Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The Prophet had said at the end of the preceding chapter that God through Christ would redeem the Jacobites, and Zion or Jerusalem — that is, the Church of believers from the Jews and consequently from the Gentiles — and would also establish with her a new and eternal covenant, so as to consign His Spirit to her forever. Now therefore, exulting and rejoicing, he congratulates her and vividly depicts her wondrous happiness and glory. For first, he narrates at length her offspring and propagation through all nations. Then, at verse 10, he predicts that kings, princes, and peoples will minister to her — even those who formerly opposed her — and will bring their wealth into her; but the nations and kingdoms that refuse to serve her will perish. Whence thirdly, verse 15: I will make you, he says, the pride of ages, a joy from generation to generation; you shall suck the milk of nations and be nursed at the breast of kings. For bronze I will bring gold, and for iron silver, and for wood bronze. Finally, at verse 18, rising to the Church Triumphant: No longer, he says, shall iniquity be heard in your land; salvation shall occupy your walls, and praise your gates; the sun shall no longer be your light, but the Lord shall be your everlasting light. And your people shall all be just; the least shall be among a thousand, etc.
Vulgate Text: Isaiah 60:1-12
1. Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 2. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the peoples: but the Lord shall arise upon you, and His glory shall be seen upon you. 3. And the nations shall walk in your light, and kings in the brightness of your rising. 4. Lift up your eyes round about and see: all these are gathered together, they have come to you: your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall rise up at your side. 5. Then you shall see and abound, and your heart shall wonder and be enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to you and the strength of nations shall come to you. 6. A flood of camels shall cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah: all from Sheba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praise of the Lord. 7. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you: they shall be offered upon My acceptable altar, and I will glorify the house of My majesty. 8. Who are these that fly as clouds, and as doves to their windows? 9. For the islands wait for Me, and the ships of the sea in the beginning, that I may bring your sons from afar; their silver and their gold with them, for the name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because He has glorified you. 10. And the sons of foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you; for in My indignation I struck you, and in My reconciliation I had mercy on you. 11. And your gates shall be open continually: day and night they shall not be shut, that the strength of the nations may be brought to you, and their kings may be led in. 12. For the nation
Verse 1: ARISE, BE ENLIGHTENED, JERUSALEM. — The Septuagint has: Be enlightened, be enlightened, Jerusalem; Vatablus...
1. ARISE, BE ENLIGHTENED, JERUSALEM. — The Septuagint has: Be enlightened, be enlightened, Jerusalem; Vatablus: Arise, be radiant; others: Arise, be resplendent. The word "Jerusalem" is not in the Hebrew, but seems to have been added from the Septuagint and from the liturgical chant for the feast of Epiphany, and rightly and faithfully so: for it is she who is understood, as is clear from the end of the preceding chapter; for the discourse here is addressed to the same one, and congratulates the same one to whom He said in the preceding chapter, verse 20: "And a Redeemer shall come to Zion."
Now the Rabbis, whom the Commentary of St. Thomas and Hugo follow, take these words literally of the earthly Jerusalem, that is, of the Jews brought back from Babylon to Jerusalem: for then the city flourished again and, as it were, returned to its former glory. But allegorically, under this as a type and hieroglyph, they think the glory of the Christian Church is represented. Secondly, the Chiliasts or Millenarians referred these words to their thousand years, during which the Saints after the judgment would reign on earth with Christ in all the delights of the flesh, according to Revelation XX, 6, and then everything said here would come to pass literally in Jerusalem.
But St. Jerome rightly refutes and condemns both opinions as Judaizing and erroneous: "The Jews," he says, "and our semi-Jews, who expect a golden and jeweled Jerusalem from heaven, contend that these things will come to pass in the thousand-year kingdom, when all nations will serve Israel." And further: "These things are said by those who desire earthly pleasures and seek the beauty of wives and the number of children; whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame: whoever follows their error, under the Christian name confesses himself like the Jews." And further: "But let us believe that all these things are said, according to the prior sense, about the Church, which was first gathered from
the Jewish people, and the light which had risen upon her was transmitted through the Apostles to the nations; to whom it is said: Arise, be enlightened, so that she who fell among unbelievers may rise among the faithful; she who fell in the synagogues may rise in the Churches; and after she has risen, let her be illuminated, so that she may by no means have the darkness of error." The same is taught by St. Cyril, Procopius, Theodoret, Tertullian, Augustine, Ambrose, Clement, and others whom Leo Castrius, Forerius, Adamus, and Vatablus cite, and others generally: "He addresses," says Vatablus, "the primitive Church, and exhorts her to faith in Christ: Give your effort, he says, to attain faith." For the things that follow throughout the whole chapter are so august that they do not apply to Jerusalem and the Jews, but solely to the Christian Church.
The sense therefore is, that is: Come now, O Church, O people who believe in Christ, who until now sat in the darkness of unbelief and ignorance of God; who lay down and slept on the bed of all sins, who lay in the prison and captivity of the devil and of hell — now arise from this your seat, bed, and prison, and receive the Sun of Justice rising upon you; awake from the sleep of sins, lift up your head, and with open arms embrace the liberty, light, and joy offered to you by Christ. He alludes to what he said in chapter IX, verse 2: "The people who walked in darkness saw a great light: for those dwelling in the region of the shadow of death, a light has risen upon them." To this St. Paul alludes in Romans XIII, 11, when he says: "Brethren, it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is past, and the day draws near. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light." And Ephesians V, 14: "Rise, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall enlighten you."
Be enlightened therefore, that is, receive the light of faith and grace like a mirror, so that you may be transformed into the same image and become like a sun illuminating the world. For this is what the Apostle says, II Corinthians chapter III, last verse: "But we all, with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord." See what was said there. Moreover, "be enlightened" is both an invitation and exhortation to the Jews to embrace the light of the Gospel rising among them, and a congratulation, that is: Come, enjoy the light with which you alone in the whole world are irradiated; congratulate yourself and give thanks to God. This illumination could also be taken as a resuscitation or resurrection to life, that is: O Jerusalem, you who until now lay in the deep death of errors and sins, "arise and be enlightened," that is, return by right of restoration to the life of faith and grace. For He alludes to that passage in Ephesians V: "Arise from the dead," etc., as I have already said. For light often signifies life, because for the living it is most welcome to see and enjoy the light of the sun. Whence that saying of Euripides in Iphigenia at Aulis: "To behold the light is the sweetest thing for mortals." Conversely, one in despair desires "to break off the hateful light, and is weary of gazing upon the vault of heaven." Thus says Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus XXIV, 45: "I will penetrate all the lower parts of the earth, and will look upon all who sleep, and I will enlighten" (that is, I will recall to life) "all who hope in the Lord." And the Apostle, II Timothy I, 10, says of Christ: "He indeed destroyed death, and brought to light" (that is, produced into the light) "life and incorruption through the Gospel." Thus the Egyptians represented life by the symbol of a lamp: because they considered life to be nothing other than a fire nourished by moisture like the liquid of oil. Moreover, by light they signified every good thing. Whence also Varro, in book II of On the Latin Language, thinks that the morning of the day is called mane because the ancients called bonum ("good") manum. The Greeks too, when a light was brought in, were accustomed to say φῶς ἀγαθὸν ("good light"), just as we too, when a lamp is brought in, wish each other well. But the first sense, as it is plainer, is also more genuine. Whence there follows:
FOR YOUR LIGHT HAS COME, AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD HAS RISEN UPON YOU. — By light and glory he understands the presence of Christ, His teaching, grace, and the entire glory of the Gospel, as is gathered from Matthew chapter IX, verse 1. Whence Sanchez not badly takes glory to mean God's mercy and the forgiveness of sins. For thus "glory" is taken in Romans III, 23: "For all have sinned and need the glory," that is, the grace and pardon, "of God;" and in Numbers XIV, when Moses asked God to forgive the people the sin of murmuring, God responded, verse 20: "I have forgiven according to your word: as I live, and the glory of the Lord shall fill the whole earth." But this sense is partial, not total or adequate. He alludes to the glory which, through the pillar of fire by night and of cloud by day, rested over the ancient tabernacle and the Holy of Holies in the temple, for this was a type of the Church. Whence St. Jerome: "Your light has come," he says, "which all the Prophets prom-
ised, which you were continually expecting; and the glory of the Lord, which once was over His tabernacle and temple, has risen upon you, of which it was said: Glorious things have been spoken of you, O city of God." He also alludes to the star which led the three Magi to Christ as the firstfruits of the nations: whence by this light, splendor, and glory, they understand this star that guided the Magi — so Prosper, Part III of the Promises, chapter VI; Chrysostom, Homily 1 from Various on Matthew; Julian, Archbishop of Toledo, book I Against the Jews, past the middle, and others.
Verse 2: FOR BEHOLD, DARKNESS SHALL COVER THE EARTH, etc., BUT UPON YOU THE LORD SHALL RISE. — By darkness he unders...
2. FOR BEHOLD, DARKNESS SHALL COVER THE EARTH, etc., BUT UPON YOU THE LORD SHALL RISE. — By darkness he understands paganism, idolatry, and other errors as well as vices and crimes, with which the pagans and all who are outside the Church are darkened. So the Fathers cited at verse 1. For Christ, like a sun rising from on high, dispelled these shadows first from the Jews, then from the Gentiles. He alludes to the Egyptian darkness in the time of Moses and Pharaoh, which was most great and dense, while light occupied only the houses and places of the Hebrews, Exodus chapter X, 13. Thus St. John, chapter I, 9, and others call Christ the Light. Thus Orpheus called the Word, that is, the Son of God, Phanes, as the Enlightener of angels and men, and asserted that God created all things through Him and fills all things with intelligible light, as Proclus testifies, book IV on Plato's Timaeus. How God is the first, uncreated, and fontal Light, St. Dionysius teaches in his book On the Divine Names, Part I, chapter IV.
