day of Christ's resurrection, more than merely a Sunday. If they transferred the Passover, therefore they also transferred Pentecost; for this follows from the former and must be reckoned from it. The antecedent is proved, first, from Revelation I, 10, where John says: "I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day"; therefore the Lord's Day, not the sabbath, was then observed by Christians. Secondly, the Apostle in I Corinthians XVI, 2 commands collections of alms to be made "on the first day of the week," that is, on the first day of the week, namely Sunday. Therefore ecclesiastical assemblies were then held on Sunday. Moreover, the Apostle speaks of this day not as something new or recently instituted by himself, but as customary and well known among Christians. Therefore long before, Sunday had begun to be observed by Christians in place of the sabbath. Now the First Epistle to the Corinthians was written in the year of Christ 57, that is, twenty-three years after Christ's death. Therefore immediately after Christ, Christians celebrated Sunday in place of the sabbath. Similarly in Acts XX, 7, it is said that on the first day of the week, that is, on Sunday, Paul held a great assembly of Christians, in which, prolonging his sermon, he raised to life a young man who had fallen asleep, fallen down, and been killed.
Finally, St. Paul attacks the new moon, the sabbath, and other Jewish feasts in Galatians IV, 9, saying: "You are turned again to weak and needy elements, which you desire to serve anew. You observe (Jewish) days, and months, and times, and years." And Colossians II, 16: "Let no man judge you in meat or drink (from which the Jews abstain by law), or in respect of a feast day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is Christ's." Therefore He willed that from the very beginning of Christianity, not Jewish but Christian feasts should be celebrated by Christians.
Finally, that Easter was transferred to Sunday from the beginning by the Apostles, and consequently Pentecost as well, is clear from the heresy of the Quartodecimans, who wanted Easter to be observed with the Jews on the fourteenth day of the moon, that is, a set day of the first month, and not on Sunday. For the Church condemned them, and Pope Victor, defining from apostolic tradition that Easter must be celebrated by Christians not on the fourteenth of the moon but on the Sunday following it, just as the Christians and Apostles originally celebrated it, as Eusebius testifies in Book V of the History, chapter XXII. Similarly, Protherius, quoted by Bede in his book On the Reckoning of Time, chapter XLII, testifies that St. Peter at Rome taught that Easter should be celebrated on Sunday, and that St. Mark, having received the same tradition from him, handed it on to the Egyptians. And St. Ignatius, who lived in the time of the Apostles, says in his Epistle to the Magnesians: "The Lord's Day is to be observed as the chief of days and as consecrated to the Lord's resurrection." And in his Epistle to the Philippians he says: "If anyone celebrates Easter with the Jews, he is a partaker of those who killed the Lord and His Apostles." Since, therefore, it is established that from the beginning the Christian Pentecost was observed by Christians, who can doubt that St. Luke is speaking of it, and not of the Jewish one? And so when St. Luke names Pentecost, he looks not only to the time when he himself was writing (for there is no doubt that the Christian Pentecost was then observed and so named, not the Jewish one), but he also properly looks to the very time when the events he writes about and narrates took place, as if to say: "When the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled," that is, the fiftieth day from Christ's resurrection and the first Christian Easter, on which day the new Pentecost was to be instituted and ratified by Christ in place of the old, and likewise to be named — the Pentecost whose origin and institution I here narrate, which would be the beginning, model, and cause of all subsequent ones, and would give them its name, so that from it they would likewise be called Pentecost, that is, the fiftieth day from the day of Christ's resurrection.
Finally, if anyone insists that St. Luke was also looking to the Jewish Pentecost, which was then in force and in common use, I reply that this can be admitted in this sense, as if St. Luke were saying: "When it was being fulfilled," that is, when on the previous day the Jewish Pentecost had been completed and had passed, so that the Christian Pentecost succeeding it was being fulfilled, that is, was beginning to be completed. For the word "was being fulfilled" (compleretur), insofar as it looks to the Jewish Pentecost, is to be taken in the perfect sense; insofar as it looks toward and terminates and ends at the Christian Pentecost, it is to be taken in the inceptive sense. For he implies both and touches on both in passing, and therefore St. Luke embraces and wraps up both in a single word. And this sense seems fuller, as if to say: "When the days of Pentecost were being fulfilled," both old and new, so that with the old having been completed and passed the day before, the new should begin to be completed the next day. For the old and the new were as it were one and the same Pentecost; for the former passed into and gave way to the latter, just as the type passes into and gives way to the antitype, so as to be thereby considered one and the same with it. This is my opinion about Pentecost, subject to a better one; for I do not see what can be said more probably and solidly. For the position of Gabriel Vasquez, Part III, volume III, disputation 172, chapter XII, with Radulphus and Ribera, who take the phrase "from the day after the sabbath" exclusively, not inclusively, plainly contradicts the reckoning of Moses and of all the Hebrews, as I showed a little above. And the phrase "from the day after" sufficiently implies this. For when we wish to describe time exclusively, we are not accustomed to say "from the day after" (for this is itself the exclusion of the preceding day), but "from such a day," for example, first, second, third, etc. The matter itself therefore teaches that the fifty days of Pentecost were to be begun not from the first day of Easter exclusively, but from the second day inclusively.
