DEUXIÈME PÉRIODE : Trois semaines consacrées à se remplir de Jésus-Christ par la Sainte Vierge
Second period: Three weeks consecrated to absorbing Jesus Christ through the Blessed Virgin
Première semaine (Jours 13 à 19): Connaissance de soi
First week (days 13-19): Self-knowledge
Démarche : Prières, examens/réflexions, actes de renoncement à sa propre volonté, de repentir de ses fautes, de mépris de soi-même… le tout aux pieds de Marie. Car c’est d’elle que nous espérons la lumière dont nous avons besoins pour se connaître soi-même. Et c’est près d’elle que nous serons capable de mesurer l’abîme de nos misères sans désespérer (Et donc, non pas d’abord de me regarder, de me triturer, mais de me laisser regarder, de me mettre sous le regard aimant de Jésus et de Marie.).
Programme: Prayers, examinations, reflection, acts of renunciation of our own will, of contrition for our sins, of contempt of self... all performed at the feet of Mary, for it is from her that we hope for the light we need to know ourselves. It is close to her, that we shall be able to measure the abyss of our miseries without despairing. (And so, do not at the outset focus on yourself and rack yourself but allow Jesus and Mary to look upon you, place yourself under their loving gaze)
« Pendant la première semaine, dit saint L.-M. de Montfort, ils emploieront toutes leurs oraisons et actions de piété à demander la connaissance d’eux-mêmes, et la contrition de leurs péchés : et ils feront tout en esprit d’humilité ».
''During the first week,'' says saint L.-M. de Montfort, ''they will direct all their prayers and pious works towards seeking self-knowledge and sorrow for their sins; they will do all this in a spirit of humility.''
Durant cette semaine, nous regarderons moins l’opposition entre l’esprit de Jésus et le nôtre, que l’état misérable où le péché nous a réduit. D’autre part, la « Vraie dévotion » étant une voie facile, courte, sûre et parfaite pour arriver à l’union avec Notre-Seigneur, but de la vie chrétienne, nous devons savoir que nous n’entrerions pas sérieusement dans cette magnifique voie d’amour surnaturel, si nous n’étions fortement convaincus de notre misère et de notre impuissance. Or, comment y arriver sans la connaissance de nous-mêmes ?
During this period, we shall consider not so much the opposition that exists between the spirit of Jesus and our own, as the miserable to which our sins have reduced us. Moreover, the ''True Devotion'' being an easy, short, sure and perfect way to arrive at union with Our Lord, the aim of Christian life, we should realize that we won't be able to enter seriously upon this wondrous path of supernatural love unless we are firmly persuaded of our own wretchedness and helplessness. But how can we attain this without a knowledge of ourselves?
Saint Luke - Chapter 18
With notes from Cornelius A Lapide
[15] Afferebant autem ad illum et infantes, ut eos tangeret. Quod cum viderent discipuli, increpabant illos.
And they brought unto him also infants, that he might touch them. Which when the disciples saw, they rebuked them.
And they brought unto Him also infants, that He should touch them. And by touching might bless them. Christ confirms the doctrine of humility by His own example. “Infants,” says the Gloss, “are brought to the Master of Humility, that innocence and the age of simplicity might be shown to belong to grace.”
[16] Jesus autem convocans illos, dixit : Sinite pueros venire ad me, et nolite vetare eos : talium est enim regnum Dei.
But Jesus, calling them together, said: Suffer children to come to me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
Suffer the little children to come unto Me. The Arabic: “For the kingdom of God is theirs who are like them”—not in infancy but in innocence, simplicity, humility. So Bede. “He does not say theirs, but such as they, meaning their manner of life, not their age.” And S. Ambrose: “It is not childhood, but the goodness of that simplicity which emulates child-like innocence, that is meant; for it is not a virtue not to be able to sin, but not to will to do so.” I have explained the rest on Matt. 19:13 and following.
[17] Amen dico vobis, quicumque non acceperit regnum Dei sicut puer, non intrabit in illud.
Amen, I say to you: Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a child, shall not enter into it.
Catena Aurea: Verses 15-17
THEOPHYLACT. After what He had said, our Lord teaches us a lesson of humility by His own example; He does not turn away the little children who are brought to Him, but graciously receives them.