Verse 3: AND THE NATIONS SHALL WALK IN YOUR LIGHT. — Vatablus translates: The nations shall come to your light; for ...
3. AND THE NATIONS SHALL WALK IN YOUR LIGHT. — Vatablus translates: The nations shall come to your light; for to the Church born in Judea and Jerusalem, and shining bright with so many virtues and miracles, as to a lighthouse gleaming with a brilliant flame, the nations tossed about and shipwrecked in the sea of errors, vices, and afflictions hastened, so that following her light, that is, her faith and grace, they might reach the harbor of salvation. The Prophet therefore predicts both: first, that the nations will come to the light of the primitive Church; second, that after they have come, they will continually walk in her light until they arrive at salvation. For this reason St. Paul admonishes the faithful Philippians, chapter II, 15: "That you may be," he says, "without blame and simple children of God, without reproach, in the midst of a depraved and perverse nation, among whom you shine like luminaries in the world, holding fast the word of life for my glory in the day of Christ."
AND KINGS IN THE SPLENDOR OF YOUR RISING. — This is a hypallage, that is: To the rising of your splendor, or to the splendor that shall rise upon you. So St. Jerome, Cyril, Procopius, Vatablus, and others. The splendor of your rising is therefore the same as your light. Secondly, Sanchez aptly says: The rising, he says, is the sun rising. For thus "rising" and "setting" are at times taken for the sun rising and setting. By which is signified that in the Church alone the sun of truth, grace, and justice has risen; but the remaining nations, which are outside her,
have perpetual night, and shall not emerge from it unless they draw near to the Sun, who shines and radiates in the Church alone.
Verse 4: LIFT UP — as from a watchtower: for she stands on Mount Zion, which is a watchtower, and in Hebrew signifie...
4. LIFT UP — as from a watchtower: for she stands on Mount Zion, which is a watchtower, and in Hebrew signifies a watchtower — YOUR EYES ROUND ABOUT, AND SEE — look around at the nations coming to you from all four quarters of the world. He speaks of the time when the Apostles, dispersed throughout the world, and their successors, converted very many nations to the Church.
YOUR SONS SHALL COME FROM AFAR, AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL RISE FROM THE SIDE (in Hebrew, at the side). — "From afar" signifies distance of places and the length of the world; "from the side," its breadth. Thus we commonly say "every side of the world," as if to say: From far and wide, in troops, nations shall come, both women and men, in countless multitude, to you, O Church, and shall submit to you and your faith. So Cyril. For "shall come from afar" pertains equally to daughters and sons, just as "shall rise from the side" pertains equally to sons and daughters: for only for the sake of rhythm and elegant variety does he predict sons coming from afar and daughters from the side; because daughters are usually raised near their mothers, as it were at their side, while sons are often raised elsewhere, as in courts, schools, or wars. Whence Sanchez says: "From the side," that is, from the bosom of their mother the Church, her daughters shall suck her breasts, and thus shall rise and grow: for mothers are accustomed to love more, and to nurse more indulgently and longer, their daughters than their sons; whether because they are of the same sex, or because daughters by reason of their sex are weaker and more fragile. But under daughters the Prophet also understands sons, as I have said. For both, having been nourished in paganism on savage, indeed diabolical milk, now converted, will eagerly seek the breasts of the Church.
Mystically St. Jerome says: The daughters, that is, the weaker Christians, shall be supported as it were on the shoulders of the Apostles, in the manner of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
SHALL RISE. — So the Roman edition, although the Complutensian, Forerius, Adamus, and some others prefer to read "shall suck." Whence also St. Jerome in his Commentary: "They shall suck," he says, "the milk of the Apostles." But the sense comes to the same thing: for they shall suck like little children so that they may grow into the perfect man in Christ, and rise up high, and become tall. In Hebrew it is תאמנה teamena, which cannot be rendered by one Latin word, but by several; thus Forerius renders it: They shall be faithfully raised as at the sides of nurses, so that they may be strengthened in power and grow. For the root אמן aman signifies, first, to be faithful; second, to nourish and raise; third, to strengthen and fortify. It could also, with different vowel points, be read actively in the future piel as תאמנה teammena, that is, they shall be your nurses, they shall faithfully nourish and strengthen you: which can be understood of queens and other pious women who raised others in piety, such as St. Mary Magdalene, Martha, Basilissa, Cecilia, Catherine, Clare, and the like. The Septuagint translates: Your daughters shall be carried upon shoulders, namely so that they may come to you and be brought to you as a desired gift. For daughters, being more delicate, are accustomed to be carried in arms or on shoulders.
Verse 5: THEN YOU SHALL SEE (with delight you shall feast your eyes and mind, beholding so many sons and daughters),...
5. THEN YOU SHALL SEE (with delight you shall feast your eyes and mind, beholding so many sons and daughters), AND YOU SHALL OVERFLOW — with abundance as well as joy at such a numerous offspring flowing in from everywhere like streams and rivulets which flow together from all sides into a river. Whence Forerius says: "You shall look with joy, and like a river which, when it overflows its banks, spreads widely, you shall be enlarged." For "you shall overflow" Vatablus translates "you shall be radiant," that is, you shall be of a bright and cheerful countenance. For the sad and sorrowful appear to have a gloomy and dark face; whence among the Hebrews they are called "dark." For the Hebrew נהר nahar is said both of light, as is clear from Psalm XXXIII, 6, and of a river, and signifies to flow or to pour forth copiously and abundantly with speed and readiness or inclination: for just as water flows from a fountain, so light from the sun or another luminous body, as it were, springs forth and pours out.
WHEN THE MULTITUDE OF THE SEA SHALL BE CONVERTED TO YOU. — That is, many island and overseas nations, such as the Greeks, Africans, Spaniards, Italians, Gauls, etc. For since Judea is virtually surrounded by the sea and separated from other nations, all nations were called by them "overseas," that is: Just as the sea surging and breaking through its dams floods the land and occupies the fields in every direction, so in troops many overseas nations shall come to you and rush in, as it were, with great force, and then you shall overflow with joy. So Forerius. Sanchez concurs, who, supplying according to Hebrew usage the particle "as," explains thus: Because nations shall come to you so many as is the multitude of the sea, that is, so that the whole sea seems to flow to you from its boundaries, leaving its channel and shore. Thus in Ezekiel XXVI, 3, it is said: "Behold I am against you, O Tyre, and I will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea rises in its waves;" and Jeremiah XLVI, 8, Egypt rising like a river says: "Rising I will cover the earth." Secondly, the same interpreters by the multitude of the sea understand gold, silver, and overseas riches, which the nations brought with them to Christ and the Church; as the three Magi did, of whom it is said in Psalm LXXI, verse 10: "The kings of Tarshish and the islands shall offer gifts." For Tarshish signifies the sea. Whence Isaiah alludes to this.
Verse 6: THE STRENGTH OF THE NATIONS SHALL COME TO YOU. — That is, strong and powerful nations, or the most illustri...
6. THE STRENGTH OF THE NATIONS SHALL COME TO YOU. — That is, strong and powerful nations, or the most illustrious and outstanding men of the nations. So Vatablus. Secondly, "the strength of the nations," says Sanchez, is called either the majesty of kings, which shall approach the Church as a suppliant, or their gifts and riches, which they shall offer to the Church. Thirdly, Forerius by "strength" understands the forces, arms, talent, industry, vigor, arts, and sciences of the nations: for all these things devolved upon the Church. And all these things the Hebrew word חיל chel signifies. How truly and in reality
Mystically, St. Jerome, Theodoret, Procopius, indeed Christ Himself, Matthew chapter XIX, 24, say that camels are the rich, the hunchbacked and proud: because like camels they labor to heap up riches, and they bear on their shoulders great businesses and burdens to preserve and increase them. Yet through the preaching of Christ and the Apostles and apostolic men, they consecrated themselves and their possessions to Christ. "Such," says St. Jerome, "was your mother of holy memory (O Eustochium), Paula, and your brother Pammachius, who passed through the eye of the needle, that is, the narrow and strait way which leads to life, and leaving the broad way with its baggage which leads to Tartarus, carried whatever they had as gifts to the Lord, fulfilling that saying: The redemption of a man is his own riches — for what is impossible with men is possible with God."
these things have been fulfilled, and how wondrous and perpetual has been the propagation, multiplication, and growth of the faith and the Church, Thomas Bozius shows at length, volume I of On the Marks of the Church, mark 8 and following.
AN INUNDATION OF CAMELS SHALL COVER YOU. — "An inundation," that is, such an abundance of camels that they seem to overwhelm you like water and the waves of the sea (of which he spoke before); although Sanchez not unreasonably thinks the inundation here is not of the sea but of dust, which the troops of camels will raise with their feet. For thus the poets speak of a "wave of dust," and Virgil of a "dusty cloud." Moreover, he mentions camels rather than horses, both because the East abounds in camels — for, as Pliny says, book X, chapter IX: "Camels carry for twelve months from the age of three, and give birth in spring, and are again with young after a year" — and because camels on their hump carry enormous burdens, for they are aided by the tallness of their necks, says Cicero; and finally because, as Pliny says, book XXVIII, chapter IX: "Camel's milk is the sweetest after human milk." Hence the camel even seems to have its name from nursing. For גמל gamal signifies to wean; whence it is called גמל gamal, that is, camelus (camel), a name that has passed into all languages. Therefore the camels of the nations, and the nations themselves, will bring their milk and riches to the Church, and in turn will be nursed by her with spiritual milk.
