Ambrose of Milan: The Holy Spirit is the Oil of Gladness and the Ointment of Christ Friday, May 17 2013

Now many have thought that the Holy Spirit is the ointment of Christ. And well it is said ointment, because He is called the oil of gladness, the joining together of many graces giving a sweet fragrance.

But God the Almighty Father anointed Him [Christ] the Prince of priests, Who was, not like others anointed in a type under the Law, but was both according to the Law anointed in the body, and in truth was full with the virtue of the Holy Spirit from the Father above the Law.

This is the oil of gladness, of which the prophet says: “God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.”

Lastly, Peter says that Jesus was anointed with the Spirit, as you read: “Ye know that word which went through all Judea beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached, even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is, then, the oil of gladness.

And well did he say oil of gladness, lest you should think Him a creature; for it is the nature of this sort of oil that it will by no means mingle with moisture of another kind. Gladness, too, does not anoint the body, but brightens the inmost heart, as the prophet said: “Thou hast put gladness in my heart.”

[...] And well is that called oil of gladness wherewith Christ was anointed; for neither was usual nor common oil to be sought for Him, wherewith either wounds are dressed or heat assuaged; since the salvation of the world did not seek alleviation for His wounds, nor the eternal might of His wearied Body demand refreshment.

Nor is it wonderful if He have the oil of gladness, Who made those about to die rejoice, put off sadness from the world, destroyed the odour of sorrowful death. And so the Apostle says: “For we are the good odour of Christ to God;” certainly showing that he is speaking of spiritual things.

But when the Son of God Himself says: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me,” He points out the ointment of the Spirit. Therefore the Spirit is the ointment of Christ.

Or since the Name of Jesus is as ointment poured out, if they wish to understand Christ Himself, and not the Spirit of Christ to be expressed under the name of ointment, certainly when the Apostle Peter says that the Lord Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit, it is without doubt plain that the Spirit also is called ointment.

Ambrose of Milan (c. 337-397): On the Holy Spirit, 1, 10, 100-104.

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Cyril of Alexandria: Christ Offered Himself for Us, and of His Own Free Will Submitted to Death, Confounding the Destroyer Friday, Mar 8 2013

When Christ saw the human race being destroyed by death he became our advocate with the Father.

He offered himself for us and of his own free will submitted to death, confounding the destroyer by saying the sin was his.

This does not mean that he himself had committed it, but that as the Scriptures say: He bore our sins and suffered for our sake, and he was taken for a criminal. 

He was innocent, but for our sake he became accursed. 

David said the shepherd ought to suffer rather than the sheep, and Christ like a good shepherd laid down his life for his sheep.

In obedience to God’s command blessed David set up an altar in the place where he had seen the angel of destruction stop, and he offered God holocausts and peace offerings.

By this place, which was a threshing floor, you must understand the Church, for it is there that death was halted and overcome, there that the destroyer stayed his once terrible and devastating hand.

For the Church is the dwelling place of him who is life by his very nature – that is, of Christ.

By way of simile or comparison we call the Church a threshing floor, because there are gathered, like sheaves of wheat, those cut off from the life of this world by the word of holy reapers, that is, of the apostles and evangelists.

Then, when all useless and unnecessary thoughts and actions, which may be thought of as chaff, have been removed, they are to be carried up like winnowed grain into the courts above in the heavenly Jerusalem, into what we may call the granary of the Lord.

Christ asked his holy apostles…: The harvest is plentiful, but the la borers are few. You must therefore beg the Lord of the harvest to send people out to reap it.

Now as I understand it, the harvest Christ spoke of is a spiritual one, namely, the great multitude of those who would one day believe in him.

The holy reapers are those who have in their minds and on their tongues the word of God, which is living and active, and cuts more keenly than any two-edged sword, piercing to the meeting place of soul and spirit, to the innermost recesses of our being.

Christ purchased the spiritual threshing floor which is the Church for fifty shekels: in other words, he paid for it dearly.

He gave himself for the Church, he set up an altar within it, and since he was both the priest and the sacrifice, he offered himself as though he were the beast that treads out the grain, and he became a holocaust and a peace offering.

Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376-444): The Adoration and Worship of God in Spirit and in Truth, Bk. 8 (PG 68:269-292); from the Monastic Office of Vigils, Wednesday of the 3rd Week in Lent  @ Dom Donald’s Blog.

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Germanus of Constantinople: Christ Made Us Communicants of His Death, His Resurrection, and His Glory Monday, Feb 4 2013

Praying toward the East is handed down by the holy apostles, as is everything else.