A New Sacrifice to the Lord — Two Loaves of First-Fruits
16 and 17. AND SO YOU SHALL OFFER (at Pentecost) A NEW SACRIFICE TO THE LORD, FROM ALL YOUR DWELLINGS, TWO LOAVES OF FIRST-FRUITS. — For "sacrifice," the Hebrew has mincha, that is, "offering," from the root nacha, that is, "he brought, he offered"; for this offering of loaves was not properly a sacrifice. For these loaves were made from leavened fine flour, which could not be sacrificed, as is clear from chapter II, verse 11, and hence no libations were offered with these loaves. These loaves were therefore merely the first-fruits of the wheat harvest, which were given to the priests and went for their food and use.
Note: Individual families were obliged to offer these first-fruits of bread at Pentecost, as is said here. It was otherwise with the sheaf of grain at Passover. And although Abulensis understands it this way — not that each person would bring these loaves from his own field or home to Jerusalem, but that each would buy two such loaves in Jerusalem and offer them in the temple, just as they did with doves and other victims (whence there were sellers of all these things in Jerusalem, whom Christ drove from the temple) — nevertheless the Hebrew Scripture here teaches the contrary; for it says: "From all your dwellings you shall bring two loaves of elevation offering"; which words sufficiently indicate that each person was to bring his own loaves from his own home to the temple, so that each would render the first-fruits of his own crops to God in thanksgiving. For this was one reason why the feast of Pentecost was instituted, namely that on it they should offer God the first-fruits of bread. So Josephus, Book III of the Antiquities, chapter X. The other reason was that the Hebrews should remember the law given at Pentecost, and for it give God thanks and recall that law, so as to observe it more exactly. So St. Jerome to Fabiola, On the 42 Stations, at station 12: "The dedication," he says, "of the law is Pentecost." St. Augustine teaches the same, Question XCV in Questions from the New Testament.
For the law is a great blessing from God, and one to be celebrated with a feast. For it is itself a ray of the eternal law, flowing from the eternal reasons and ideas that live in the mind of God, by which He Himself governs and directs all things. "There are two things," says Gregory Nazianzen, "by which we are governed: nature and law." And St. Augustine, Book IX of The City of God: "The judgment of all laws," he says, "is empty unless it bears the image of the divine law." Plato said, "It is necessary to establish laws for men so that they may live according to them; otherwise they would differ in nothing from wild beasts. The reason being that no man's intellect is so constituted by nature as to know sufficiently what contributes to the public welfare of human life; and even if he should know it, always to be able and willing to do what is best." So he himself, Book IV of the Laws.
Demosthenes used to say that "laws are the soul of a city." Heraclitus said that "citizens ought to fight no less for their laws than for their walls, because without laws a city cannot possibly be safe, but without walls it can." So Laertius, Book IX, chapter 1. To one who asked Archidamus "who were the rulers of Sparta," he answered: "The laws and the lawful magistrates." He gravely held that in a well-constituted republic supreme authority should be given to the laws, and that no magistrate should be permitted to attempt anything contrary to the public laws. So Plutarch, in the Laconic Sayings.
To one who asked Agesilaus "what Lycurgus' laws had contributed to Sparta," he replied: "Contempt of pleasures." Plutarch, ibid.
When asked "whom he considered unjust," Cyrus said: "Those who do not follow the law." So Maximus, Sermon 50.
The Brazilian natives in their language lack three letters, namely F, L, R, and this fittingly, for they lack faith, law, and a king. Osorius and Maffei in the Indian History attest to this.
Philo, in the book On Joseph: "What a physician is to the sick," he says, "this the law is to the city." Among the ancients, a crown was a hieroglyph of the law, because it is intertwined with fixed bonds by which our life is, as it were, bound and restrained. So Pierius, Hieroglyphics 41.
Finally, "the law is the light of life." "Your word is a lamp to my feet," says the Psalmist, "and a light to my paths" (Psalm 118), and this psalm is nothing other than a eulogy of the law. Again: "The words of the Lord are pure words, silver tried by fire, proved in the earth, purified seven times" (Psalm 11, verse 7).