THE DROMEDARIES OF MIDIAN AND EPHAH. — For "dromedaries" the Hebrew is בכרי bichre, that is, young camels. Whence the Chaldean translates ינקא ianka, that is, a suckling, that is, a young camel which, after being weaned, is called גמל gamal, or camelus. These young camels are therefore called dromedaries from the speed of running at which they excel: for δρόμος means running, whence they are also called dromades. Hear Livy, book VII of the Macedonian War: "Before this cavalry were scythed chariots and camels which they call dromades." Again: "Dromedary camels were among the gifts, of extraordinary speed." It also helps that they can endure thirst for four days, as Pliny testifies, book VIII, chapter XVIII. Whence Persius calls them "the thirsting camel." For this tolerance of thirst and dryness wonderfully helps the running of animals. It is well known that Bayezid, Emperor of the Turks, defeated in battle and fleeing, having nearly escaped since he was riding a very swift mare, was captured by soldiers of Tamerlane because he had watered the thirsty mare. For the mare, having drunk water, greatly slowed her pace, and so was overtaken by the pursuing Tartars together with her master.
Midian and Ephah. — These are regions beyond Arabia, fertile in camels, so named from Midian, son of Abraham by Keturah, and Ephah, son of Midian; and the whole region is called Sheba. Whence also came the Queen of Sheba, who as a type of this event came with gifts to Jerusalem to hear the wisdom of Solomon, who was a type of Christ. So St. Jerome. The sense therefore is, that is: From various regions of Asia, on adult camels and smaller ones, that is, dromedaries, gifts shall be brought to you, O Church.
ALL FROM SHEBA SHALL COME, BEARING GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE (Cyril adds, and precious stone). — "All," that is, very many, the first of whom were the three Magi, who, guided by a star, came from Arabia to Christ, as I showed on Matthew chapter II, 1. He alludes to Psalm LXXI, 10: "The kings of Tarshish and the islands shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Sheba shall bring presents." For "Arabia" in Hebrew is the same name שבא scaba with a shin, which is what is in the Hebrew here; but for "Sheba" in Hebrew it is סבא saba with a samech, which signifies Ethiopia. Moreover, this Arabia is situated between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and abounds in gold, frankincense, cinnamon, balsam, myrrh, palm, and calamus, whence it is called Felix or Blessed, as Strabo testifies in book XVI. Frankincense indeed is proper to this Arabia: for it is not produced elsewhere. Whence Virgil, Georgics I: "India sends ivory, the soft Sabaeans their own frankincense." Servius thinks the Sabaeans are so named from the act of worship, that is, to venerate and adore; because we venerate God through their frankincense. More truly, Saba is a Hebrew or Arabic word signifying conversion, as St. Jerome says, from שוב shub, that is, he returned, was converted; or captivity, from the root שבה shaba, that is, he was captive. Both meanings excellently fit the present subject and history. For Sheba was converted from the captivity of sin through Christ to God, grace, and salvation. It is called Saba with a shin from Saba, son of Raamah, son of Cush; just as Ethiopia is called Saba with a samech from Saba, son of the same Cush. Moreover, by Sheba here not only Sheba with a shin, that is, Arabia, but also the neighboring and bordering Sheba with a samech, that is, Ethiopia or Abyssinia, where Prester John reigns, can be understood, as St. Cyril, Procopius, and Josephus understand it: for the letters shin and sin differ by only a single dot.
Finally, how true this oracle was, and how the Christian religion flourished in this Arabia which was afterwards called the land of the Homerites, is clear from the eunuch of Queen Candace (for she reigned in Sheba), who, converted by Philip, Acts VIII, 38, propagated the faith of Christ in Sheba. The same is clear from the Home-
rite history, who resisted Dunaan the Jewish tyrant unto death and martyrdom in the year of Christ 522. Likewise from the deeds of Elesbaan and Abraham, kings of the Homerites, who, having killed Dunaan, restored to them the former flourishing state of the Church, and were a great help to the Emperors Justin and Justinian against the infidels, as Baronius teaches, volume VI, at the year already mentioned.
Verse 7: ALL THE FLOCKS OF KEDAR. — Kedar and Nabaioth are regions of Arabia (whence the inhabitants were called Ked...
7. ALL THE FLOCKS OF KEDAR. — Kedar and Nabaioth are regions of Arabia (whence the inhabitants were called Kedarenes and Nabataeans, dwelling in tents, being shepherds and herdsmen), abounding in sheep and cattle, so named from sons of Ishmael of the same name. So St. Jerome, who also adds that by these and other nations named here, any others whatever are to be understood, however rustic, nomadic, or barbarous, by synecdoche, according to Canon XI.
SHALL MINISTER TO YOU — they shall be offered to you, they shall serve you and your uses, they shall be devoted to your ministry. For the word "shall minister" is to be taken more passively than actively.
They shall be offered upon My acceptable altar — that is: The Kedarenes and Nabataeans shall offer to you, O Church, their riches, namely cattle and rams, and these not as victims and sacrifices (for these have now been abolished and have been succeeded by the one sacrifice of the Eucharist), but as offerings they shall place upon your altars. For even now in many villages we see peasants placing eggs, chickens, lambs, wheat, and other offerings on the altar, or offering them at the altar. He alludes to the old altar and Jewish sacrifices: for these were offered on the altar, indeed were sacrificed.
Note "acceptable," that is, pleasing to Me and appeasing Me through its sacrifices and offerings. Whence the Septuagint translates: Acceptable offerings shall be placed upon My altar; Leo the Hebrew: They shall sacrifice upon the altar that pleases Me; Forerius: They shall ascend according to the acceptance of My altar, that is, he says, upon the altar most pleasing to Me; or according to the acceptance of My altar, that is, as much as My altar shall have been pleased to receive, that is, as much as it shall have wished or been able to hold.
Mystically, St. Jerome and Procopius by the sheep understand the simple people of Christ; by the rams, the Prelates and priests: for these are the living sacrifice of Christ, who with a pure and bright mind offer themselves to God on the altar of the Church.
AND I WILL GLORIFY THE HOUSE OF MY MAJESTY. — Formerly the house of God's majesty and glory was the temple of Solomon: both because it was most magnificently constructed of cedar, gold, and silver; and because God was worshipped in it with magnificent and most numerous sacrifices; and because in it Solomon and all the kings and princes and the entire people praised and adored God; and because God appeared in it covered with a cloud, especially sitting upon the Cherubim in the Holy of Holies. But now the house of God's glory is the Church of Christ and her temples: both because they are precious and magnificent, of marble, gold, and precious stones, as can be seen here in Rome; and because the vic-
Verse 8: WHO ARE THESE WHO FLY LIKE CLOUDS, AND LIKE DOVES TO THEIR WINDOWS? — This is the voice of the admiring Pro...
8. WHO ARE THESE WHO FLY LIKE CLOUDS, AND LIKE DOVES TO THEIR WINDOWS? — This is the voice of the admiring Prophet, that is: How thickly the clouds fly through the air when the wind blows, and how thickly the doves fly back to their nests when a storm strikes — so thickly shall nations and peoples stream to you, O Church, as I see and foresee in spirit. So St. Jerome. By "windows" therefore he understands dovecotes, as the Chaldean translates; for these are full of windows like eyes, through which doves delight to look out and in which they take pleasure. He compares the faithful to clouds: because clouds, being raised from the earth, from its farthest parts, are easily and swiftly carried in every direction and, as it were, fly — so the faithful from the uttermost parts of the world came to the Church. Secondly, clouds are so thick that they cover the whole sky — so dense and numerous were the peoples who flowed together to the Church. Thirdly, the wind drives clouds so powerfully that no earthly force can impede or halt their course — so the faithful, driven by the spirit and love of God, overcome and transcend all obstacles and difficulties on earth. Fourthly, St. Ambrose, in his book On Flight from the World, near the end, notes that the faithful are compared to clouds, eagles, and doves, because their mind and conversation is sublime and heavenly. "For above the world," he says, "is justice, chastity, goodness, wisdom: let us learn therefore to be above the world in this world; and though we carry a body, let our winged spirit soar within us." Fifthly, anagogically, Tertullian, book III Against Marcion, last chapter, says: The Prophet marvels how they are caught up like clouds to meet Christ in the air at the resurrection. So also Procopius.
more by life than by voice, proclaim the glory of God. Secondly, just as clouds are dewy and give rain to the earth and thereby irrigate and fertilize it, so too the preachers of the Word rain down the rain of God's Word upon minds, and thereby make them fruitful in good works. Thirdly, just as a cloud is warmed by the sun, melts, and dissolves to water the earth, so too the Apostles draw from God and heaven spiritual warmth and moisture, which they pour out upon others. Fourthly, just as clouds often mingle thunder and lightning with rain, so too preachers ought to mingle threats and terrors of God's wrath and vengeance with exhortation. So St. Augustine on Psalm XCVI at the words: "His lightnings illuminated the world." But hear St. Gregory: "Rightly," he says, "the holy preachers are called clouds, because they rain with words and flash with miracles. They are also said to fly like clouds, because, living on earth, everything they did was beyond the earth. Whence it is also said through a certain cloud: For walking in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. For the earlier fathers used marriage, begot children, possessed property, and attended to household cares. But foreseeing these men already in the spirit of prophecy as ones who would abandon possessions, seek nothing on earth, possess nothing, he names them not men walking on the earth but flying clouds: for those fly who scarcely touch the earth, because they desire nothing in it. Who also are like doves at their windows, who in the spirit of their meekness covet nothing through their eyes in this world." Of these clouds I shall say more at Ezekiel X, 3 and 4.