This is because the comprehensible sun of righteousness, Christ our God, appeared on earth in those regions of the East where the perceptible sun rises, as the prophet says:

“Orient is his name” (Zech 6:12); and “Bow before the Lord, all the earth, who ascended to the heaven of heavens in the East” (cf Ps 67:34);

and “Let us prostrate ourselves in the place where His feet stood” (cf Ps 67:34); and again, “The feet of the Lord shall stand upon the Mount of Olives in the East” (Zech 14:4).

The prophets also speak thus because of our fervent hope of receiving again the paradise in Eden, as well as the dawn of the brightness of the second coming of Christ our God, from the East.

[...] The priestly stole is the robe of Aaron, which served to cover him down to his feet. It was fiery in appearance, as the prophet says:

“Who makes the winds your messengers and flames of fire your servants” (Ps 103:4); and again…, “Why is your clothing all red, like the garments of one who treads grapes in the vat?” (Is 63:2).

By this the prophet indicates the stole of the flesh of Christ dyed by His undefiled blood on the cross. Or, again, since Christ wore a crimson cloak at His passion, it indicates that the high priests are servants of such a High Priest.

[...] The bread of offering, that is to say, which is purified, signifies the superabundant riches of the goodness of our God, because the Son of God became man and gave Himself as an offering and oblation in ransom and atonement for the life and salvation of the world.

He assumed the entirety of human nature, except for sin. He offered Himself as first-fruits and chosen whole burnt-offering to the God and Father on behalf of the human race, as is written: “I am the bread which came down from heaven,” and “He who eats this bread will live forever” (Jn 6:51).

About this the Prophet Jeremiah says: “Come, let us place a stake in his bread” (11:19 LXX), pointing to the wood of the cross nailed to His body.

[...] The bread and the chalice are really and truly the memorial of the mystical supper at which Christ, having taken the bread and wine, said: “Take, eat, and drink, all of you, this is my body and blood.”

This shows that He made us communicants of His death, His resurrection, and His glory.

Germanus of Constantinople (c.634–c.733): On the Divine Liturgy, 11,14,20,22 (Tr based in part on: J. Meyendorff, St. Germanus of Constantinople on the Divine Liturgy, Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1984: 56-106. ) @ Fr Luke Dysinger, OSB.

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John Chrysostom: The Compassion and Sympathy of Christ Wednesday, Jan 16 2013

“For verily He taketh not hold of Angels, but of the seed of Abraham” (Hebrews 2:16).

Why did he not say, “He took on Him,” but used this expression, “He takes hold of”?

It is derived from the figure of persons pursuing those who turn away from them, and doing everything to overtake them as they flee, and to take hold of them as they are bounding away.

For when human nature was fleeing from Him, and fleeing far away (for we “were far off”— Eph. 2:13 ), He pursued after and overtook us.

He showed that He has done this only out of kindness, and love, and tender care.

[...] “Wherefore it behooved Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren” (2:16-17).

What is this, “in all things”? He was born, was brought up, grew, suffered all things necessary, at last He died. This is, “in all things to be made like unto His brethren.”

[...] And consider…how St Paul represents Him as having great zeal “to be made like unto us”: which was a sign of much care.

[...] For this cause did He leave the angels and the other powers, and come down to us, and took hold of us, and wrought innumerable good things.

He destroyed Death, He cast out the devil from his tyranny, He freed us from bondage: not by brotherhood alone did He honour us, but also in other ways beyond number.

For He was willing also to become our High Priest with the Father: for he adds, “That He might become a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God.”

For this cause…He took on Him our flesh, only for Love to man, that He might have mercy upon us. For neither is there any other cause of the economy, but this alone.

For He saw us, cast on the ground, perishing, tyrannized over by Death, and He had compassion on us.

[...] We were become altogether enemies to God…;  condemned, degraded, there was none who should offer sacrifice for us.

He saw us in this condition, and had compassion on us, not appointing a High Priest for us, but Himself becoming a High Priest…“to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. That He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest.”

[...] In order then that He might offer a sacrifice able to purify us, for this cause He has become man.

[...] He went through the very experience of the things which we have suffered…; He suffered much, He knows how to sympathize.

[...] He knows what tribulation is; He knows what temptation is, not less than we who have suffered, for He Himself also has suffered…. He will stretch forth His hand with great eagerness, He will be sympathizing.

John Chrysostom (c.347-407): Homily 5, 1-2 on the Epistle to the Hebrews.