Moreover, "the law is nothing other than right reason, derived from the divine power of the gods, commanding what is honorable and forbidding the contrary," says Cicero, Philippics I; and in his oration For Cluentius: "The foundation of liberty, the fountain of equity, the mind, the spirit, the counsel, and the judgment of the state are established in the laws." It was a special blessing of God toward the Hebrews that He Himself gave them the law, and did so first, before the laws of other nations. For the first lawgiver in the world was Moses, that is, God through Moses. Following him, the Gymnosophists gave laws to the Indians, the priests to the Egyptians, the Chaldeans to the Babylonians, the Magi to the Persians, the Druids to the Gauls, Zaleucus to the Locrians, Solon to the Athenians, Lycurgus to the Spartans, Minos to the Cretans, Philo to the Corinthians, Zamolxis to the Getae, Androdamus to the Rhegians, Hippodamus to the Milesians, Charondas to the Thurians, Philolaus to the Thebans, and Phaleas to the Carthaginians. Among the Romans, the first to compile the royal laws into one was Publius Papirius. Then Appius Claudius the decemvir drew up the Laws of the Twelve Tables. After him followed Appius Claudius Caecus, Sempronius Sophus, Scipio Nasica, Quintus Fabius, Marcus Cato, and others.
Two Loaves from Two Tenths
17. TWO LOAVES OF FIRST-FRUITS, FROM TWO TENTHS. — From what was said in chapter XIV, verse 10, and what will be said in the following chapter, verse 5, it will be clear that the two tenths of fine flour, and the two loaves made from them, weighed approximately thirteen and a half pounds.
Verse 18: Seven Unblemished Lambs with the Loaves
18. YOU SHALL OFFER WITH THE LOAVES SEVEN UNBLEMISHED LAMBS — namely as a holocaust, because this, as the principal form, is always understood when sacrifice is mentioned, unless another kind is specified. So Abulensis.
Note: In Numbers XXVIII, 27, other victims are added that were customarily offered at this feast of Pentecost, on account of the solemnity of the feast: namely two bulls, one ram, seven lambs, and one he-goat for sin. For that these are different from the ones prescribed here is clear both from other evidence and from the fact that there two bulls are prescribed while here only one: because those victims were prescribed for the feast itself precisely, while these here are prescribed only to honor the offering of the first-fruits, so that together with the offering of first-fruits, these victims might be given to God as a sacrifice. The victims for the feast of Pentecost itself, as well as for the other feasts, are listed not in this chapter but in Numbers chapters XXVIII and XXIX (as is clear to the reader). So Abulensis. Hence Josephus, Book III, chapter X, enumerating all the victims of Pentecost, says: "They make holocausts of three bulls, two rams (Sacred Scripture counts three rams: therefore an error seems to have crept into Josephus' number, so that three should be substituted for two), fourteen lambs, and two he-goats for sin." Josephus omits the two lambs offered as peace offerings. Radulphus, however, holds that the victims prescribed here and those in Numbers XXVIII are the same, and attempts to resolve the discrepancy just cited by means of a mystery. "It does not matter," he says, "whether two bulls with one ram or one bull with two rams are said to be in the holocausts, since both shepherds and doctors (who mystically are rams and bulls) are one on account of the concord of faith and peace, and are understood as two if we consider the distance between the two peoples to whom they were sent." But these explanations do not satisfy the literal sense, which Radulphus often seems to set aside and attack as Jewish, in the manner of Origen and others who are entirely given to tropological interpretations. Moreover, these sacrifices and victims did not belong to any private individual, as did the loaves of first-fruits; rather they were common to the whole people, and were offered for the entire people from the public treasury and at common expense.
AND THEY SHALL BE FOR A HOLOCAUST WITH THEIR LIBATIONS. — In Hebrew, "with its grain offering and libation"; therefore our translator here calls "libations" whatever was offered with the victim, such as oil, wine, flour, frankincense, and salt.
Verse 19: A He-Goat for Sin
19. YOU SHALL ALSO OFFER A HE-GOAT FOR SIN. — "You shall offer," that is, you shall sacrifice. For "he-goat," the Hebrew has "a he-goat of the goats," that is, a young he-goat, or a kid. See what was said in chapter IV, verse 23.
Verse 20: They Shall Fall to the Priest's Use
20. WHEN THE PRIEST SHALL HAVE ELEVATED THEM WITH THE LOAVES, ETC., THEY SHALL FALL TO HIS USE — as if to say: When the peace offerings (for he is speaking here of these alone, not of holocausts, since holocausts were entirely burned to God) have been slain and consecrated to the Lord, they shall go to the priest. For although these offerings otherwise went in large part to the offerers, yet because the whole people was offering them here, and they could not be distributed among the entire people, therefore they are here given to the priests.
Note that what is said here — that the loaves of first-fruits offered at Pentecost go to the priest — is not to be understood as if the priest ministering in the tabernacle at Pentecost would alone receive all these loaves by himself; for since they were offered by each family, they were innumerable. Rather, it means only that he received those which he had elevated and offered to the Lord, say three or four; for the rest went to the right of all and were divided equally among all the priests, as were other first-fruits.
