"And thy own soul a sword shall pierce" are words spoken by Simeon to Our Blessed Mother when she presented her first-born in the Temple, in accordance with the Law of Moses.
It is traditional to reflect on the Sorrows of Mary in the month of September. To this end, in the following posts I offer the words of the French scholar and preacher Bossuet, taken from his Elevations* on the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple. I have added my own (fairly literal) translation and occasional notes on Scriptural references.
*élévation: THÉOLOGIE. Mouvement de l’âme vers Dieu ; prière qui favorise et traduit ce mouvement. Elevation: theology. A movement of the soul towards God; a prayer that favours and translates this movement.
Laudetur Jesus Christus et Maria Immaculata.
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| The Presentation in the Temple. J-J Tissot. |
XVIIIe ÉLÉVATION.
Contradictions dans l'Eglise par les péchés des fidèles, et sur la morale de Jésus-Christ.
The Eighteenth Elevation
Contradictions within the Church through sins of the faithful, against the moral code of Jesus Christ.
Mais la contradiction la plus douloureuse du Sauveur est celle de nos péchés, de nous qui nous disons ses fidèles et qui sommes les enfants de son Eglise. Le désordre, le dérèglement, la corruption se répand dans tous les états, et toute la face de l'Eglise paraît infectée. « Depuis la plante des pieds jusqu'à la tête, il n'y a point de santé en elle. Voilà, dit-elle, que mon amertume la plus amère est dans la paix : ma première amertume qui m'a été, » disait saint Bernard, «bien amère, a été dans les persécutions des gentils : la seconde amertume encore plus amère, a été dans les schismes et dans l'hérésie : mais dans la paix et quand j'ai été triomphante, mon amertume très-amère est dans les dérèglements des chrétiens catholiques. »
But the contradiction which is the most painful for the Saviour is caused by our sins, which we, who call ourselves His faithful and the children of the Church, commit. The disorder, the dissolution and the corruption are spread through all conditions, and the whole face of the church seems to be infected. "From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein."[1] "Behold in peace is my bitterness most bitter:"[2] "The first bitterness I underwent," said Saint Bernard, "was severe and came from the persecutions of the gentiles; the second bitterness was even greater and resulted from schisms and heresy; but when peace arrived and I was triumphant, my greatest bitterness is in the dissolution of Catholic Christians."[3]
[1] From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein: wounds and bruises and swelling sores: they are not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil. A planta pedis usque ad verticem, non est in eo sanitas; vulnus, et livor, et plaga tumens, non est circumligata, nec curata medicamine, neque fota oleo.[Isa.i. 6]
[2] Behold in peace is my bitterness most bitter: but thou hast delivered my soul that it should not perish, thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. Ecce in pace amaritudo mea amarissima. Tu autem eruisti animam meam ut non periret; projecisti post tergum tuum omnia peccata mea.[Isa.xxxviii. 17]
[3] S. Bern., serm. XXXII, in Cant., n. 19.
Que chacun repasse ici ses péchés : il verra par quel endroit Jésus-Christ, durant tout le cours de sa vie et dans son agonie au sacré jardin, a été le plus douloureusement contredit. Les Juifs, qui ont poussé leur dérision jusque parmi les horreurs de sa croix, ne l'ont pas percé de plus de coups, ni n'ont pas été « un peuple plus contredisant envers celui qui étendait ses bras vers eux (2), » que nous le sommes. Et si le cœur de Jésus pouvait être affligé dans sa gloire, il le serait de ce côté-là plus que par toute autre raison. C'est vous, chrétiens et catholiques, c'est vous « qui faites blasphémer mon nom par toute la terre . » On ne peut croire que ma doctrine soit venue du ciel, quand on la voit si mal pratiquée par ceux qui portent le nom de fidèles (a).
Let each one go through his sins; he will then see where Jesus Christ, throughout the whole course of His life, has been most painfully contradicted. The Jews, who pushed their derision even unto the horrors of the crucifixion, did not pierce Him with more blows, neither were they more "an unbelieving people towards Him who spread forth His hands to them,"[1] then we are. And if the heart of Jesus could be afflicted even in His glory, it would be from this side more than for any other reason. It's you, Christians and Catholics, it's you "who blaspheme my name throughout the earth."[2] It cannot be believed that my teaching should come from Heaven, when I see it put into practice so badly by those who bear the name of faithful Christians.
[1] I have spread forth my hands all the day to an unbelieving people, who walk in a way that is not good after their own thoughts. Expandi manus meas tota die ad populum incredulum, qui graditur in via non bona post cogitationes suas.[Is. lxv. 2]
[2] And now what have I here, saith the Lord: for my people is taken away gratis. They that rule over them treat them unjustly, saith the Lord, and my name is continually blasphemed all the day long. Et nunc quid mihi est hic, dicit Dominus, quoniam ablatus est populus meus gratis? Dominatores ejus inique agunt, dicit Dominus, et jugiter tota die nomen meum blasphematur.[Is. lii. 5]
Ils en sont venus jusqu'à vouloir courber la règle, comme les docteurs de la loi et les pharisiens : ils se font des doctrines erronées, de fausses traditions, de fausses probabilités : la cupidité résout les cas de conscience, et sa violence est telle qu'elle contraint les docteurs de la flatter. O malheur ! On ne peut convertir les chrétiens, tant leur dureté est extrême, tant les mauvaises coutumes prévalent : on leur cherche des excuses : la régularité passe pour rigueur : on lui donne un nom de secte : la règle ne peut plus se faire entendre. Pour affaiblir tous les préceptes dans leur source, on a attaqué celui de l'amour de Dieu : on ne peut trouver le moment où l'on soit obligé de le pratiquer ; et à force de reculer l'obligation, on l'éteint tout à fait. O Jésus, je le sais, la vérité triomphera éternellement dans votre Eglise : suscitez-y des docteurs pleins de vérité et d'efficace, qui fassent taire enfin les contradicteurs : et toujours, en attendant, que chacun de nous fasse taire la contradiction en soi-même.
They have even reach the point of wanting to bend rules, like the Doctors of the Law and the Pharisees; they have made for themselves erroneous doctrines, false traditions, false probabilities (replacing certainties); questions of conscience are determined by their desires, and their violent manner is such as to constrain teachers to encourage them. What a tragedy! These Christians cannot be converted, so extreme is the hardness of their hearts, so prevalent are their bad habits; people look to excuse them; regularity of life is described as rigidity; they are said to belong to a particular community, where rules cannot be made to apply. And to undermine all precepts at their very source, they have attacked that of the love of God. They claim it is not possible to identify those cases where we are obliged to practise it; and by dint of removing the obligation, it is completely extinguished. O Jesus, I know that the truth will triumph eternally in your Church; rouse up effective teachers full of truth who can force these contradicters into silence; and always, in the meantime, grant that each one of us may silence the contradiction within us.
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