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Germanus of Constantinople: The Church is an Earthly Heaven… Tuesday, Jan 15 2013

The church is the temple of God, a holy place, a house of prayer, the assembly of the people, the body of Christ.

It is called the bride of Christ. It is cleansed by the water of His baptism, sprinkled by His blood, clothed in bridal garments, and sealed with the ointment of the Holy Spirit, according to the prophetic saying:

“Your name is oil poured out” (Cant 1:3), and “We run after the fragrance of your myrrh” (Cant 1:4), which is “Like the precious oil, running down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron” (Ps 132:2 LXX).

The church is an earthly heaven in which the super-celestial God dwells and walks about.

It represents the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Christ: it is glorified more than the tabernacle of the witness of Moses, in which are the mercy-seat and the Holy of Holies.

[...] The apse corresponds to the cave in Bethlehem where Christ was born, as well as the cave in which he was buried, as the evangelist Mark says: “There was a cave hewn out of rock; there they placed Jesus” (cf Mk 15:46).’

The holy table corresponds to the spot in the tomb where Christ was placed. On it lies the true and heavenly bread, the mystical and unbloody sacrifice.

[...] This table was pre-figured by the table of the Old Law upon which the manna, which was Christ, descended from heaven.

[...] The altar corresponds to the holy tomb of Christ.

On it Christ brought Himself as a sacrifice to [His] God and Father through the offering of His body as a sacrificial lamb, and as high priest and Son of Man, offering and being offered as a mystical bloodless sacrifice, and appointing for the faithful reasonable worship, through which we have become sharers in eternal and immortal life.

This lamb Moses prefigured in Egypt “towards evening” when its blood turned back the destroyer so that he would not kill the people (cf Ex 12:7-13).

The expression “towards evening” signifies that towards evening the true lamb is sacrificed, the One who takes away the sin of the world on his cross, “For Christ, our Pascha, has been sacrificed for us” (cf I Cor 5:7).

The altar is and is called the heavenly and spiritual altar, where the earthly and material priests who always assist and serve the Lord represent the spiritual, serving, and hierarchical powers of the immaterial and celestial Powers, for they also must be as a burning fire.

For the Son of God and Judge of all ordained the laws and established the services of both the heavenly and the earthly powers.

Germanus of Constantinople (c.634–c.733): On the Divine Liturgy, 1-6 (Tr based in part on: J. Meyendorff, St. Germanus of Constantinople on the Divine Liturgy Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1984: 56-106. ) @ Fr Luke Dysinger, OSB.

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Ephrem the Syrian: Christ’s Baptism in the Jordan and the Cleansing and Healing of the Heart Sunday, Jan 13 2013

(Addressed to the Church)

Give thanks, O daughter, that thy crownings have been doubled;—for lo! thy temples and thy sons rejoice. —The dedication of thy temples is in the ministration;—The dedication of thy sons is in the anointing.—Blessed art thou that at once…[art] the tabernacle for them that dwell in thee,—and the Spirit has abode upon thy sons!

Our Lord opened up Baptism—in the midst of Jordan the blessed river.—The height and the depth rejoiced in Him;—He brings forth the first fruits of His peace from the water,—for they are first fruits, the fruits of Baptism.—The good God in His compassion will bring to pass—that His peace shall be first fruits on earth.

Moses stretched out the temporal Tabernacle;—the priests bathed themselves in water,—and went in and ministered; and were stricken and punished,—because their heart within was not cleansed.—Blessed art thou that in the Passover of the great Passion,—the priests by the savour of their oblations,—lo! are cleansing souls in thee!

Great was the mystery that the Prophet saw,—the torrent that was mighty.—Into its depths he gazed and beheld—thy beauty instead of himself; thee it was he saw, for thy faith passes not away,—thou whose flood unseen shall overwhelm—the subtleties of idolatry.

Though John was great among them that are born of women,—yet he that is little is greater than he,—in this that his baptized were again baptized,—in the baptism that was of the Apostles.—Blessed art thou that thy priest is greater than he—in this alone that forever—abides his baptism.

The baptism that was of Siloam—did not bring mercy to the man that was laid there—who for thirty and eight years awaited it,—for he was a respecter of the persons of the Levites.—Blessed art thou that thy healing is in thee for all men,—and thy priests are devoted and ready—for all that are in need of thy help.