AUGUSTINE. (Serm. 115.) To whom are they brought to be touched, but to the Saviour? And as being the Saviour they are presented to Him to be saved, who came to save that which was lost. But with regard to these innocents, when were they lost? The Apostle says, By one man sin entered into the world. (Rom. 5:12.) Let then the little children come as the sick to a physician, the lost to their Redeemer.
AMBROSE. ... But why does He say that children are fitter for the kingdom of heaven? It is because they are ignorant of guile, are incapable of theft, dare not return a blow, are unconscious of lust, have no desire for wealth, honours, or ambition. But to be ignorant of these things is not virtue, we must also despise them. For virtue consists not in our inability to sin, but in our unwillingness. Childhood then is not meant here, but that goodness which rivals the simplicity of childhood.
BEDE. Hence our Lord pointedly says, of such, not “of these,” to shew that to character, not to age, is the kingdom given, and to such as have a childlike innocence and simplicity is the promise of the reward.
AMBROSE. Lastly, our Saviour expressed this when He said, Verily I say unto you, Whosoever will not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, &c. What child were Christ’s Apostles to imitate but Him of whom Esaias speaks, Unto us a Child is given? (Isai. 9:6.) Who when He was reviled, reviled not again. (1 Pet. 2.) So that there is in childhood a certain venerable antiquity, and in old age a childlike innocence.
BASIL. (in Reg. Brev. ad int. 217.) We shall receive the kingdom of God as a child if we are disposed towards our Lord’s teaching as a child under instruction, never contradicting nor disputing with his masters, but trustfully and teachably imbibing learning.
THEOPHYLACT. The wise men of the Gentiles therefore who seek for wisdom in a mystery, which is the kingdom of God, and will not receive this without the evidence of logical proof, are rightly shut out from this kingdom.
[18] Et interrogavit eum quidam princeps, dicens : Magister bone, quid faciens vitam aeternam possidebo?
And a certain ruler asked him, saying: Good master, what shall I do to possess everlasting life?
[19] Dixit autem ei Jesus : Quid me dicis bonum? nemo bonus nisi solus Deus.
And Jesus said to him: Why dost thou call me good? None is good but God alone.
[20] Mandata nosti : non occides; non moechaberis; non furtum facies; non falsum testimonium dices; honora patrem tuum et matrem.
Thou knowest the commandments: Thou shalt not kill: Thou shalt not commit adultery: Thou shalt not steal: Thou shalt not bear false witness: Honour thy father and mother.
[21] Qui ait : Haec omnia custodivi a juventute mea.
Who said: All these things have I kept from my youth.
[22] Quo audito, Jesus ait ei : Adhuc unum tibi deest : omnia quaecumque habes vende, et da pauperibus, et habebis thesaurum in caelo : et veni, sequere me.
Which when Jesus had heard, he said to him: Yet one thing is wanting to thee: sell all whatever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
[23] His ille auditis, contristatus est : quia dives erat valde.
He having heard these things, became sorrowful; for he was very rich.
Verses 18-23
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. But the ruler expected to hear Christ say, Forsake the commandments of Moses, and listen to Mine. Whereas He sends him to the former; as it follows, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery.
THEOPHYLACT. The law first forbids those things to which we are most prone, as adultery for instance, the incitement to which is within us, and of our nature; and murder, because rage is a great and savage monster. But theft and bearing false witness are sins which men seldom fall into. And besides, the former also are the more grievous sins, therefore He places theft and bearing false witness in the second place, as both less common, and of less weight than the other.
TITUS BOSTRENSIS. But you may observe that these commandments consist in not doing certain things; that if thou hast not committed adultery, thou art chaste; if thou stealest not, honestly disposed; if thou bearest not false witness, truth-telling. Virtue then we see is rendered easy through the goodness of the Lawgiver. For He speaks of avoiding of evil, not practising of good. And any cessation from action is easier than any actual work.
TITUS BOSTRENSIS. Our Lord next declares, that though a man has kept the old covenant, he is not perfect, since he lacks to follow Christ. Thou yet lackest one thing, Sell all that thou hast, &c. As if He says, Thou askest how to possess eternal life; scatter thy goods among the poor, and thou shalt obtain it. A little thing is that thou spendest, thou receivest great things.
