Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Tobias enumerates to his father the many and great benefits received from Raphael: wherefore both offer him half of the goods brought back. Then Raphael reveals himself to be not a man but an Angel, and having given teachings of heavenly life, vanishes and returns to heaven.
Vulgate Text: Tobias 12:1-22
1. Then Tobias called his son to him and said to him: What can we give to this holy man who came with you? 2. Tobias answering said to his father: Father, what wages shall we give him? Or what can be worthy of his benefits? 3. He led me and brought me back safe, he himself received the money from Gabelus, he himself caused me to have a wife, and he himself drove away the demon from her, he brought joy to her parents, he rescued me from being devoured by the fish, you also he caused to see the light of heaven, and through him we have been filled with all good things. What can we give him worthy of these things? 4. But I ask you, my father, to ask him whether he would deign to take for himself half of all that has been brought. 5. And calling him, the father and son that is, they took him aside: and they began to ask him to deign to accept half of all that they had brought. 6. Then he said to them secretly: Bless the God of heaven, and confess to Him before all the living, because He has shown you His mercy. 7. For it is good to hide the secret of a king: but honorable to reveal and confess the works of God. 8. Prayer with fasting and almsgiving is good, more than storing up treasures of gold: 9. because almsgiving delivers from death, and it is that which purges sins, and causes one to find mercy and eternal life. 10. But they who commit sin and iniquity are enemies of their own soul. 11. I therefore reveal the truth to you, and I will not hide the hidden word from you. 12. When you prayed with tears, and buried the dead, and left your dinner, and hid the dead by day in your house, and buried them by night, I offered your prayer to the Lord. 13. And because you were acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove you. 14. And now the Lord has sent me to heal you, and to deliver Sara your son's wife from the demon. 15. For I am the Angel Raphael, one of the seven who stand before the Lord. 16. And when they had heard these things, they were troubled, and trembling they fell upon the ground on their face. 17. And the Angel said to them: Peace be to you, do not fear. 18. For when I was with you, I was there by the will of God: bless Him and sing to Him. 19. I seemed indeed to eat and drink with you: but I use invisible food and drink which cannot be seen by men. 20. It is time therefore that I return to Him who sent me: but you bless God and tell all His wonders. 21. And when he had said these things, he was taken from their sight, and they could see him no more. 22. Then lying prostrate for three hours on their face, they blessed God, and rising up they told all His wonders.
Verse 3: He Led Me and Brought Me Back Safe
Verse 3. HE LED ME AND BROUGHT ME BACK SAFE. — Here Tobias recounts seven outstanding benefits of Raphael. The first is that he led him to Media and brought him back safe. The second, that he procured for him an upright and wealthy wife, namely Sara. The third, that he drove Asmodeus away from him and Sara. The fourth, that he brought joy to the parents of both Tobias and Sara. The fifth, that he rescued him from being devoured by the fish. The sixth, that he restored sight to his blind father. The seventh, that he heaped upon him all good things both bodily and spiritual. The same things the guardian Angel does for every person, whose role and office Raphael here took upon himself and represented, as Serarius, question 20, shows at length from the Meditations of Fr. Vincent Bruno.
Verse 5: They Took Him Aside
5. THEY TOOK HIM ASIDE, — that is, they called him apart into a more private room of the house, so that they might deal with him more secretly, more freely, and more confidently. So Lyranus. Whence Raphael, being called aside, "said to them secretly," as follows: for he wished to be called apart, so that he might reveal to them privately both himself and the secrets of God.
Verse 7: It Is Good to Hide the Secret of a King
7. FOR IT IS GOOD TO HIDE THE SECRET OF A KING: BUT TO REVEAL AND CONFESS (praise, celebrate, and give thanks for) THE WORKS OF GOD IS HONORABLE. — "Secret," in Greek mysterion, that is, it is good to conceal the hidden counsel or secret of a king; because the successful execution of a matter depends on secrecy, according to the saying of Gellius, book 10, chapter 25: "Silence regarding plans is a treasure:"
It is an outstanding virtue to keep silence about matters.