Wherefore Thomas Bozius aptly, and after him Ulysses Aldrovandi, in his book On Birds, under Dove, page 212, apply these clouds and doves to the Apostles and faithful living in the Indies. For when the Prophet says: "Who are these who fly like clouds?" etc., it signifies, they say, their most swift sailing to India, which violent winds drive forward and make to fly. For a dove with spread wings has the appearance of a sailing ship: for sails are to a ship what wings are to a bird. Secondly, when he says: "Like doves to their windows," it signifies the offspring of those who fly and sail: for doves are most prolific and give birth in the openings of windows. Thus those who go to the Indies bear many children for Christ, going through caves, caverns, and openings in which the barbarians dwell. Thirdly, doves fly downward: so those who seek the Antipodes seem to sail downward and seek the lower regions.
The same faithful are compared to doves, first, for their similar whiteness; second, for their groaning — see Cardinal Bellarmine, On the Groaning of the Dove; third, for their direct and strong flight. For the dove: "Cleaves the clear path and does not stir its swift wings." Thus the faithful are upright and efficacious in their work, and strive directly toward God and heaven. Fourthly, St. Ambrose, book On Isaac and the Soul, chapter IV, takes the windows to be the Prophets. For the doves, that is, holy souls, through the Prophets and Sacred Scripture gaze upon God, as it were, through riddles. Secondly, St. Gregory, Homily 18 on Ezekiel, St. Jerome, Rupert, and others take the clouds and doves to be the Apostles and preachers. Whence the Septuagint translates: Like doves with their young; as if to say: Like the Apostles with their disciples and faithful. For first, just as clouds are raised from the earth into the sky, so too the Apostles, as heavens, in their life
Tarshish, that is, the overseas nations. Sixthly, Sanchez says, that is: Those who dwell "in the beginning," that is, in the East, where the rising of the sun and the day take their beginning, will be the first to hasten to the Church, namely the three Magi who came from the East to Jerusalem. Of these interpretations, the third and fifth seem the plainest and most genuine.
THEIR SILVER. — Supply by zeugma "I will bring." TO THE NAME OF THE LORD, AND TO THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL. — That is, to the Lord Himself, who is the Holy One of Israel, whom Israel worships in holiness. For thus a name and word is often put for the thing called and named. Again, He says "to the name" to suggest that gold, silver, and gems then have a name and value when they are spent in the service of glorifying Him who created all things: for then He is glorified and has a name, when they are spent on the building and adornment of churches, the relief of the poor, the ransom of captives, etc. Whence there follows: "Because He has glorified you." Let the heretics therefore see that God wills that churches be adorned and glorified, and that He is glorified in that very thing. So Forerius.
they are, if we believe the history and Life of her, which Surius published from Metaphrastes, on July 20. St. Mary of Oignies once saw a priest devoutly offering sacrifice with tears, and a dove descending upon his shoulder, and from that shoulder a most pure fountain springing forth. The witness is Cardinal Jacques de Vitry in her Life. That a dove carried the soul of St. Amator to heaven after death is recorded in his history.
Prudentius, in Hymn 3 on the Crowns of Martyrdom, narrates that St. Eulalia, a noble virgin and martyr, at Emerita (Merida) in Spain, under the governor Dacian and Emperor Diocletian, was at the age of twelve thrown into fire, and having breathed it in, she expired, and her soul flew to heaven in the form of a dove. For thus he sings of her: "The crackling flame flies into her face, And enlivened through her hair, seizes Her head and surpasses the blaze: The virgin, desiring a swift death, Reaches for and drinks the pyre with her mouth. Thence a dove suddenly darts forth, Whiter than snow, seen to leave The martyr's mouth and follow the stars: This was the spirit of Eulalia, Milk-white, swift, and innocent."
St. Ephrem, in his sermon On the Passion of the Lord, writes that when Christ was dying on the cross and cried out, "It is finished," a dove flew from the temple, signifying that through Christ's death, innocence, holiness, and all virtue and wisdom flew from the Jews to the Christians.
Verse 9: FOR THE ISLANDS WAIT FOR ME (that is: I have said that peoples will flock to the Church from everywhere — b...
9. FOR THE ISLANDS WAIT FOR ME (that is: I have said that peoples will flock to the Church from everywhere — because islanders and those beyond the sea, having heard the fame and glory of Christ and the Church, will eagerly desire her, and this) FROM THE BEGINNING. — That is, those who from eternity were preordained by God for this, says Adamus. Secondly, Vatablus translates, as from the beginning, that is: Just as formerly at the beginning of the Jewish kingdom, the ships of Tarshish brought gold, silver, and the riches of India to Solomon, so now they shall bring the same to Christ. So St. Thomas and Hugo. Thirdly, St. Jerome says "in the beginning," namely of time, that is: As soon as the islanders hear of Christ and the Church, they will flock to Him. Again, as soon as Christ and the Church are born, the ships of Tarshish, that is, overseas nations, will hasten to Him — namely the Magi, who were the firstfruits of the Gentiles: for they offered Christ gold, as follows. Fourthly, Forerius translates, the ships of Tarshish with the flagship, that is, the admiral's ship: for this goes ahead and leads the whole fleet. By the flagship, then, he signifies that whole fleets will come to the Church. Thus "beginning" is taken for leadership, as in Psalm CIX, 3: "With you is the beginning in the day of your power." Thus the bee is said to have the "beginning," that is, the firstfruits and leadership, "of sweetness," Ecclesiasticus XI, 3. Fifthly, simply and plainly, "in the beginning," that is, as the Septuagint translates, above all, or principally and chiefly, that is: Before the Jews, above all and more ardently the ships shall wait for Me,
Verse 10: AND THE SONS OF STRANGERS SHALL BUILD YOUR WALLS. — He alludes to the walls of Jerusalem, which after the r...
10. AND THE SONS OF STRANGERS SHALL BUILD YOUR WALLS. — He alludes to the walls of Jerusalem, which after the return from Babylon strangers — that is, Cyrus, Darius Hystaspes, and Artaxerxes — caused to be rebuilt, I Ezra chapters VI and VII. But under these he understands the Gentiles: both kings and princes, such as Constantine, Theodosius, and Charlemagne, who either built or enlarged and strengthened the temples and cities of the Church, such as Rome, Constantinople, and Milan; and the Apostles, Prelates, and apostolic men, who propagated the Church by word and life, and by death and blood, and defended her, placing themselves against the enemy on her behalf like a most mighty wall, as St. Athanasius set himself against Constantius and the whole Arian world. He calls the Gentiles strangers and foreigners, because such they formerly were with respect to Jerusalem and the Jews, among whom was the Synagogue and among whom the Church of Christ began.
FOR IN MY INDIGNATION I STRUCK YOU — O Jerusalem! namely by abandoning you before Christ as wicked, without Prophets, and by handing you over to the wicked Scribes and Pharisees, and finally to Titus and the Romans for destruction. But through Christ I was reconciled and had mercy on you, and restored and supplied your ruins through the strength and abundance of the Gentiles, whom I joined to you and gathered into the Church, as follows. He alludes to the punishment of the Babylonian captivity and the liberation and reconciliation that followed from it. So St. Jerome. Secondly, Forerius refers these words to the Church of the Gentiles: for God struck her because of the crimes of the faithful who are in her, through the infidel and heretical Emperors, as He still occasionally strikes and punishes her even now; but when they repented, He had mercy and was reconciled, as He still has mercy even now.
Verse 11: YOUR GATES SHALL BE OPENED CONTINUALLY, etc. — This is a catachresis, signifying the great peace, security,...
11. YOUR GATES SHALL BE OPENED CONTINUALLY, etc. — This is a catachresis, signifying the great peace, security, and
of Jerusalem, that is, of the Church — that there will be peace, security, propagation, and capacity, so that she may receive the whole world, and a frequent concourse of nations to her, so that both by day and by night they may stream to her. He alludes to cities which close their gates at night for fear of enemies; but when they live without fear in full peace, they leave their gates open both night and day for those arriving. Anagogically, this will be more truly fulfilled in the heavenly Jerusalem, as St. John, alluding to this, says in Revelation XXI, 25; because, as he says, there will be no night there, but one perpetual day of blessed eternity.
Verse 12: FOR THE NATION AND THE KINGDOM THAT WILL NOT SERVE YOU SHALL PERISH (by destruction both temporal on earth ...
12. FOR THE NATION AND THE KINGDOM THAT WILL NOT SERVE YOU SHALL PERISH (by destruction both temporal on earth and eternal in hell, just as all who were outside the ark with Noah perished when the flood reigned — for outside the Church, which is the ark of God, there is no salvation), AND THE NATIONS SHALL BE LAID WASTE WITH DESOLATION (that is, unto desolation) — that is: All things shall be devastated and desolated. Do you want examples that confirm this promise, indeed that are its fruits and effects? Receive them.