BEDE. Whoever then wishes to be perfect must sell all that he hath, not a part only, as Ananias and Sapphira did, but the whole.
BASIL. (in Reg. Brev. int. 92.) He does not tell us to sell our goods, because they are by nature evil, for then they would not be God’s creatures; He therefore does not bid us cast them away as if they were bad, but distribute them; nor is any one condemned for possessing them, but for abusing them. And thus it is, that to lay out our goods according to God’s command both blots out sins, and bestows the kingdom.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. 22. in 1 ad Cor.) God might indeed feed the poor without our taking compassion upon them, but He wishes the givers to be bound by the ties of love to the receivers.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. 32. in 1. ad Cor.) But it is asked, how does Christ acknowledge the giving all things to the poor to be perfection, whereas St. Paul declares this very thing without charity to be imperfect. Their harmony is shewn in the words which succeed, And come, follow me, which betokens it to be from love. For herein shall all men know that ye are my, disciples, if ye have love one toward another. (John 13:35.)
THEOPHYLACT. Together with poverty must exist all the other virtues, therefore He says, Come, follow me, that is, In all other things be My disciples, be always following Me.
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. The ruler was not able to contain the new word, but being like an old bottle, burst with sorrow.
[24] Videns autem Jesus illum tristem factum, dixit : Quam difficile, qui pecunias habent, in regnum Dei intrabunt!
And Jesus seeing him become sorrowful, said: How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God.
[25] facilius est enim camelum per foramen acus transire quam divitem intrare in regnum Dei.
For it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
[26] Et dixerunt qui audiebant : Et quis potest salvus fieri?
And they that heard it, said: Who then can be saved?
[27] Ait illis : Quae impossibilia sunt apud homines, possibilia sunt apud Deum.
He said to them: The things that are impossible with men, are possible with God.
[28] Ait autem Petrus : Ecce nos dimisimus omnia et secuti sumus te.
Then Peter said: Behold, we have left all things, and have followed thee.
[29] Qui dixit eis : Amen dico vobis, nemo est qui reliquit domum, aut parentes, aut fratres, aut uxorem, aut filios propter regnum Dei,
Who said to them: Amen, I say to you, there is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake,
[30] et non recipiat multo plura in hoc tempore, et in saeculo venturo vitam aeternam.
Who shall not receive much more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.
Verses 24-30
THEOPHYLACT. Our Lord, seeing that the rich man was sorrowful when it was told him to surrender his riches, marvelled, saying, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! He says not, It is impossible for them to enter, but it is difficult. For they might through their riches reap an heavenly reward, but it is a hard thing, seeing that riches are more tenacious than birdlime, and hardly is the soul ever plucked away, that is once seized by them. But he next speaks of it as impossible. It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye. The word in the Greek answers equally to the animal called the camel, and to a cable, or ship rope. However we may understand it, impossibility is implied. What must we say then? First of all that the thing is positively true, for we must remember that the rich man differs from the steward, or dispenser of riches. The rich man is he who reserves his riches to himself, the steward or dispenser one who holds them entrusted to his care for the benefit of others.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. 24. in 1 ad Cor.) Abraham indeed possessed wealth for the poor. And all they who righteously possess it, spend it as receiving it from God, according to the divine command, while those who have acquired wealth in an ungodly way, are ungodly in their use of it; whether in squandering it on harlots or parasites, or hiding it in the ground, but sparing nothing for the poor. (Hom. 18. in Joan.). He does not then forbid men to be rich, but to be the slaves of their riches. He would have us use them as necessary, not keep guard over them. It is of a servant to guard, of a master to dispense. Had he wished to preserve them, He would never have given them to men, but left them to remain in the earth.