Verse 21: You Shall Call This Day Most Renowned and Most Holy
21. AND YOU SHALL CALL THIS DAY (of Pentecost) MOST RENOWNED AND MOST HOLY. — "Most renowned," that is, very celebrated and festive, so that you may cease from all servile work on it; "most holy," because it is dedicated to Me, to My sacrifices and worship. In Hebrew it reads: "You shall proclaim the substance of this day," that is, this day, "a holy convocation," that is, festive and solemn. For, as Josephus teaches in Book III, chapter X, no feast among the Jews was celebrated without a holocaust and a cessation from labors. And in this respect our translator calls this feast "most renowned and most holy," as I have just explained.
Allegorically, the Hebrew Pentecost signified the Pentecost of the Apostles, at which the Holy Spirit descended upon them through tongues of fire and promulgated the new law in Zion. Having received Him, they immediately began to reap the regions white for the harvest, as St. Chrysostom says in Homily 2 on Acts, and to offer the Lord two loaves of first-fruits, from the two peoples of Jews and Gentiles. And then many Martyrs were immolated to God: some as lambs, that is, the innocent; some as rams, that is, the Doctors and leaders of the Church; some as bulls, who had formerly been proud in the world; and some as he-goats, who had previously lived in the filth and stench of sins.
Tropologically, the number fifty of Pentecost is a sign and symbol of perfect penance and the remission of sins, as St. Jerome teaches at length at the beginning of Book II on Isaiah. Hence Psalm 50 is above all a penitential psalm. The same is clear in the fiftieth year, or year of Jubilee, which is the year of full remission. Then, therefore, we offer two loaves, that is, the love of God and of neighbor. So now we celebrate Easter, Pentecost, and other feasts not in a Jewish manner, but in a Christian manner, that is, not only in the letter but also in the spirit. Hear Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 4 Against Julian: "Let us celebrate feasts," he says, "not with bodily elegance, nor with change and magnificence of clothing, nor with banquets and drunkenness, whose fruit you have learned to be debauchery and impurity, etc., but with purity of soul, and gladness of mind, and with lamps illuminating the whole body of the Church, that is, divine contemplations which are kindled upon the holy lampstand and flood the whole world with light." And St. Gregory, Homily 33 on the Gospels: "What profit is it," he says, "to be present at the feasts of men, if one happens to be absent from the feasts of angels?" The same author in the Register: "On the Lord's Day," he says, "one must cease from earthly labor and devote oneself entirely to prayer, so that whatever negligence is committed during six days may be expiated through the prayers of the day of the Lord's resurrection." And Origen, Homily 69 on Exodus: "If you cease," he says, "from all worldly works, and do nothing worldly, but devote yourself to spiritual works, come to church, lend your ear to divine readings, think about heavenly things, be anxious about the hope to come, keep the coming judgment before your eyes, look not to present and visible things but to invisible and future things: this is the observance of the Christian sabbath." Blessed Thomas More observed feasts with such devotion that even while he was alone in prison, he would put on better clothes that had been brought to him. When those who marveled asked why, since he was alone, he did this, he replied: "I observe feasts and dress properly not for the sight of people, but for the honor of God." When the same man had received his death sentence, and its execution was being delayed longer than he wished, at last as the feast of the Translation of St. Thomas of Canterbury approached, he said on the vigil of the feast: "Tomorrow I eagerly desire to depart to God; for that day would be most fitting for me." And God fittingly granted His martyr the day he desired — a day on which the memory is also celebrated in the Church of his patron saint, whose name he bore, who was crowned with martyrdom for a similar cause; and of the holy Apostles (for that feast fell on the octave of Saints Peter and Paul), for whose primacy he was shedding his blood. So Stapleton in his Life.
Anagogically, Pentecost, or the week and sabbath (that is, feast) of weeks, signified the universal rest of all the saints in heaven, so that just as on the second day of unleavened bread there preceded the offering of the sheaf of grain, that is, the resurrection of Christ, so in the seventh week thereafter, and on the fiftieth day, all who have adhered to Christ through faith and love are gathered to Him as to their head, destined to have eternal rest with Him, and then they will offer two loaves of first-fruits, namely the glory of soul and body, and will consecrate these to God and to His eternal praises. So says Radulphus.
Verse 22: You Shall Not Cut It Down to the Ground
22. NOR SHALL YOU CUT IT (the land) DOWN TO THE GROUND — you shall not reap it completely, so that you may leave something for the poor to gather. See what was said at chapter 19, verse 9.
Verse 24: The Feast of Trumpets
24. IN THE SEVENTH MONTH, ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH, YOU SHALL HAVE A SABBATH (that is, a solemn feast) AS A MEMORIAL, WITH THE SOUNDING OF TRUMPETS. — This is the fourth feast, namely the Feast of Trumpets, on the first day of the month Tishri, that is, September.