When Miles (this was the name of the Bishop) was Bishop of a certain Persian city, and had suffered much, having endured beatings and being dragged about, and could persuade no one there to become a Christian, he is said to have taken it badly, cursed the city, and departed. But shortly afterward, when the leading men there had sinned against the king, an army was sent with three hundred elephants, and that city was overthrown and plowed like a field and sown. So Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History, book II, chapter XIV.
The illustrious deeds of St. Ansgar, the first Archbishop of the Nordalbingians, were committed to writing by St. Rembert, his successor. But of him only those things are known to us which Adam wove into his Chronicle, where after the privilege received from the Apostolic See through Bishop Nicholas, he adds these wondrous things about the slaughter of the Danes, who then resisted the preaching of the Gospel. So great was the slaughter on both sides of the Danes that all the common people fell; and of the royal stock no one at all remained except one boy named Hericius. As soon as he assumed the kingdom of the Danes, raging with innate fury against the Christians, he expelled the priests of God and ordered the churches closed. To him the holy Confessor of God, Ansgar, did not hesitate to come. Accompanied by divine grace, he so pacified the cruel tyrant that he himself accepted Christianity and by edict commanded all his subjects to become Christians, and moreover built a second church in Denmark at another port of the kingdom on the riverbank, says Adam in the Chronicle, and after him Baronius, volume X, at the year of the Lord 838.
Ragnar, king of Denmark, having abolished the Christian religion, was the author of reintroducing idolatry in the kingdom, and divine vengeance followed his impiety. For Helles, whom Ragnar had expelled from the kingdom, having enlisted the aid of the Gauls, defeated and captured him in battle, and threw him into a foul prison infested with serpents, which, covering him with venom and finishing him with poisonous bites, inflicted a horrible death upon him. So Albertus Krantz, book IV of Denmark, chapter I, year 816.
The Arian Emperor Valens sent one of the commanders of his army, Trajan by name, a Catholic man, against the Goths with an army. When he returned, having been defeated by the enemy, Valens began to tear him apart with insults and reproach him with softness and cowardice. But Trajan replied with frank speech, as befitted a noble man: "It is not I, O Emperor, who was defeated; but you yourself have lost the victory, who do not cease to array your battle line against God, and thus win His aid for the Barbarians." So the Tripartite History, book VIII, chapter XIII, and Theodoret, book IV, chapter XXIII.
They also report that Isaac, a holy monk, went to meet the same Valens as he was marching with his troops against the Goths, and said in a bold and frank voice: "Whither do you go, O Emperor, you who are utterly destitute of the help of God, against whom you wage war? Therefore He has stirred up the Barbarians against you, because you have sharpened the tongues of many to speak blasphemies against Him, and have driven from the churches the pious who celebrate Him with praises. Cease therefore to wage war against Him, and He will calm the war stirred up against you," etc. So Nicephorus Callistus, book XI of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter L; Theodoret, book IV, chapter XXXI; Metaphrastes in the Life of Isaac.
In this century, how gravely the Indians of the Moluccas were punished when they fell away from the faith of Christ to Muhammad — namely by storms, lightning, and unusual thunder from heaven, and by whirlwinds, winds, and ash which filled the entire most fertile region and rendered it barren like Sodom — is clear from the Indian Letters of Father Beyra of our Society, who was an eyewitness. In like manner, all kingdoms that do not pass over to the Church will sooner or later be swept away and destroyed. Let the Turk rule for several centuries, dominate far and wide, and subjugate many to himself; he himself and his empire, unless they submit to the Church, will ultimately be cut off.
In the same way, the churches and kingdoms of the Arians, Goths, Vandals, Nestorians, Eutychians, Iconoclasts, Monothelites, and other heretics have been overthrown, just as today the kingdom of Lutheranism and Calvinism is gradually being overthrown. But the faith and kingdom of the Roman Church stands and is propagated through the Indies of East and West: it stands, I say, from the coming of Christ for 1600 years, and shall stand until His return at the end of the world.
Verse 13: THE GLORY OF LEBANON SHALL COME TO YOU, THE FIR AND THE BOX-TREE, etc. — He alludes to the construction of ...
13. THE GLORY OF LEBANON SHALL COME TO YOU, THE FIR AND THE BOX-TREE, etc. — He alludes to the construction of Solomon's temple (for this was the place of sanctification, and was a type of the Church — for the Church is the temple, hall, and palace of God): for to that temple Hiram, king of Tyre, sent timber cut from Lebanon. For the glory of Lebanon consists of cedars, firs, pines, and other trees that are most fragrant and solid,
so that they do not suffer decay. By these, however, he understands everything that pertains to the beauty, splendor, and stability of the Church, whether internal, such as heroic virtues, graces, and charisms of the Holy Spirit; or external, such as riches, nobility, talent, arts, learning, and especially learned men, philosophers, and orators, who by their piety, wisdom, and eloquence built up the Church — such as, says St. Jerome, was St. Cyprian. Note: The temple, that is, the Church, is called the sanctuary, or the place of God's sanctification, both actively, which He sanctifies by His presence, and passively, in which He is sanctified and worshipped. Whence let us learn with what holiness we ought to conduct ourselves in the temple and the Church, as being in a place which the feet of God tread upon and sanctify.
AND THE PLACE OF MY FEET. — That is, the Church Militant on earth, which is, as it were, the footstool of God's feet as He sits on His heavenly throne. He alludes to the ark, which with the mercy seat was, as it were, the footstool of God sitting upon the wings of the Cherubim, Exodus chapter XXV, 22, and I Chronicles XXVIII, 12.
Verse 14: AND THE SONS OF THOSE WHO HUMILIATED YOU SHALL COME TO YOU BOWED DOWN. — "Bowed down," that is, humble and ...
14. AND THE SONS OF THOSE WHO HUMILIATED YOU SHALL COME TO YOU BOWED DOWN. — "Bowed down," that is, humble and reverent, says St. Prosper, Part III of the Predictions and Promises, chapter XXXVI. Secondly, "bowed down," that is, suppliant and penitent, seeking pardon for their own errors and those of their fathers, who once attacked the Church. They shall come therefore bowed down, because they shall consider themselves unworthy to serve the Church and the ministers of God; they shall put aside their proud spirits and put on the Spirit of Christ, humble and gentle. For when they recognize from how great evils they were rescued by mercy alone — evils in which they could, like their fathers, have grown old, died, and been damned — they will not be able not to humble and submit themselves to those who were the instruments of their happy lot. They shall therefore look up to them as holy, indeed heavenly men, and shall venerate the Church as the spouse of God, in which, although they will see the defects and scandals of some, they shall nonetheless call her the holy city, the dwelling of God, the gathering of many thousands of Angels, the habitation of Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Virgins, and all the Saints. Let those who persecute the Church and the ministers of God see here how degenerate they are from the sons of God and from the ancient faithful, and from their own ancestors, whom Isaiah here depicts — and therefore how they are disinherited of God's heritage and of Isaiah's promises.
AND THEY SHALL WORSHIP THE FOOTPRINTS OF YOUR FEET — as if bowing down as suppliants at your feet, indeed kissing the earth you tread upon and the traces of your feet. It is clear that this is fulfilled in the Roman Pontiff, who is the head of the Church. In vain therefore do the heretics protest against the kissing of the Pope's feet, since Isaiah predicted and promised it. Thus the kings of the Visigoths, Franks, English, Normans, Lombards, Germans, and other nations, who had often harassed the Church and the Pontiff, came to Rome to worship there the footprints of the feet of him who calls himself the servant of the servants of God, and though he is the head, took for himself the name of the feet, professing himself the servant of the lowliest. See what was said on chapter XLIX, verse 13. This was the victory of the cross of Christ, which by divine power subjected the whole world to Christ crucified and His Church.
Who would have believed that the cross of Christ would crush idols, and that the disciples of the Crucified One would attain such glory? St. Chrysostom, Homily 4 on the words of Isaiah: "By how many," he says, "has the Church been attacked, yet never conquered! How many tyrants! How many generals! How many emperors! Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, etc., attacked her; now they are silenced, consigned to oblivion. But she, though attacked, has transcended the heavens. Eleven disciples were attacked, the whole world attacked them; but those who attacked were removed; the sheep defeated the wolves." St. Augustine, letter 42, addressing the idolaters of Madaura: "You see," he says, "the powers of this world conquered and subdued, not by Christians fighting back, but by Christians dying; and against those very idols for which they killed Christians, they turned their attacks and laws, and the most eminent height of the most noble empire bows with lowered diadem at the tomb of the fisherman Peter." Hear also the wondrous things from Prosper, Promises, Part III, chapter XXXVIII: Under the reign of Theodosius, through his officers Jovius and Gaudentius, all the pagan temples were despoiled. Before him Symmachus, a man then endowed with admirable eloquence and learning, but a pagan, having recited a panegyric of praise before the imperial council, attempted with the subtle art at which he excelled to persuade him to allow the altar of Victory to be restored in the senate. Theodosius immediately ordered him driven from his sight, placed at the hundredth milestone on an unpadded carriage, and commanded him to remain there that day. Eutropius also, most powerful, and pagan in soul and mind, when he had engraved an edict surreptitiously obtained from the Christian Emperor Arcadius, to the insult of the Church, that if anyone fled to her, he should be dragged even from the altar and suffer greater penalties — by divine judgment he himself was the first to be served his own sentence: for having incurred the displeasure of the aforementioned emperor, he flew for refuge to the very Church he hated. And the holy mother of piety received her enemy into her bosom, and through the venerable priest John, obtaining pardon for him, bestowed life and salvation on her hater and scorner — by his example admonishing all enemies that it is vain for them to kick against the goad. Honorius also, the younger son of Theodosius, endowed with Christian religion and devotion, bestowed all pagan temples with their adjacent spaces upon the churches, and at the same time gave the power to destroy their idols. Why should I mention the younger Valentinian? To whom, when Rome had sent ambassadors to recover the rights of temples and the profane privileges of priesthoods and their sacred rites, and all who were present in the council, Christians and pagans alike, were of the opinion that they should be returned — he alone, like Daniel, having stirred up in himself the spirit of faith, rebuked the Christians for faithlessness, and replied to the pagans that
in almost the same way he defeated Maxentius as Moses defeated Pharaoh. Hear St. Augustine: "God filled the Emperor Constantine, who did not supplicate demons but worshipped the one true God, with such earthly gifts as no one would dare to wish for: he alone as Augustus held and defended the entire Roman world; in administering and waging wars he was most victorious; in crushing tyrants he prospered in all things; he died at an advanced age of illness and old age, and left his sons as rulers." So he writes, book V of The City of God, chapter XXV, and Eusebius, book IX of the History, chapter IX.