THEOPHYLACT. Again, observe that He says, a rich man can not possibly be saved, but one who possesses riches hardly; as if he said, The rich man who has been taken captive by his riches, and is a slave to them, shall not be saved; but he who possesses or is the master of them shall with difficulty be saved, because of human infirmity. For the devil is ever trying to make our foot slip as long as we possess riches, and it is a hard matter to escape his wiles. Poverty therefore is a blessing, and as it were free from temptation.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. 80. in Matt.) There is no profit in riches while the soul suffers poverty, no hurt in poverty, while the soul abounds in wealth. But if the sign of a man waxing rich is to be in need of nothing, and of becoming poor to be in want, it is plain that the poorer a man is, the richer he grows. For it is far easier for one in poverty to despise wealth, than for the rich. Nor again is avarice wont to be satisfied by having more, for thereby are men only the more inflamed, just as a fire spreads, the more it has to feed upon. Those which seem to be the evils of poverty, it has in common with riches, but the evils of riches are peculiar to them.
AUGUSTINE. (de Quæst Evang. lib. ii. c. 42.) The name of “rich” he here gives to one who covets temporal things, and boasts himself in them. To such rich men are opposed the poor in spirit, of whom is the kingdom of heaven. Now mystically it is easier for Christ to suffer for the lovers of this world, than for the lovers of this world to be converted to Christ. For by the name of a camel He would represent Himself: for He voluntarily humbled Himself to bear the burdens of our infirmity. By the needle He signifies sharp piercings, and thereby the pangs received in His Passion, but by the form of the needle He describes the straitening of the Passion.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. 63. in Matt.) These weighty words so far exceeded the capacity of the disciples, that when they heard them, they asked, Who then can be saved? not that they feared for themselves, but for the whole world.
AUGUSTINE. (ut sup.) Seeing that there is an incomparably greater number of poor which might be saved by forsaking their riches, they understood that all who love riches, even though they cannot obtain them, were to be counted among the number of the rich. It follows, And he said to them, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God, which must not be taken as if a rich man with covetousness and pride might enter into the kingdom of God, but that it is possible with God for a man to be converted from covetousness and pride, to charity and humility.
THEOPHYLACT. With men therefore whose thoughts creep earthward, salvation is impossible, but with God it is possible. For when man shall have God for his counsellor, and shall have received the righteousness of God and His teaching concerning poverty, as well as have invoked His aid, this shall be possible to him.
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. The rich man who has despised many things will naturally expect a reward, but he who possessing little resigns what he has, may fairly ask what there is in store for him; as it follows, Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all. Matthew adds, What shall we have therefore? (Matt. 19:27.)
BEDE. As if he says, We have done what Thou commandedst us, what reward then wilt Thou give us? And because it is not enough to have left all things, he adds that which made it perfect, saying, And have followed thee.
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. This then we say, that he who gives up all worldly and carnal things will gain for himself far greater, inasmuch as the Apostles, after leaving a few things, obtained the manifold gifts of grace, and were accounted great every where. We then shall be like to them. If a man has left his home, he shall receive an abiding place above. If his father, he shall have a Father in heaven. If he has forsaken his kindred, Christ shall take him for a brother. If he has given up a wife, he shall find divine wisdom, from which he shall beget spiritual offspring. If a mother, he shall find the heavenly Jerusalem, who is our mother. From brethren and sisters also united together with him by the spiritual bond of his will, he shall receive in this life far more kindly affections.
During this period, we shall consider not so much the opposition that exists between the spirit of Jesus and our own, as the miserable to which our sins have reduced us. Moreover, the ''True Devotion'' being an easy, short, sure and perfect way to arrive at union with Our Lord, the aim of Christian life, we should realize that we won't be able to enter seriously upon this wondrous path of supernatural love unless we are firmly persuaded of our own wretchedness and helplessness. But how can we attain this without a knowledge of ourselves?
Saint Luke - Chapter 18
With notes from Cornelius A Lapide
[15] Afferebant autem ad illum et infantes, ut eos tangeret. Quod cum viderent discipuli, increpabant illos.
And they brought unto him also infants, that he might touch them. Which when the disciples saw, they rebuked them.
And they brought unto Him also infants, that He should touch them. And by touching might bless them. Christ confirms the doctrine of humility by His own example. “Infants,” says the Gloss, “are brought to the Master of Humility, that innocence and the age of simplicity might be shown to belong to grace.”
[16] Jesus autem convocans illos, dixit : Sinite pueros venire ad me, et nolite vetare eos : talium est enim regnum Dei.