Note: The number seven was sacred among the Hebrews. For first, the seventh day was festive and was the sabbath; second, the seventh week of days was Pentecost; third, the seventh month was for the most part sacred, and, as Origen says in Homily 23 on Numbers, it was like a sabbath of months, just as the seventh day was a sabbath of days: for in the seventh month four, or rather five, feasts were celebrated, namely the New Moon, Trumpets, Expiation, Tabernacles (and that for seven days), and the Assembly or Gathering. Fourth, the seventh year was a sacred year of liberty and remission, and of rest for the land. Fifth, the seventh week of years, namely the fiftieth year, was entirely festive and was the jubilee.
ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH — there was therefore a double feast on that day: first, the new moon or new month, from which they began the month, for the first day of the month was the new moon; second, the Trumpets. Hence they also offered double sacrifices on that day, both those of the new moon and those of the Trumpets, as is clear from Numbers 29:1 and following.
A MEMORIAL WITH THE SOUNDING OF TRUMPETS. — In Hebrew, "a memorial of blasting," or as the Septuagint has it, "of trumpets." The Hebrews and Latins relate that the feast of trumpets was instituted in memory of the patriarch Isaac, who was freed from the sacrifice and the sword of his father Abraham, and of the ram substituted in his place (Genesis 22:11), and therefore on that day they were accustomed to sound ram's horns, although they also sounded silver trumpets on the same day for the new moon and the sacrifices, as is prescribed in Numbers 10:10. Indeed, the Hebrews relate that Isaac was freed from this sacrifice on that very day, namely the first of the seventh month. The sounding, therefore, was a memorial of the liberation of Isaac, and at the same time a tacit prayer that God would also remember them, and just as He had freed Isaac, so also He would free his descendants from the dangers of death.
Mystically, the seventh month is the time of grace, namely of the new law, in which the seven spirits of God have been sent into all the earth (Revelation 5), and we also receive the sevenfold grace and spirit of the Holy Spirit: its first festivity is the joy of the trumpet blast and of trumpets, that is, of the preaching of the Apostles (for they sounded throughout the whole world like certain heavenly trumpets) and the conversion of the Gentiles. So say Origen, Radulphus, and Hesychius. For Christ, about to go from this world to the Father, sent these to trumpet throughout the whole world, saying: "Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved" (Matthew, last chapter). Mindful of this command, Saints Peter and John, when ordered to be silent, responded: "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4).
The deacon Benjamin, held in prison for two years, when he was released on the condition that he no longer preach the Gospel of God, mindful of his vocation, said: "I neither can nor ought to bury the talent of faith committed to me in the earth." Theodoret testifies to this in Book 5, chapter 28.
Saint Francis asked his brothers: "What seems more advisable to you — that I devote myself to prayer, or rather to preaching?" After enumerating the advantages on both sides, he finally concluded: "Nevertheless, our Redeemer especially wished to commend the office of preaching to His own, since He Himself lived among sinners; since we must follow in His footsteps, it will be more useful and more pleasing to God if, setting aside quiet, we go forth to labor." And this he did. So says Bonaventure in his Life, Book 1, chapter 12.
Hence Saint Thomas, Part III, Question 67, article 1: "To preach," he says, "is the most principal act, proper to a Bishop, and more worthy than to baptize." The same in his commentary on 1 Corinthians, chapter 9: "The preacher," he says, "has eight names in Scripture, namely Soldier, Vinedresser, Shepherd, Ox, Ploughman, Thresher, Sower, and Architect of the temple."
Hence also Isaiah, chapter 52, says: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach peace, who preach good things!" Saint Augustine calls the preacher an Angel. Saint Gregory, Homily 3 on Ezekiel: "The life of preachers," he says, "both sounds and burns. It burns with desire, it sounds with the word. Glowing bronze, therefore, is a kindled sermon; but from glowing bronze sparks fly forth, because from their exhortations flaming words proceed to the ears of the hearers. Rightly, therefore, the words of preachers are called sparks, because they set on fire those whom they strike in the heart."
The same, in Book 30 of the Moralia, explaining Job 39:1: "Do you know the time of the birth of wild goats on the rocks?" — "It is necessary," he says, "that preachers be strong in precepts, compassionate toward the weak, terrible in threats, gentle in exhortations, humble in displaying their teaching authority, dominant in contempt of temporal things, and firm in enduring adversities."
Saint Clement, in Book 8 of the Recognitions, compares preachers to the rays of the sun, which illuminate the world and make all things visible.
Furthermore, Ecclesiastes himself teaches what sort of trumpet and sermon this should be, in chapter 12, verse 11: "The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails driven deep;" on which Olympiodorus says: "As goads prick oxen and urge them to cut a furrow with the plough, so also the words of Theologians rouse us, who plough with good hope, to cut a spiritual furrow, so that when the field of our heart has been cleansed, we may plant in it the fair shoots of virtue. They are also like fiery and glowing nails, which are driven deeper and more easily into wood: for so also the words of the wise are driven deeper into the innermost recesses of our understanding." And Saint Jerome says: "The words of the wise are said to prick, not to caress, nor to draw a tear with a soft hand; but to inflict upon the erring the pains and wound of slow repentance. If, therefore, anyone's speech does not prick but gives pleasure to the hearers, that speech is not wise." The same to Nepotian: "When you teach," he says, "in the Church, let not the clamor of the people but their groaning be aroused: let the tears of your hearers be your praises." And elsewhere: "That man is an ecclesiastical teacher who moves tears, not laughter; who rebukes sinners; who calls no one blessed, no one happy."