Theodosius the Elder, because he was truly pious and Catholic, had all things so prosperously succeed for him that in battles the weapons of enemies were turned back upon their authors by the action of God; he himself in good peace returned his soul to God. So St. Augustine, book V of The City of God, chapter XXVI.
Of Honorius, also clearly Catholic and most devoted to the Roman Pontiff, as is evident from his letters to Pope Boniface, the same Augustine writes, ibid. chapter XXIII, that God fought for him in such a way that in a single battle far more than a hundred thousand Goths were laid low, and the king himself, Radagaisus, was captured and killed with his sons, without even one Roman being wounded, let alone killed.
Socrates, book VII of the History, chapter XVIII, writes of Theodosius the Younger, grandson of Theodosius the Great, and his own sister Pulcheria, a virgin of admirable chastity, that they held the Empire of the East for many years with such happiness that the generosity of God seemed to vie with their piety. For frequently, when they were surrounded on all sides by a large hostile army and so pressed that neither counsel nor the forces of the entire Empire seemed sufficient for resistance, God (to whom all empires belong and on whose protection they relied) was present beyond belief, and while his army fought with the barbarians, and he himself meanwhile in the city was at prayer before God, about a hundred thousand Saracens, driven by Angels into the Euphrates, perished most miserably, and the hostile battle lines were miraculously confused, thrown into disorder, and routed.
Justinian the Elder, as long as he was Catholic, ruled successfully, so much so that he restored Italy, Africa, and many other provinces to the Roman Empire. But when he became a heretic and wished to have an edict proposed for the acceptance of his heresy, he was soon carried off by sudden death and freed the Church from great fear. So Evagrius, book IV, chapters XVI and following, and the last chapter.
Heraclius too, while he was Catholic, won a most illustrious victory over the Persians and recovered the Cross of the Lord, when Roman affairs seemed completely desperate. But when he fell into the heresy of the Monothelites, everything went badly for him, and he himself was destroyed by a new and unheard-of kind of disease. So Zonaras, volume III of the Byzantine Annals.
See here how God exalts His faithful and worshippers and the sons of the Church. Constantine, who was the first among the Emperors to publicly defend the Church,
what the pious had taken away, this could not be returned by him, since in that matter religion and his brother would be harmed. "Let Rome our parent ask," he said, "for anything else she desires; I owe affection to my parent, but greater obedience to God, the author of the parent."
AND THEY SHALL CALL YOU THE CITY OF THE LORD, THE ZION OF THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL. — Note: "Zion" in Hebrew signifies, first, a watchtower. Zion therefore is the Church, because her type was Zion, the new city of David; and because she watches for and seeks heavenly and eternal goods. So St. Augustine, book XVII of The City of God, chapter XVI. Again, just as Zion is a high and commanding mountain, so the Church, though she is on earth, yet in mind dwells in heaven, and converses with God and His Saints and Angels. Secondly, "Zion" in Hebrew signifies a standard or title: and such is the Church, which bears the banner of the cross as a title of triumph. So Origen on chapter XVI of Matthew. Thirdly, "Zion" can signify dryness: such is the Church, which grew together from the dry people of the Gentiles, who were without heavenly rain, and who, now converted, having consumed their carnal passions and vices through the fire of the Holy Spirit, relish heavenly things, not earthly — whence she is called the city not of man, not of a king, but of God. So Leo Castrius.
Verse 15: BECAUSE YOU WERE (O Jerusalem! O Church!) FORSAKEN (despised, scorned, and having suffered a thousand perse...
15. BECAUSE YOU WERE (O Jerusalem! O Church!) FORSAKEN (despised, scorned, and having suffered a thousand persecutions from the Gentiles, so that there were scarcely any) WHO PASSED THROUGH YOU — that is, who dared to approach you, to join you, fearing either reproaches and mockery, or punishments and slaughter from the pagans. He speaks of the time of the Synagogue before Christ, as I said at verse 10. So St. Jerome, Forerius, and others. Yet these words can also be taken of the abasement and affliction of the primitive Church of Christ, especially from the Jews before the dispersion of the Apostles, Acts II, III, IV, and following. So Sanchez.
I WILL MAKE YOU THE PRIDE OF AGES — I will make you a magnificence for all ages, the like of which shall not have been seen in any age. For the magnificent name of the Church was and is this: that Rome, the head of the world, willingly submitted its head to her, and that the Roman Emperors, such as Constantine and others, considered it more glorious for themselves to be sons and subjects of the Church than to rule the whole world. Thus "pride" is taken for magnificence and an outstanding and magnificent thing, Proverbs VIII, 18, Isaiah LXI, 6, and often among profane authors. Note the fitting reward: for contempt of the Church is repaid with the pride of ages; hatred and abandonment of her is repaid with the joy of all generations, namely that all generations and ages may rejoice to be in the Church and enjoy her goods, just as if they were enjoying heaven, as indeed they enjoy it in a beginning way. For "the pride of ages" in Hebrew is גאון עולם geon olam, which the Septuagint translates as "eternal exultation;" Vatablus as "perpetual glory;" others as "perpetual magnificence;" others as "the glory of the age."
In the time of Urban II, in the year of the Lord 1098, the Christians in the holy war declared by the Pope for the recov-
ery of Jerusalem, when they were at Antioch in the utmost desperation, because the infinite army of the Turks was close at hand, and they themselves were few and nearly killed by prolonged famine, so that even the bravest men walked leaning on sticks, and they had very few horses — indeed the chief commander of the forces, Godfrey of Bouillon, used a borrowed horse, and many princes were forced to ride on donkeys. At length God revealed where the lance was with which Christ's side was pierced on the cross, and when it was carried before them in battle He gave a wondrous victory, so that they killed a hundred thousand Turks. A dew also fell upon them from heaven, which added strength to their spirits and bodies; then three holy men appeared fighting for them from heaven. So Paul Aemilius, book IV of the History of the Franks; William of Tyre, book VI, near the end; Dodechinus, continuator of Marianus Scotus; and others.
Verse 16: YOU SHALL SUCK THE MILK OF THE NATIONS. — That is, as the Chaldean says, you shall be sated with the riches...
16. YOU SHALL SUCK THE MILK OF THE NATIONS. — That is, as the Chaldean says, you shall be sated with the riches of the peoples. For milk signifies whatever is rich, sweet, good, savory, and pleasant.
AND YOU SHALL BE NURSED WITH THE BREAST OF KINGS. — That is, as the Septuagint says, you shall eat the riches of kings; you shall abound in the delights, resources, bronze, gold, and silver of kings, as is said in verse 17. For kings and queens shall be your nurses and fosterers, O Church, as he said in chapter XLIX, 23. So Cyril and Procopius. The word "breast" indicates that kings and queens will be, as it were, mothers of the Church, and with maternal affection will liberally embrace and nourish her. Secondly, Sanchez says: You shall be nursed with the breast of kings, that is, with delicate and sweet foods such as befit a royal table and royal delights. You shall be fed like a king's daughter with royal food; kings shall feed you as their own daughter with royal feasts. He repeatedly names kings and princes, because they can and ought to promote the Church greatly. For the whole world is shaped by the example of the king. Let kings therefore know that the faith, piety, and holiness of the entire kingdom depend on them, and that it is in their power to make the whole kingdom holy, to subject it to the Church, and to lead it to eternal salvation. Let them therefore not neglect to do this, if they love their own salvation and that of their people. For God will demand this of them on that great decisive day of the world.