But Jesus, calling them together, said: Suffer children to come to me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
Suffer the little children to come unto Me. The Arabic: “For the kingdom of God is theirs who are like them”—not in infancy but in innocence, simplicity, humility. So Bede. “He does not say theirs, but such as they, meaning their manner of life, not their age.” And S. Ambrose: “It is not childhood, but the goodness of that simplicity which emulates child-like innocence, that is meant; for it is not a virtue not to be able to sin, but not to will to do so.” I have explained the rest on Matt. 19:13 and following.
[17] Amen dico vobis, quicumque non acceperit regnum Dei sicut puer, non intrabit in illud.
Amen, I say to you: Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a child, shall not enter into it.
Catena Aurea: Verses 15-17
THEOPHYLACT. After what He had said, our Lord teaches us a lesson of humility by His own example; He does not turn away the little children who are brought to Him, but graciously receives them.
AUGUSTINE. (Serm. 115.) To whom are they brought to be touched, but to the Saviour? And as being the Saviour they are presented to Him to be saved, who came to save that which was lost. But with regard to these innocents, when were they lost? The Apostle says, By one man sin entered into the world. (Rom. 5:12.) Let then the little children come as the sick to a physician, the lost to their Redeemer.
AMBROSE. ... But why does He say that children are fitter for the kingdom of heaven? It is because they are ignorant of guile, are incapable of theft, dare not return a blow, are unconscious of lust, have no desire for wealth, honours, or ambition. But to be ignorant of these things is not virtue, we must also despise them. For virtue consists not in our inability to sin, but in our unwillingness. Childhood then is not meant here, but that goodness which rivals the simplicity of childhood.
BEDE. Hence our Lord pointedly says, of such, not “of these,” to shew that to character, not to age, is the kingdom given, and to such as have a childlike innocence and simplicity is the promise of the reward.
AMBROSE. Lastly, our Saviour expressed this when He said, Verily I say unto you, Whosoever will not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, &c. What child were Christ’s Apostles to imitate but Him of whom Esaias speaks, Unto us a Child is given? (Isai. 9:6.) Who when He was reviled, reviled not again. (1 Pet. 2.) So that there is in childhood a certain venerable antiquity, and in old age a childlike innocence.
BASIL. (in Reg. Brev. ad int. 217.) We shall receive the kingdom of God as a child if we are disposed towards our Lord’s teaching as a child under instruction, never contradicting nor disputing with his masters, but trustfully and teachably imbibing learning.
THEOPHYLACT. The wise men of the Gentiles therefore who seek for wisdom in a mystery, which is the kingdom of God, and will not receive this without the evidence of logical proof, are rightly shut out from this kingdom.
[18] Et interrogavit eum quidam princeps, dicens : Magister bone, quid faciens vitam aeternam possidebo?
And a certain ruler asked him, saying: Good master, what shall I do to possess everlasting life?
[19] Dixit autem ei Jesus : Quid me dicis bonum? nemo bonus nisi solus Deus.
And Jesus said to him: Why dost thou call me good? None is good but God alone.
[20] Mandata nosti : non occides; non moechaberis; non furtum facies; non falsum testimonium dices; honora patrem tuum et matrem.
Thou knowest the commandments: Thou shalt not kill: Thou shalt not commit adultery: Thou shalt not steal: Thou shalt not bear false witness: Honour thy father and mother.
[21] Qui ait : Haec omnia custodivi a juventute mea.
Who said: All these things have I kept from my youth.
[22] Quo audito, Jesus ait ei : Adhuc unum tibi deest : omnia quaecumque habes vende, et da pauperibus, et habebis thesaurum in caelo : et veni, sequere me.
Which when Jesus had heard, he said to him: Yet one thing is wanting to thee: sell all whatever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
[23] His ille auditis, contristatus est : quia dives erat valde.
He having heard these things, became sorrowful; for he was very rich.
Verses 18-23
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. But the ruler expected to hear Christ say, Forsake the commandments of Moses, and listen to Mine. Whereas He sends him to the former; as it follows, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery.