Tiberius Caesar, when asked why he did not share his plans with friends, answered: The mind of a prince ought to be known either to no one or to few; because many are full of cracks, and blurt out the secrets they have heard, so that the prince must necessarily be endangered or betrayed. So Dionysius on Tiberius. Antigonus, king of Macedonia, when his son Philip asked: "When shall we move camp? What," he said, "are you afraid you alone will not hear the trumpet?" So Plutarch in his Apothegms of Kings. Metellus Macedonicus, when a certain friend asked him what he had determined to undertake: "I would strip off my tunic," he said, "if I thought it knew my plan." So Pliny, chapter 61 of On Illustrious Men.
BUT TO REVEAL AND CONFESS THE WORKS OF GOD IS HONORABLE, — so that others hearing them may acknowledge, revere, worship, and adore God's clemency, wisdom, and magnificence. Whence St. Severus, Bishop of Minorca, in his letter On the Conversion of the Jews: "Since the Angel Raphael admonishes that it is honorable to reveal and confess the works of God, certainly it is dangerous to be silent about or conceal the works of Christ." Pope Stephen in Regino, in the year of the Lord 753: "Just as, he says, no one ought to boast of his own merits; so neither ought the works of God, which are done in him through His saints without his own merits, be kept silent, but proclaimed, as the Angel admonishes Tobias."
Verse 8: Prayer with Fasting and Almsgiving Is Good
8. Prayer with fasting and almsgiving is good (better) THAN STORING UP TREASURES OF GOLD. — The Greek also adds: A little with justice is good, rather than much with injustice. Hence the Fathers and Theologians teach that there are three kinds of good works, namely prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, to which as to principal heads all others may be reduced. For prayer pays the debt owed to God, fasting to oneself, almsgiving to one's neighbor. Again, prayer alone is weak, but it becomes strong and efficacious if it is armed with two wings by which it may fly up to God in heaven, namely fasting and almsgiving. Hear St. Cyprian, tract. On Good Works and Almsgiving. In Solomon we read: "Store up almsgiving in the heart of the poor, and this will intercede for you against every evil." And again: "He who stops his ears so as not to hear the weak, he himself will call upon God, and there will be no one to hear him. For he who has not been merciful himself cannot merit the Lord's mercy, nor will he obtain anything from divine goodness in his prayers who has not been humane to the prayer of the poor. Which the Holy Spirit likewise declares and proves in the Psalms, saying: Blessed is he who understands concerning the needy and the poor, in the evil day the Lord will deliver him. Mindful of these precepts, Daniel, when King Nebuchadnezzar was terrified and anxious about an adverse dream to avert evils, gave him a remedy for obtaining divine help, saying: Therefore, O king, let my counsel please you, and redeem your sins with almsgiving, and your iniquities with mercies toward the poor, and God will be patient with your sins. The king not obeying him suffered the adverse and hostile things he had seen; which he could have escaped and avoided if he had redeemed his sins with almsgiving." He confirms the same, citing the present passage: "The Angel Raphael also testifies to the same, and exhorts that almsgiving be done willingly and generously, saying: Prayer with fasting and almsgiving is good; because almsgiving delivers from death, and it itself purges sins. He shows that our prayers and fasts avail less unless they are aided by almsgiving. That entreaties alone avail little for obtaining favors unless they are supplemented by the addition of deeds and works. The Angel reveals and makes known and confirms that through almsgiving our petitions become efficacious, that through almsgiving life is redeemed from dangers, that through almsgiving souls are freed from death."
Verse 13: It Was Necessary That Temptation Should Prove You
13. AND BECAUSE YOU WERE ACCEPTABLE TO GOD, IT WAS NECESSARY THAT TEMPTATION SHOULD PROVE YOU. — For temptation and tribulation proves, preserves, increases, and perfects patience and virtue. For he is unworthy of God's grace and friendship who refuses to suffer adversity for His sake, and serves Him only in prosperity. Hence by God's external law that saying of the Apostle has been sanctioned: "All who wish to live piously in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution," 2 Tim. 3:12. See what was said on James 1:1 ff. and Sirach 3. Seneca saw this dimly in his book On Providence, where he assigns various and weighty reasons why God sends afflictions upon good men, and among other things gives these golden maxims, like gems, chapter 1: "God does not keep a good man in luxury: He tests him, hardens him, prepares him for Himself," chapter 2: "Just as such a great volume of inland springs does not change the taste of the sea, nor even diminish it; so the assault of adverse circumstances does not turn the mind of a brave man. He remains steadfast, and whatever happens, he draws into his own character. For he is more powerful than all external things; and I do not say this meaning he does not feel them, but he conquers them; and otherwise calm and peaceful, he rises up against things that assail him. He considers all adversities to be exercises." And shortly after: "Athletes delight in contending with the strongest, in being struck and harassed. Virtue withers without an adversary. Uninjured happiness endures no blow. God, who loves good men most, who wants them to be as excellent and outstanding as possible, assigns them a fortune with which they may be exercised. Behold a pair worthy of God: a brave man matched with evil fortune, especially if he has even provoked it. I do not see, I say, what Jupiter could have more beautiful on earth, if he should wish to turn his attention, than to behold Cato; though his party has been shattered more than once, still standing erect amid the public ruins."