Moreover, how the ancient kings and all the orthodox nourished the Church is clear from the histories of all nations. Thus in the very cradle of the Church, Christians offered all their possessions at the feet of the Apostles. Among these there must have been abundant riches: for how otherwise could so many thousands of people, who daily joined the Church, have been fed from these? Thus St. Cyprian, in his letter to the Bishops of Numidia, writes that he was sending them a hundred thousand sesterces to ransom captives. Thus St. Laurence guarded the treasures of the Church — treasures so great that the Emperor Decius coveted them, and to extort them roasted Laurence on a gridiron. Who could recount how many churches and monasteries were built and endowed by Charlemagne, Dagobert, and other kings of the Franks?
churches and monasteries? Indeed, most of the territories of Germany were assigned to monasteries by them. And from this it happened that most of the cities of Germany were founded near monasteries. From the letters of St. Gregory it is clear that in his time the Church had very great estates in Africa, Campania, Naples, Dalmatia, Gaul, Sicily, and other provinces. Mutius of Justinopolis composed a book in which he collected all the gifts that were bestowed upon the Church by princes. The kings of Spain — Alfonso the First, Alfonso the Chaste, Alfonso the Great, Ramirus, and others — built and adorned very many temples, to the point that Alfonso the Great spent his entire paternal treasury on churches and the poor, built the church of St. James of squared stone, and enriched it with very many revenues and ornaments. In Hungary, King Stephen, Ladislaus, and Louis were so generous to the Church that Bonfinius writes that a third of Hungary belonged to the priests. In Poland, Casimir the Great built twelve churches, as Cromerus says, and six monasteries, and endowed them. Ladislaus Jagello did the same in Lithuania. The kings of England made all of England tributary to the Roman Church. Indeed Henry VIII destroyed ten thousand churches and monasteries in a single year. Equally generous to the Church were the Bohemians, Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes — so much so that the sacrilegious Luther used this enticement to attract the hearts of the people and princes to himself, setting before them the riches of the Canons and monks, which they could seize with a clear conscience under Lutheranism. Thomas Bozius has more on this, On the Marks of the Church, volume III, mark 87.
AND YOU SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD, etc., THE MIGHTY ONE OF JACOB — who namely made Jacob, that is, Israel, strong, so that wrestling with the Angel he prevailed over him, Genesis chapter XXXII, 28. By which it was signified that he would be stronger than his brother Esau and his enemies. Just as therefore the Lord is called "the Holy One of Israel," so also "the Mighty One of Jacob," as is clear from chapter XLIX, 26, and chapter I, verse 29.
Verse 17: INSTEAD OF BRONZE I WILL BRING GOLD — I will make you far richer than you were before, so much so that inst...
17. INSTEAD OF BRONZE I WILL BRING GOLD — I will make you far richer than you were before, so much so that instead of bronze I will supply gold. Now these words are to be taken both literally — for he exaggerates the riches and external splendor of the Church, of which he spoke in verses 9 and 10 — and symbolically, signifying that the sacred rites and sacrifices and the entire worship of God, which in Jerusalem among the Jews was shadowy, meager, and slender like bronze, wood, and iron, would be transformed through Christ into something far more august: namely, that we should worship God in spirit and truth, that we should sacrifice to Him not lambs and goats but Christ Himself; and that we should offer Him not external works of piety, but the internal affections of the mind through love and devotion.
He alludes to Solomon, under whom there was as great an abundance of gold and silver as of bronze, iron, and stones, II Chronicles I, 15, that is: Christ will restore the riches and the times of Solomon. Secondly, St. Cyril explains it as follows: The doctrine and
but what happens in our own age, it helps more to weep over than to describe."
the Jewish faith, meager and carnal, shall be changed into Christian wisdom, sublime and spiritual — that is, instead of the Law I will give the Gospel. Thirdly, St. Jerome says, that is: "Those formerly brutish and insensible (who are like bronze and iron) shall be changed into gold and silver through the increase of virtues, so that they have not merely the appearance of utility, but also value and beauty."
Tropologically and anagogically Geoffrey, whose words Delrio cites, at adage 807, says: "Bronze," he says, "is patience; iron is perseverance of spirit and unwearied labor conquering all things, just as iron tames all things. The latter therefore acts manfully in every action; the former does not fail under the blows of tribulation. Wood is a fragile and carnal affection; stone is an obstinate heart; silver and gold are the salutary riches which God promised to those who love Him. Therefore the Lord would not give silver for bronze and gold for iron, unless He had first given bronze for wood and iron for stones; He would not repay rewards for virtues unless He had first given virtues for vices." Finally, Adamus takes bronze and iron as the natural virtues of the Gentiles, and silver and gold as the supernatural virtues of Christians, that is: God will change the natural virtues of the Gentiles into the supernatural virtues of Christians, by which they will gain for themselves God's grace in this life and heavenly glory in the life to come.
AND I WILL MAKE YOUR GOVERNMENT PEACE, AND YOUR OVERSEERS JUSTICE. — For "government" the Hebrew is פקדה pecudda, that is, governance, visitation, and the paternal care of a shepherd or prince: for such a one ought, like a shepherd, to frequently visit and care for his flock. Now "visitation," that is "governance," is put for the governor and prince himself who visits. Whence the Septuagint translates: I will make your princes peaceable, that is, reigning in peace, and your overseers just, that is, presiding and governing justly.
Where St. Jerome and Leo Castrius, following St. Chrysostom, rightly observe that the Septuagint expressed the name of Bishops three hundred years before Christ. They did the same in Psalm CVIII, 8: "And another shall take his bishopric." So also Vatablus translates: I will make your officers peace, and your tax-collectors justice, that is, he says, instead of those who are usually placed over you to exact money and labor from you, I will place over you men most just and most devoted to peace, so that they may seem to be peace and justice themselves, that is: In the Church no one shall do violence to his neighbor, whence there follows: "Iniquity shall no more be heard in the land." He gives the causes of the riches of the Church, namely peace and justice; for when a commonwealth is at peace and justice flourishes in it, then both it and its individual citizens are enriched.
Forerius takes the "officers" to be the Pontiffs and most holy ecclesiastical pastors of old; the "tax-collectors" to be civil and political magistrates. "He promises," he says, "that the latter will perform their duties justly, the former with integrity. I know that the fulfillment of this promise and this happiness lasted for not a few years;
Verse 18: INIQUITY SHALL NO MORE BE HEARD (injustice, greed, rapacity, fraud, unjust judgments, etc.) IN YOUR LAND: N...
18. INIQUITY SHALL NO MORE BE HEARD (injustice, greed, rapacity, fraud, unjust judgments, etc.) IN YOUR LAND: NOR DEVASTATION AND DESTRUCTION (that is, the devastation and crushing of enemies) IN YOUR BORDERS — that is: No external force, indeed the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church, even if they harass and afflict her — because there shall not be iniquity in her, but holiness, which God will protect against enemies. You will say: Are there not many wicked, greedy, and rapacious people in the Church? There are indeed, but as withered and dead members. The Prophet, however, speaks of the living and true members, who are true believers and children of God. See what was said on chapter LII, 1.
Secondly, these words up to the end of the chapter pertain not so much to the present state of the Church as to her future state: for toward that state the Prophet rises and soars. Therefore they apply to the present only in a beginning and imperfect way, but fully and perfectly to the future. For in heaven there shall be no iniquity, no destruction, no violence; but in all things the highest equity, holiness, and charity. For the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant are the same; for the latter is begun in the former, and the former is crowned and consummated in the latter. Whence the Prophets leap from one to the other, and immediately spring back. See Canon IX.
AND SALVATION SHALL OCCUPY YOUR WALLS, AND YOUR GATES SHALL BE PRAISE. — He gives the reason why in Jerusalem, that is, the Church — on earth in a beginning way, and in heaven perfectly — there shall be no iniquity, devastation, or destruction that could take from her such great riches, dignity, and splendor: namely because she has salvation for her walls and praises for her gates. He alludes to a city living in peace, in which there are no guards at the gates, no soldiers on the walls, no weapons, no noise of trumpets or horses; but at the gates young men and maidens lead the dances. These things therefore indicate that the walls and gates of the Church shall always remain intact.
Moreover, this salvation, like peace, signifies not only liberation from the enemy or other evils, but also victory, happiness, and an abundance of all goods. Thus we call heavenly glory eternal salvation. Whence Sanchez understands by salvation a triumphal song. And Vatablus explains it thus, that is: On your walls salvation shall be proclaimed, not the arrival of enemies; and in your gates the praise of God shall be heard, not the voice of enemies attacking you: you shall be in the highest peace. For thus the canticle with which the Saints sing the victories of Christ in heaven, Revelation XIX, verse 1, is called "salvation;" for where the Latin translator has "praise and glory and power to our God," for "praise" the Greek is σωτηρία, that is, salvation; and chapter VII, 10: "Salvation to our God, who sits upon the throne." Therefore among the Hebrews, as he rightly says, the shout of triumph was "Hosanna!" as in "Hosanna to the Son of David," that is: Hail, O victor! Hail, O triumph! Long live our king the Messiah, the son and heir of David! And the Martyrs are greeted with "Hail!" — "Hail,
flowers of the Martyrs," says Prudentius of the Holy Innocents. And to the Blessed Virgin we continually cry: "Hail, Queen;" and to the Cross: "Hail, precious Cross." The sense therefore is, that is: The Saints, especially in heaven, shall possess full freedom from all sin and distress, salvation, victory, and happiness, and therefore shall continually sing the song of salvation, the victory hymn to God and Christ the author of salvation.