The Prophet healed the waters that were unwholesome,—and cured the disease of the land that was barren,—so that its death was done away and its region resounded, for its offspring increased and its bosom was filled.—Greater is Thy grace, Lord, than Elisha’s!—Multiply my lambs and my flocks—at the great stream of my fountain!

Great is the marvel that is within thy abode;—the flocks together with the Shepherds,—those at the stream of the waters,—two unseen with one manifest who baptizes.—Blessed is he who is baptized in their fountains!—for three arms have upheld him,—and three Names have preserved him!

Ephrem the Syrian (c.306-373): Fifteen Hymns on the Epiphany, 11.

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John Henry Newman: Christ Came to Make a New World and Recapitulate All Things in Himself Friday, Jan 11 2013

Christ exercised His prophetical office in teaching, and in foretelling the future—in His sermon on the Mount, in His parables, in His prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem.

He performed the priest’s service when He died on the Cross, as a sacrifice; and when He consecrated the bread and the cup to be a feast upon that sacrifice; and now that He intercedes for us at the right hand of God.

And He showed Himself as a conqueror, and a king, in rising from the dead, in ascending into heaven, in sending down the Spirit of grace, in converting the nations, and in forming His Church to receive and to rule them.

[...] He said, with reference to His baptism in Jordan, “…it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15). Every holy rite of the law did He go through for our sakes.

And so too did He live through all states of man’s life up to a perfect man, infancy, childhood, boyhood, youth, maturity, that He might be a pattern of them all.

And so too did He take man’s perfect nature on Him, body, and soul, and reason, that He might sanctify it wholly.

And therefore in like manner did He unite in Himself, and renew, and give us back in Him, the principal lots or states in which we find ourselves—suffering, that we might know how to suffer; labouring, that we might know how to labour; and teaching, that we might know how to teach..

[...] Christ came to make a new world. He came into the world to regenerate it in Himself, to make a new beginning, to be the beginning of the creation of God, to gather together in one, and recapitulate all things in Himself.

The rays of His glory were scattered through the world; one state of life had some of them, another others.

The world was like some fair mirror, broken in pieces, and giving back no one uniform image of its Maker.

But He came to combine what was dissipated, to recast what was shattered in Himself. He began all excellence, and of His fulness have all we received.

[...] Angels heralded a Saviour, a Christ, a Lord; but withal, He was “born in Bethlehem,” and was “lying in a manger.”

Eastern sages brought Him gold, for that He was a King, frankincense as to a God; but on the other hand myrrh also, in token of a coming death and burial.

At the last, He “bore witness to the truth” before Pilate as a Prophet, suffered on the cross as our Priest, while He was also “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890): Sermons on Subjects of the Day, 5: The Three Offices of Christ.

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Prosper Guéranger: Let Us Follow Our Emmanuel, and See Him as Our High Priest Saturday, May 26 2012

Jesus has gone to heaven, not only that He may reign as King, but also that He may intercede for us as our High Priest.

[...] [T]he gate of heaven remained shut against us, until He threw it open by His own entrance into that sanctuary, where He was to exercise His eternal office of  “Priest according to the order of Melchisedech.”

By His Ascension into heaven, His priesthood of Calvary was transformed into a priesthood of glory.

He entered with the veil of His once passible and mortal Flesh, within the veil of His Father’s presence, and there is He our Priest forever.

How truly is He called Christ, that is, “the Anointed!” for, no sooner was His divine Person united to the human Nature, than He received a twofold anointing: He was made both King and High Priest.

[...] Let us, then, follow our Emmanuel, and see Him as our High Priest.

[...] Let us go in thought to the temple of Jerusalem.

[...] Man is banished from the place wherein God dwells; he is unworthy to enter into so holy a presence.

He was created that the he might see God and be eternally happy with that vision of God.

There is a veil between himself and Him who is the his last end; neither can he ever remove that veil.

Such is the severe lesson given to us by the symbolism of the ancient temple.

But there is a merciful promise, and it gives a gleam of hope. This veil shall one day be raised up, and man shall enter within.

[...] As we have already noticed, none was allowed to enter the Holy of holies; there was but one exception, and that was in favour of the high priest, who might, once a year, penetrate beyond the veil….

If he entered without holding in his hands a vessel containing the blood of two victims, previously immolated by him for his own and the people’s sins, he was to be put to death.

If, on the contrary, he faithfully complied with the divine ordinances, he would be protected by the blood he carried in his hands, and might make intercession for himself and all Israel.

How beautiful and impressive are these figures of the first covenant! But how much more so their fulfillment in our Jesus’ Ascension!