THEOPHYLACT. The law first forbids those things to which we are most prone, as adultery for instance, the incitement to which is within us, and of our nature; and murder, because rage is a great and savage monster. But theft and bearing false witness are sins which men seldom fall into. And besides, the former also are the more grievous sins, therefore He places theft and bearing false witness in the second place, as both less common, and of less weight than the other.
TITUS BOSTRENSIS. But you may observe that these commandments consist in not doing certain things; that if thou hast not committed adultery, thou art chaste; if thou stealest not, honestly disposed; if thou bearest not false witness, truth-telling. Virtue then we see is rendered easy through the goodness of the Lawgiver. For He speaks of avoiding of evil, not practising of good. And any cessation from action is easier than any actual work.
TITUS BOSTRENSIS. Our Lord next declares, that though a man has kept the old covenant, he is not perfect, since he lacks to follow Christ. Thou yet lackest one thing, Sell all that thou hast, &c. As if He says, Thou askest how to possess eternal life; scatter thy goods among the poor, and thou shalt obtain it. A little thing is that thou spendest, thou receivest great things.
BEDE. Whoever then wishes to be perfect must sell all that he hath, not a part only, as Ananias and Sapphira did, but the whole.
BASIL. (in Reg. Brev. int. 92.) He does not tell us to sell our goods, because they are by nature evil, for then they would not be God’s creatures; He therefore does not bid us cast them away as if they were bad, but distribute them; nor is any one condemned for possessing them, but for abusing them. And thus it is, that to lay out our goods according to God’s command both blots out sins, and bestows the kingdom.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. 22. in 1 ad Cor.) God might indeed feed the poor without our taking compassion upon them, but He wishes the givers to be bound by the ties of love to the receivers.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. 32. in 1. ad Cor.) But it is asked, how does Christ acknowledge the giving all things to the poor to be perfection, whereas St. Paul declares this very thing without charity to be imperfect. Their harmony is shewn in the words which succeed, And come, follow me, which betokens it to be from love. For herein shall all men know that ye are my, disciples, if ye have love one toward another. (John 13:35.)
THEOPHYLACT. Together with poverty must exist all the other virtues, therefore He says, Come, follow me, that is, In all other things be My disciples, be always following Me.
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. The ruler was not able to contain the new word, but being like an old bottle, burst with sorrow.
[24] Videns autem Jesus illum tristem factum, dixit : Quam difficile, qui pecunias habent, in regnum Dei intrabunt!
And Jesus seeing him become sorrowful, said: How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God.
[25] facilius est enim camelum per foramen acus transire quam divitem intrare in regnum Dei.
For it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
[26] Et dixerunt qui audiebant : Et quis potest salvus fieri?
And they that heard it, said: Who then can be saved?
[27] Ait illis : Quae impossibilia sunt apud homines, possibilia sunt apud Deum.
He said to them: The things that are impossible with men, are possible with God.
[28] Ait autem Petrus : Ecce nos dimisimus omnia et secuti sumus te.
Then Peter said: Behold, we have left all things, and have followed thee.
[29] Qui dixit eis : Amen dico vobis, nemo est qui reliquit domum, aut parentes, aut fratres, aut uxorem, aut filios propter regnum Dei,
Who said to them: Amen, I say to you, there is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake,
[30] et non recipiat multo plura in hoc tempore, et in saeculo venturo vitam aeternam.
Who shall not receive much more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.
Verses 24-30
THEOPHYLACT. Our Lord, seeing that the rich man was sorrowful when it was told him to surrender his riches, marvelled, saying, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! He says not, It is impossible for them to enter, but it is difficult. For they might through their riches reap an heavenly reward, but it is a hard thing, seeing that riches are more tenacious than birdlime, and hardly is the soul ever plucked away, that is once seized by them. But he next speaks of it as impossible. It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye. The word in the Greek answers equally to the animal called the camel, and to a cable, or ship rope. However we may understand it, impossibility is implied. What must we say then? First of all that the thing is positively true, for we must remember that the rich man differs from the steward, or dispenser of riches. The rich man is he who reserves his riches to himself, the steward or dispenser one who holds them entrusted to his care for the benefit of others.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. 24. in 1 ad Cor.) Abraham indeed possessed wealth for the poor. And all they who righteously possess it, spend it as receiving it from God, according to the divine command, while those who have acquired wealth in an ungodly way, are ungodly in their use of it; whether in squandering it on harlots or parasites, or hiding it in the ground, but sparing nothing for the poor. (Hom. 18. in Joan.). He does not then forbid men to be rich, but to be the slaves of their riches. He would have us use them as necessary, not keep guard over them. It is of a servant to guard, of a master to dispense. Had he wished to preserve them, He would never have given them to men, but left them to remain in the earth.