Whoever you are, therefore, O preacher, whoever you are as a trumpet, indeed as the mouth of God, "cry out, do not cease, raise your voice like a trumpet, and announce to My people their transgressions, and to the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1).
Verse 27: The Day of Expiations
27. ON THE TENTH DAY OF THIS SEVENTH MONTH SHALL BE THE DAY OF EXPIATIONS. — This is the fifth feast, yom kippurim, that is, of expiation or propitiation, on which the expiation of the sins of the people committed throughout the whole year was made, through fasting and sacrifices, and therefore the high priest expiated not only the people, but also the Holy Place itself, and the Holy of Holies, by those ceremonies that were prescribed in chapter 16. See what was said there. This was a most holy day: hence it was not permitted to cook food on it, just as not on the sabbath, as is gathered from verse 30.
YOU SHALL AFFLICT YOUR SOULS — through fasting and other things stated in chapter 16, verse 29.
Verse 32: A Sabbath of Rest — From Evening to Evening
32. It is a sabbath of rest — as if to say: It is a feast, and a rest in every way, on which one must absolutely cease from all work, even non-servile work, such as cooking food.
YOU SHALL AFFLICT YOUR SOULS ON THE NINTH DAY OF THE MONTH. — Namely from the evening, or from the setting of the sun on the ninth day, until the evening of the tenth day; for, as follows:
Verse 33. FROM EVENING TO EVENING YOU SHALL CELEBRATE YOUR SABBATHS (feasts) — namely from one sunset to the next, that is, when the star of Venus begins to appear (as the Hebrews relate), which is called vesper, vesperugo, and hesperus. Hence the word "evening" (vespera) received its name from this star, says Isidore in Book 5 of the Etymologies, chapter 3 — as if to say: Lest this affliction on the day of expiation be thought to be deferred as unwelcome and troublesome until the tenth day itself, I therefore decree and command that you begin it, as with other feasts, from the evening of the preceding ninth day. The Hebrew, Chaldean, and Septuagint texts signify this more clearly, in which there is a more explicit distinction, as also in the Roman and other Latin corrected editions. Hence also the Christian Church, as regards the ecclesiastical office, celebrates feasts from evening to evening; for this is what is decreed in chapter 1 "On Feasts" in the Decretals: "We decree that all Sundays be observed from evening to evening with all reverence;" yet for the people, feasts were appointed to be celebrated from midnight to midnight.
Verse 34: The Feast of Tabernacles
34. FROM THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THIS SEVENTH MONTH SHALL BE THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES FOR SEVEN DAYS TO THE LORD. — This is the sixth feast, namely of Tabernacles for seven days, which in Greek is called scenopegia, from the pitching of tents; for skene means "tabernacle" and pege means "fixing" or "fastening." For it is laughable what Abulensis and Radulphus think, that scenopegia is derived from phagia, that is, "eating," and koine, that is, "common," on the grounds that on this feast the Jews would eat in public or in a common place.
This feast was instituted in memory of the divine protection which so sheltered the Hebrews in the desert that they lived without houses in tents for forty years, in winter and summer. Therefore this feast was never celebrated in the desert, because there the very reality of the thing was being enacted, and it was a continuous feast of tabernacles, as it were; but afterward it was celebrated annually in its memory in Canaan, so that partly in the city — in courtyards, outside spaces, streets, gardens, and even on the rooftops, that is, the tops of houses, as is evident from Nehemiah 8:16 — and partly outside the city when it was safe, they would construct tents from wood or poles, around which some would drape branches, others skins and linen cloth, as is done in military tents, and in these they would dwell for seven days. For when the Hebrews from all of Judea would gather in Jerusalem for this feast, and each family would build its own tent, as Josephus says in Book 3 of the Antiquities, chapter 10, by no means could so many be built in the city as would suffice for all. And it is likely that the tents were arranged so that they formed a kind of city, with each family dwelling separately, and all distinguished and arranged along streets and squares; for this is how they had done it when they were wandering through the desert, and it was this very thing whose memory they then recalled.
Second, this feast was instituted at the end of the year, namely in September, after all the harvests had been gathered, so that they might give thanks to the Lord for them, and therefore all males were required to go to the temple for this feast and offer their gifts, as is prescribed in Exodus 23:14 and following. For the burnt offerings and victims that were slaughtered on each of these seven days, see Numbers 29:12. Finally, on the seventh day of this feast, the Hebrews would go around the altar seven times, carrying branches, in memory of the conquest of Jericho by Joshua with a sevenfold circuit (Joshua 6:16).