Even during the period of His voluntary humiliations, He made His power felt in this sacred dwelling of God’s Majesty.

His last breath on the cross rent the veil of the Holy of holies, hereby signifying to us that man was soon to recover the right he had lost by sin, the right of admission into God’s presence.

Prosper Guéranger (1805-1875): The Liturgical Year @ The Traditional Latin Mass in Michiana (which contains a fuller version of this reflection, in addition to other related and beautifully presented material).

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Hilary of Poitiers: The Oil of Gladness Quenches the Unclean Spirits of the Heart Sunday, Feb 12 2012

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.

It is good and pleasant for brothers to dwell in unity because when they dwell in unity they are gathered in the community of the Church; when they are called brothers it is because they are of one heart in the charity of a single will.

At the first preaching of the Apostles we read that this was the great precept, summed up in the words, The company of those who believed were of one heart and soul.

It is fitting then, for the people of God to be brothers under one Father, to be one under one Spirit, to enter with one mind under the same roof, under one head to be members ­of one body.

It is good and pleasant when brothers dwell in unity. ­

And the Prophet uses a simile to illustrate that goodness ­and pleasantness, It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down upon the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes.

By that oil, made up of perfumes, Aaron was anointed to the priesthood. It was God’s pleasure that this be the anointing of his first priest.

And we know that our Lord, too, was invisibly anointed when it is said, Your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness.

That anointing is not a material thing, he was anointed not with a horn of oil as kings are, but with the oil of gladness.

Furthermore, after this anointing Aaron was called according to Law, the Christ, which means the anointed one.

And since wherever it is poured out, this oil quenches the unclean spirits of the heart, so through the anointing of charity we breathe forth to God a sweet odour, as the Apostle says, we are the aroma of Christ.

Just as this oil was pleasing to God in his first priest, so it is good and pleasant for brothers to dwell in unity.

The oil ran down from the head into the beard. Now, a beard is an ornament of adult manhood. For we must not be little children in Christ except, as it is written, we should be babes in evil not in thinking.

The Apostle calls all who have not faith ‘babes’ since they are not strong enough for solid food and still need milk, as he says, I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not ready for it; and even yet you are not ready.

Hilary of Poitiers (c.300-368): On Psalm 132; from the Monastic Office of Vigils, Monday of the 6th  Week in Ordinary Time Year 2.

 

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Fulgentius of Ruspe: Through Christ We Offer Our Sacrifice of Praise to God Thursday, Jan 19 2012

Through the mystery of the Incarnation, Jesus Christ became man, the mediator of God and man.

He is a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech.

By shedding his own blood he entered once and for all into the Holy Places.

He did not enter a place made by human hands, a mere type of the true one.

Rather, he entered heaven itself, where he is at God’s right hand interceding for us.

Quite correctly, the Church continues to reflect this mystery in her prayer.

This mystery of Jesus Christ the high priest is reflected in the apostle Paul’s statement:

Through him, then, let us always offer the sacrifice of praise to God, the fruit of lips that profess belief in his name.

We were once enemies of the Father, but have been reconciled through the death of Christ.

Through him then we offer our sacrifice of praise, our prayer to God.

He became our offering to the Father, and through him our offering is now acceptable.

It is for this reason that Peter the apostle urges us to be built up as living stones into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.

This then is the reason why we offer prayer to God our Father, but through Jesus Christ our Lord.

When we speak of Christ’s priesthood, what else do we mean than the incarnation?

Through this mystery, the Son of God, though himself ever remaining God, became a priest. To him along with the Father, we offer our sacrifice.

Yet, through him the sacrifice we now offer is holy, living and pleasing to God.

Indeed, if Christ had not sacrificed himself for us, we could not offer any sacrifice.

For it is in him that our human nature becomes a redemptive offering.

When we offer our prayers through him, our priest, we confess that Christ truly possesses the flesh of our race.

Clearly the Apostle refers to this when he says: Every high priest is taken from among men.

He is appointed to act on behalf of these same men in their relationship to God; he is to offer gifts and sacrifices to God.

We do not, however, only say “your Son” when we conclude our prayer.

We also say, “who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit”.

In this way we commemorate the natural unity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

It is clear, then, that the Christ who exercises a priestly role on our behalf is the same Christ who enjoys a natural unity and equality with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Fulgentius of Ruspe (462/467—527/533): Epist. 14, 36-37 (CCL 92, 429-431) from the Office of Readings for Thursday in the 2^nd week of Ordinary Time @ Crossroads Initiative.

 

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