Chapter 3: "Nothing is more unfortunate than the man to whom no adversity has ever happened. He has been deemed unworthy to be ever conquered by fortune, which avoids every coward, as if to say: Why should I take this fellow as my adversary? He will immediately lay down his arms. Fire tests itself in Mucius, poverty in Fabricius, exile in Rutilius, torture in Regulus, poison in Socrates, death in Cato. Only evil fortune finds a great example. Is Mucius unfortunate because his right hand presses upon the enemy's fire, and he himself exacts from himself the penalty for his error? Because he puts to flight with his burned hand the king whom he could not overcome with his armed hand?" And below: "Prosperity comes to the common crowd and to base minds; but to subdue calamities and the terrors of mortals is the proper work of a great man. Calamity is the occasion for virtue: great men sometimes rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers in the triumph of war. Virtue is eager for danger. Think of the helmsman in a storm, the soldier in battle. I am forced to nothing, I suffer nothing unwillingly, nor do I serve God, but I assent to Him. Why do the upright suffer hardship? So that they may teach others to suffer. They were born as examples. To others I have given false goods, and mocked their vain minds with a long and deceitful dream. With gold, silver, and ivory I have adorned them; within there is nothing good. To you I have given true goods, lasting ones; the more anyone turns them over and examines them from every side, the more he will see better and greater things, which I have permitted you: to despise what is feared, to disdain what is desired. Not to need happiness is your happiness." And finally concluding, he says: "Bear bravely: this is how you may surpass God. He is beyond the endurance of evils; you are above endurance. Despise poverty. No one lives as poor as he was born. Despise pain, because either it will cease or it will release you. Despise death; either it ends you or transfers you. Despise fortune; I gave it no weapon with which to strike the mind."
Verse 15: I Am the Angel Raphael, One of the Seven
15. FOR I AM THE ANGEL RAPHAEL, ONE OF THE SEVEN WHO STAND BEFORE THE LORD. — Hence it is clear that Raphael is one of the chief Angels, who as princes of the heavenly court stand closest to God, about whom I treated at length at Apocalypse 1:4. The Greek adds: I am one of the seven who offer the prayers of the saints and walk before the majesty of the Holy One. To these therefore is entrusted the care of the human race. Others interpret: one of seven, that is, one of many.
To stand before the Lord signifies many things, as Andreas Victor rightly observes, book On the Guardianship of Angels, page 43. First, the Angels stand when they speak with God requesting divine light, so that they may know what His will is in any matter to be done. Second, the Angels stand when they offer pious works, sacrifices, alms, and human prayers to God. Third, they stand when they are ready to obey the divine will, like soldiers ready and prepared for war, if war must be waged at God's command, and like servants ready to perform duties at whatever command of God. Fourth, they stand before God the Judge, pleading the causes of men against the accusations of demons, awaiting the sentence. Fifth, they stand while they praise God, just as Isaiah in chapter 6 beheld the Seraphim standing, praising God with those wondrous words: Holy, Holy, etc. Sixth, to stand is to gaze upon the divine countenance and thence to drink the fountains of supreme happiness, which happens either in the empyrean heaven, where in a particular and singular way the divine throne shines, or in any other places whatsoever, in all of which God is present: and so wherever good Angels may be, they always stand before God; because they always enjoy God. Hence it happens that they are said to depart and return; because when sent on missions they do indeed depart from the empyrean seats; but they do not lose their supreme happiness, and they return there at God's command. Seventh, to stand pertains strictly and precisely to those Angels who are not usually sent on external missions; but contemplating in God the plans of things to be done, they teach and illuminate the lower Angels who will carry out those duties; whence Angels are distinguished into assisting and ministering. The Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, and Dominations assist; the five other orders minister, and treating of these elsewhere we have proved that they also are sometimes sent. Hence Raphael says that he stands before God. For to stand before God signifies not merely being in heaven, which is common to all Angels, but indicates a certain preeminence in ministry, says Toletus on Luke chapter 1.