Verse 36: The Eighth Day — The Assembly and Gathering
36. THE EIGHTH DAY ALSO SHALL BE MOST CELEBRATED: FOR IT IS AN ASSEMBLY AND A GATHERING. — This is the seventh feast, that of the Assembly and Gathering, which was like an octave of the Feast of Tabernacles. This was a solemn feast, hence by Saint John (chapter 7:37) it is called "the great day of the festivity."
Note that this feast is called an "assembly and gathering," not so much of money or alms, as Abulensis, Lyranus, Cajetan, and Oleaster would have it, but of people and the populace, who gathered on the eighth day in the tabernacle, and later in the temple, so that, united together, they might give thanks to God with solemn sacrifices — because after that long pilgrimage in the desert, all the tribes had come safely to the promised land, as to their destination and home, and possessed it in peace. For a similar reason the seventh day of unleavened bread is called the day of assembly and gathering, because all gathered together on that day to give thanks to God for having united them when they were scattered in Egyptian slavery, and for having led them out together. That this refers to the gathering not of money but of people, and that from this the feast received the name of assembly or gathering, is clear: first, because in Hebrew this feast is called atseret, which means an assembly or congregation, not of money, but of people; second, because the Chaldean very clearly renders this word atseret as kenisin tehon, that is, "you shall be gathered"; third, because the Septuagint always renders this word as exodion — and exodion, as Theodoret testifies (Question 32), indicates the end of festivities; and exodion, in Livy (Book 7), Juvenal (Satire 6), Pollux (Book 4), Suidas, and others, was a song that was sung at the conclusion of something, especially a comedy or a theatrical performance. "The youth," says Livy, "having abandoned the actors' performance of plays, began among themselves, in the ancient manner, to throw about jests woven into verses, which from that point were called exodia and were combined with plays, chiefly Atellan farces." Hence, alluding to this, the Septuagint called this feast an exodion, because it concluded the solemnity of the Feast of Tabernacles with a public and common thanksgiving and applause, after which, leaving the tabernacles, everyone returned to their own homes and cities. Fourth, because King Solomon made a similar gathering, not of money (for he himself was most wealthy and most generous), but of the people on the octave of the dedication of the temple (2 Chronicles 7:9). I do not deny, however, that on this feast a collection of money could be made for the temple and the ministers of God before the departure of the people; but that could be done on other feasts as well, and especially on the seventh day of unleavened bread. But this feast is not named Assembly or Gathering from that, nor was that the principal purpose of this feast.
Verses 37-38: Besides the Sabbaths of the Lord
37 and 38. And you shall offer among them offerings to the Lord, BURNT OFFERINGS, BESIDES THE SABBATHS OF THE LORD AND YOUR GIFTS — as if to say: These sacrifices which I have described you shall offer on each feast, besides the sacrifices that are offered on the sabbath, namely four lambs, of which two are offered in the morning and two in the evening as a burnt offering on the sabbath day, as is clear from Numbers 28:9; likewise besides your gifts and vows, that is, besides the victims which you offer voluntarily or from a vow.
Verse 40: Fruits, Palms, Branches, and Willows
40. AND YOU SHALL TAKE FOR YOURSELVES ON THE FIRST DAY (of the Feast of Tabernacles, as preceded) FRUITS OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TREE, AND BRANCHES OF PALM TREES, AND BOUGHS OF THICK-LEAVED TREES, AND WILLOWS OF THE BROOK, AND YOU SHALL REJOICE BEFORE THE LORD. — Note: On the Feast of Tabernacles the Jews are commanded to carry in their hands branches or fruits of four trees: first, "of the most beautiful tree," that is, of the citron. So the Chaldean. Hence Josephus calls the fruits of this tree Persian apples; for citron fruits, according to Dioscorides, are called Persian and Median, because they were brought to Italy from Persia and Media, as Pliny testifies. That this tree was the citron is also taught by Rabbi Moses the Egyptian (Maimonides), in Book 3 of the Moralia, chapter 44.
You will object: Saint Jerome in his commentary on Zechariah, chapter 14, says it was a cedar. I respond: By cedar he means citron; for citrons are also called cedromela, as if "cedar apples," as Dioscorides testifies above.
Second, "branches," that is, palm branches. So the Septuagint.
Third, "branches of the thick-leaved tree," that is, myrtle. So say Josephus, the Chaldean, and Rabbi Moses above.