Hence the Septuagint, and following them St. Jerome, understand by salvation the Savior Jesus Christ. For the Septuagint thus translates: The saving one shall be called your walls, and your gates shall be called carvings — that is, as St. Jerome explains, Jesus the Savior shall be your wall, O Church! And your gates shall be both His divinity, in which is the carving, figure, and character of the Father, Hebrews I, 3; and His nails and passion, says Leo Castrius. For the Greek γλύμμα, that is, carving or engraving, signifies an emblem carved on gates or houses as a memorial of victory or the like. Isaiah therefore signifies that such emblems and memorials of victory shall be in heaven: both the very scars of wounds in the body of Christ; and the very glory and triumph of the Saints, and the scars of the Martyrs themselves; and the very beauty, ornaments, and trophies of the heavenly Jerusalem. This is what he said in chapter XXVI, 1: "The city of our strength is Zion; the Savior shall be placed as its wall and rampart." See what was said there.
In this life our walls and gates are often occupied by the enemy, tribulation, famine, weakness, disease, weeping, and a thousand similar afflictions. But in heaven the gates and walls shall be occupied by salvation itself, joy, happiness, praise, and jubilation — and these certain and constant for eternity. Whence Apollonius of Tyana wrote back to the Emperor Nerva, who desired his presence and conversation: "We indeed, O king, shall long be together where neither we shall rule others nor others rule us" — signifying that both would soon die (which indeed shortly came to pass), and that they would then dwell together in the Elysian Fields. The witness is Philostratus, book VIII of the Life of Apollonius.
Verse 19: The sun shall no more be your light, etc. — That is: In Jerusalem, that is, the Church on earth in a beginn...
19. The sun shall no more be your light, etc. — That is: In Jerusalem, that is, the Church on earth in a beginning way and in the heavenly Church perfectly, there shall be no alternating cycles of sun and moon: for on earth the sun and moon are eclipsed, and every day when the day ends they depart and leave night and darkness behind them. It shall be otherwise in the Church: for there shall be a perpetual light, that is, the doctrine of faith, which shall never fail or change; and in heaven there shall be the perennial light of glory and the beatific vision. For through these things God shall be her light and sun. So St. Cyril, Procopius, and Forerius. Moreover, in the Church there shall be perpetual liberty, joy, and happiness, dimmed or interrupted by no clouds of calamity or affliction. For just as the sun and light are the symbol of happiness, so darkness and night are the symbol of calamity. So Hugo. Whence there follows: "And the days of your mourning shall be ended."
Note: These things properly and fully apply to the heavenly Jerusalem. Whence St. John, speaking of her and alluding to this passage of Isaiah, Revelation XXI, 4, says: "God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither mourning, nor crying, nor pain shall be any more, because the former things have passed away;" and further, verse 23: "The city has no need of sun or moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it." Where note: "The glory of God" is either God Himself, who is uncreated glory and the sun of the heavenly Jerusalem — for He is the sun of divinity, from whom the lamp of Christ's humanity borrows its light, as follows — or it is the light of glory, which illuminates the minds of the Saints to see God. Or rather, joining both, the glory of God is God Himself, most luminous, who communicates His glory, namely the light of glory, to the Saints. Whence there follows: "And its lamp is the Lamb. The lamp," that is, the torch, sun, or light illuminating and delighting the bodily eyes of the Saints, is the most resplendent humanity of Christ, which like the most brilliant sun diffuses its light through the empyrean heaven: so that the eyes of the Saints, through it, by beholding the glorious humanity of Christ and other Saints and everything that is in heaven, may have their own brightness, and sensible sensation, and the greatest joy.
Verse 20: YOUR SUN SHALL NO MORE GO DOWN — namely the sun of divinity, happiness, and the beatific vision, of which I...
20. YOUR SUN SHALL NO MORE GO DOWN — namely the sun of divinity, happiness, and the beatific vision, of which I have already spoken. Whence He adds: "For the Lord shall be your everlasting light," that is: The Lord, like the sun and moon, shall perpetually, both by day and by night, illumine you. Secondly, He alludes to the material sun and moon, which after the day of judgment shall stand fixed in the same place and shall set no more. Whence from this passage theologians prove that on the day of judgment and resurrection, and thenceforth forever, the motion of the heavens shall cease, and consequently time, which is the number and measure of the motion of the heavens; and thus through rest and cessation from heavenly motion they shall acquire a certain state similar to God, who indeed is free from change. For the words clearly signify this when He says: "Your sun shall no more go down, and your moon shall not diminish." So teaches St. Thomas, and following him Gregory of Valencia, Part III, at the end of the book.
Note: The sun is yours, but it is the Lord as your light, looking down, as He said above, upon your ways, concerning the old law and the new, making a way for the sun itself in the heart, which represents, as it were, a heaven, so that the sun of the Christian people, entering through it as through the zodiac of that heart, may proceed never to depart. Song of Songs V, 14: "His belly is of ivory, set with sapphires;" others read: Like the middle circle in which are the likenesses of the stars. Behold how God depicts a zodiac in the heart of the Christian! The Septuagint reads: a tablet of ivory. Gregory of Nyssa, Homily 14 on the Song of Songs, thinks there is an allusion to the tablet on which the Law was written. And he who has this new tablet inscribed with God's law in his heart, as it were, walks as a sun through the zodiac of Christ into perpetual eternities.
For the Law is like a zodiac through which the sun walks, that is, Christ and the servant of Christ, in the heaven, that is, in the heart of the just.
Verse 21: But your people shall all be just. — For in heaven all shall be holy. In the Church many are sinners; yet a...
21. But your people shall all be just. — For in heaven all shall be holy. In the Church many are sinners; yet all are called holy and just, because they were sanctified in baptism and because they are called to holiness and make profession of it. For this reason St. Paul at the beginning of his epistles calls all Christians — Romans, Corinthians, etc. — saints. Forerius adds: In the primitive Church, he says, all, that is, very many and nearly all, were holy.
THEY SHALL INHERIT THE LAND FOREVER — that is: No one shall be able to expel them from the Church, unless they themselves voluntarily defect to the camp of the infidels. So Forerius. For even if violence is done to the body by tyrants, it cannot be done to the spirit. Secondly, and better and more fully, the Blessed shall forever inherit the land of the living in heaven. He gives the reason when he adds:
THE SHOOT OF MY PLANTING — that is: The Saints, especially the Blessed, shall always inherit the land, that is, the heavenly paradise, because they are the shoot planted in it by God in time, and predestined from eternity. But no one can uproot what God has planted, or overthrow what He Himself has decreed and predestined. Whence the Septuagint translates: It is God who guards His planting, namely this planting of His Saints. In like manner the just on earth shall be the shoot of God's planting, because they shall produce the fruits of good works; whence men shall recognize that they were planted by God; indeed through these things they themselves shall testify that they are God's planting, so that through them God may be honored. So Vatablus. To this the Apostle alluded, I Corinthians III, 9, saying: "You are God's field, God's building."
THE WORK OF MY HANDS, FOR MY GLORIFICATION. — This is in apposition. For just as the just are called "the shoot of the planting of God," that is, the sprouts of heavenly glory as well as of earthly grace, so they are also called "the work of His hands," and this "for glorification" — namely, that God may glorify and beatify them in heaven; or rather, that God may be glorified and celebrated in them. So St. Jerome.
Verse 22: THE LEAST SHALL BECOME A THOUSAND, AND THE SMALL ONE A MOST MIGHTY NATION. — That is, as Pagninus translate...
22. THE LEAST SHALL BECOME A THOUSAND, AND THE SMALL ONE A MOST MIGHTY NATION. — That is, as Pagninus translates, the small family (of the Church) shall become a thousand; and Vatablus says, the small one shall grow into a thousand, that is: The small shoot, the Church, shall germinate and produce very many others, just as one grain sown germinates and produces many: that is, the Church shall be increased with many great and valiant faithful. Thus St. Andrew begot thousands of Achaeans, St. Thomas thousands of Indians, St. John thousands of Asians, St. Bartholomew thousands of Armenians; Sts. Peter and Paul begot, as it were, the whole world of the faithful. Thus St. Anthony, Basil, Benedict, Bernard, and especially St. Francis, begot thousands upon thousands of Religious. For these things primarily look to the Church Militant, for to her he returns, namely to what he said at verse 15: "I will make you the pride of ages." For the Church labored under two disadvantages in the beginning. The first was her smallness; to this he applies a remedy by promising her a numerous offspring. The second was her weakness, so that she was trampled by all; to this he applies a remedy by promising her a most powerful offspring, so that she may be a terror to her enemies, like an army drawn up in battle array. So St. Jerome and Cyril.
Secondly, however, these words also aptly apply to the Church Triumphant: "For the Blessed," says St. Jerome, "planted in the house of the Lord, shall flourish in His courts. Then he who was little shall be in a thousand, hearing from the Lord: Have authority over five or ten cities, so that he is called a chiliarch (commander of a thousand). And he who had said with the Apostle: To me, the least of all the saints, was given this grace, shall be a prince of a great nation in the heavenly places, when at the appointed time the Lord shall have sent His angels and they shall have gathered all the saints to her." Thus St. Amandus appeared to St. Aldegundis in glory, attended by a great company of Saints whom he himself had converted while alive, and who in heaven honored and looked upon him as a father.
I THE LORD IN HIS TIME (that is, at the time appointed by Me for the Church) WILL SUDDENLY DO THIS. — In Hebrew: I will hasten it or I will accelerate it. So Vatablus, that is: Shortly I will provide these things for the Church, and at the same time I will make them, once they have begun, be completed in a short time. For after 700 years the Church of Christ began, and as soon as she began, in the space of a few years she gained the whole world, and she herself attained immense glory, offspring, and strength. This divine promise accomplished this for her — a promise which, as it is efficacious, so also it is swift in working and performing what it promised.