Verse 16: They Were Troubled and Fell upon the Ground
16. AND WHEN THEY HAD HEARD THESE THINGS, THEY WERE TROUBLED, AND TREMBLING THEY FELL UPON THE GROUND ON THEIR FACE — out of reverence and holy awe. For, as St. Anthony used to say: "Fear is caused not so much by terror of the soul as often by the sight of great things."
Verse 17: Peace Be to You, Do Not Fear
17. AND THE ANGEL SAID TO THEM: PEACE BE TO YOU, DO NOT FEAR. — Hence the Fathers teach that the sign of an angelic apparition is that first horror is struck, then consolation and joy are introduced; for the demon does the contrary. Hear Bede on Luke chapter 1: "Just as, he says, it belongs to human frailty to be troubled at the vision of a spiritual creature, so it also belongs to angelic kindness to soothe with gentle words mortals frightened at their appearance; but on the contrary, it belongs to demonic savagery to shake with ever greater horror those whom they perceive to be terrified by their presence." And St. Anthony, as St. Athanasius attests in his Life: "When a good Angel, he says, appears to good men, even if at first he strikes fear with his unusual appearance, in the end he leaves behind consolation and peace of mind." And again: "The appearance of the holy Angels is lovable and peaceful; because they do not strive, nor cry out, nor does anyone hear their voice. But advancing quietly and gently, they pour joy, exultation, and confidence into hearts, since the Lord, who is the fount and origin of joy, is with them. Then our mind is irradiated not with troubled but with gentle and peaceful angelic light; then the soul, burning with desire for heavenly rewards, would, if it could, break free from the dwelling of the human body, and relieved of its members, hastens with those whom it sees to go to heaven; their kindness is so great that if anyone, on account of the condition of human frailty, has been terrified by their brightness, they immediately take away all fear, provided it be from the heart;" then he gives these contrary signs of demons appearing: "but the faces of the worst are fierce, their sounds horrible, their thoughts filthy, their clapping and movements those of undisciplined youths or bandits, from which immediately fear is struck into the soul, stupor into the senses, hatred of Christians, the sadness and weariness of monks, remembrance of their own kin, fear of death, desire for wickedness, weariness of virtue, dullness of heart. If therefore after fear and horror joy has followed, and confidence in God, and ineffable charity, let us know that help has come, because the security of the soul is an indication of the present majesty."
Verse 19: I Seemed Indeed to Eat with You
Verse 19. I SEEMED INDEED TO EAT WITH YOU. — For in truth Raphael did not eat; because eating is a vital action by which the soul vitally chews food in the mouth and vitally conveys it from the mouth to the stomach to be digested there. But Raphael, since he did not animate the assumed body, did not vitally convey food into it, but rather put food into it as into a sort of sack, which he then dissolved into vapor and air.
BUT I USE INVISIBLE FOOD, etc. — namely God, and the vision and enjoyment of God, is the food of Angels, with which they are delighted and continually blessed.
Verse 20: Tell All His Wonders
Verse 20. AND TELL ALL HIS WONDERS. — The Greek has: Write all these things that have been done in a book; whence it is clear that Tobias, obedient to Raphael, wrote down this history, and is the author of this book, as the Greek states in the next chapter, verse 1. The Hebrew has more fully: Now therefore, he says, write for yourselves all these words in a book, and it shall be a testimony between you and your God all the days of your life. And let this word be for a sign and testimony in every generation and generation. And you, bless the Lord, and confess to the memorial of His holiness. And now release me, and I will return to God who sent me to you.
Verse 21: He Was Taken from Their Sight
21. AND WHEN HE HAD SAID THESE THINGS, HE WAS TAKEN FROM THEIR SIGHT, — by dismissing the body he had assumed, and by dissolving it back into the air or vapor from which he had formed it by condensation, through rarefaction, as the Scholastics teach with St. Thomas, part 1, question 51.