Fourth, "branches of willow." Therefore the Hebrews were required to carry branches of these four beautiful, long-green, and fragrant trees (for the citron and myrtle are of good fragrance) during the Feast of Tabernacles, so that they might remember that they had been transferred from the wilderness to a fertile land abounding in the finest trees; to carry them, I say, not only on the first day of the feast, as Abulensis thought, but for seven consecutive days of the feast; for this is what is said here: "You shall celebrate the solemnity for seven days." And so understood Rabbi Moses, Burgensis, Ribera, and others; and this so that through the seven days it might be signified that the Hebrews had dwelt for many years in the desert, and from that point full joy in the promised land came to them; for this is what follows:
AND YOU SHALL REJOICE BEFORE THE LORD — as if to say: Carrying these branches and fruits, you shall dance in the sanctuary before the Lord. For the ancients were accustomed to celebrate their feasts with dancing, as is evident from 2 Samuel 6:14, Exodus 32:19, and Exodus 19:20. So says Abulensis, who also adds: "Some say that when the Jews had these branches in their hands, they had fruits tied to them as well, and thus they would leap, raising and lowering those fruits in every direction; by which they signified that this was for the praise of God, who was Lord of all positions of the world." Something similar was done in the terumah, or offering of the priests, as I discussed at Exodus 29:24 and Leviticus 7:30.
Mystical Interpretation of the Feasts
Mystically, the seventh month is the time of grace; its first feast is the Trumpets, that is, the preaching of the Apostles; the second is Expiation, that is, penance and contempt of alluring pleasures, to which all who are truly converted to God must devote themselves; the third is Tabernacles, because the third degree of the Christian life is to live here as in a tent for seven days, that is, for the whole of life, so that we use the things of this world as much as is necessary and no more, and with our whole mind hasten through the desert of this world to the heavenly mansions, so that we may say with the Psalmist: "I am a sojourner and a pilgrim, like all my fathers"; "for Abraham dwelt in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, co-heirs of the same promise." See what was said at Hebrews 11:9-10. It is celebrated on the 15th day, when the moon begins to wane, because whoever recognizes that the goods of this world are fleeting and perishable (of which the moon is a symbol) hastens toward eternal things. On its seven days we continually offer burnt offerings, because we consecrate ourselves wholly and all that is ours to God.
We carry first the citron, which is golden in color, that is, burning charity, by which we devote ourselves wholly to the glory of God and the benefit of our brethren; second, palm branches, because like victors we trample upon all earthly things, since our conversation is in heaven; third, the thick-leaved tree, namely myrtle, that is, the fragrant density of all virtues and their continual exercise; fourth, branches of the green willow, because we ought to persevere with firm stability in our state and verdure of virtues; these are taken from the brook, because unless we frequently meditate on the law of God and implore God's grace, that vigor of soul will wither in us. See Psalm 1:3. Whoever does these things will rejoice before the Lord, and will always lead a joyful life in Him.
Again, Saint Jerome in his commentary on Zechariah, chapter 14, takes the most beautiful tree to mean wisdom, the palms to mean victory, the myrtle to mean mortification, and the willows to mean chastity. For "physicians and natural philosophers report," he says, "that if anyone drinks willow flower mixed with water, all heat grows cold in him, and the vein of lust is dried up, so that he can no longer beget children." Adorned and at the same time armed with these in the tabernacles of this life, we press on toward our home prepared in heaven. Willows, therefore, just like lettuce, chaste-tree (agnus castus), etc., diminish venereal moisture, and foster and kindle chastity.
The fourth feast, following and concluding the Feast of Tabernacles, namely its octave, is the feast of the Assembly and Gathering; this signifies the octave of the resurrection, when, leaving these tabernacles, we shall be gathered to the council and congregation of the Saints in heaven, of which the Psalmist sings: "Blessed are those who dwell in Your house, O Lord; they shall praise You forever and ever." Then we shall do no servile work, because then all sin will cease, and also all labor and sorrow; we shall offer a burnt offering to the Lord, because with all our strength and with the whole striving of our soul we shall contemplate and love God: for there we shall fulfill that saying: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your strength"; and that other: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name." So says Radulphus, and in part Hesychius, and from them Ribera, Book 5 On the Temple, chapters 10 and following.
Allegorical Application to the Nativity of Christ
Allegorically also, Rupert fittingly and elegantly applies these things to the feast of the Nativity of Christ the Lord. For just as the passover and pentecost of the Jews, he says, signified the passover and pentecost of the Christians, so the Feast of Tabernacles, which was celebrated at the end of the year, signified the feast of the Lord's Nativity, which is celebrated at the end of the year. For then, rejoicing, we gather the fruit of our virginal earth, namely Blessed Mary — that is, Christ in Bethlehem — and the fruit of the most beautiful tree, that is, the Son of the immaculate Virgin, we offer and receive three times in the Eucharist. For Christ was born in a stable and an inn, so that He might dwell here among us as in a tabernacle, and lead us from here to the heavenly homeland; and palms are present too: for this feast of Christ is accompanied and followed by the martyrdom and victory of Saint Stephen; and the thick-leaved tree is present, namely Saint John pouring forth dense and most profound mysteries; and the little innocents are present, who, like willows from the brook having no fruit of works, suddenly through the sole grace of God sprang to the verdure of the eternal homeland and of the heavenly paradise.