THEOPHYLACT. Again, observe that He says, a rich man can not possibly be saved, but one who possesses riches hardly; as if he said, The rich man who has been taken captive by his riches, and is a slave to them, shall not be saved; but he who possesses or is the master of them shall with difficulty be saved, because of human infirmity. For the devil is ever trying to make our foot slip as long as we possess riches, and it is a hard matter to escape his wiles. Poverty therefore is a blessing, and as it were free from temptation.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. 80. in Matt.) There is no profit in riches while the soul suffers poverty, no hurt in poverty, while the soul abounds in wealth. But if the sign of a man waxing rich is to be in need of nothing, and of becoming poor to be in want, it is plain that the poorer a man is, the richer he grows. For it is far easier for one in poverty to despise wealth, than for the rich. Nor again is avarice wont to be satisfied by having more, for thereby are men only the more inflamed, just as a fire spreads, the more it has to feed upon. Those which seem to be the evils of poverty, it has in common with riches, but the evils of riches are peculiar to them.
AUGUSTINE. (de Quæst Evang. lib. ii. c. 42.) The name of “rich” he here gives to one who covets temporal things, and boasts himself in them. To such rich men are opposed the poor in spirit, of whom is the kingdom of heaven. Now mystically it is easier for Christ to suffer for the lovers of this world, than for the lovers of this world to be converted to Christ. For by the name of a camel He would represent Himself: for He voluntarily humbled Himself to bear the burdens of our infirmity. By the needle He signifies sharp piercings, and thereby the pangs received in His Passion, but by the form of the needle He describes the straitening of the Passion.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. 63. in Matt.) These weighty words so far exceeded the capacity of the disciples, that when they heard them, they asked, Who then can be saved? not that they feared for themselves, but for the whole world.
AUGUSTINE. (ut sup.) Seeing that there is an incomparably greater number of poor which might be saved by forsaking their riches, they understood that all who love riches, even though they cannot obtain them, were to be counted among the number of the rich. It follows, And he said to them, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God, which must not be taken as if a rich man with covetousness and pride might enter into the kingdom of God, but that it is possible with God for a man to be converted from covetousness and pride, to charity and humility.
THEOPHYLACT. With men therefore whose thoughts creep earthward, salvation is impossible, but with God it is possible. For when man shall have God for his counsellor, and shall have received the righteousness of God and His teaching concerning poverty, as well as have invoked His aid, this shall be possible to him.
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. The rich man who has despised many things will naturally expect a reward, but he who possessing little resigns what he has, may fairly ask what there is in store for him; as it follows, Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all. Matthew adds, What shall we have therefore? (Matt. 19:27.)
BEDE. As if he says, We have done what Thou commandedst us, what reward then wilt Thou give us? And because it is not enough to have left all things, he adds that which made it perfect, saying, And have followed thee.
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. This then we say, that he who gives up all worldly and carnal things will gain for himself far greater, inasmuch as the Apostles, after leaving a few things, obtained the manifold gifts of grace, and were accounted great every where. We then shall be like to them. If a man has left his home, he shall receive an abiding place above. If his father, he shall have a Father in heaven. If he has forsaken his kindred, Christ shall take him for a brother. If he has given up a wife, he shall find divine wisdom, from which he shall beget spiritual offspring. If a mother, he shall find the heavenly Jerusalem, who is our mother. From brethren and sisters also united together with him by the spiritual bond of his will, he shall receive in this life far more kindly affections.
Prayers for the first week
Litany of the Holy Ghost (pre-published as pre-published as a post on 16 November).
Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Litany of Loreto): (pre-published as a post on 16 November).
Ave Maris Stella
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
Ad Jesum per Mariam
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