Rupert of Deutz: That Love which is the Holy Spirit is the Life of the Holy Angels and of All Saintly Souls Tuesday, May 7 2013

The angel showed me a river of life-giving water, clear as crystal, issuing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, and flowing down the centre of the city street.

On both banks of the river grew the tree of life, bearing its fruit twelve times a year, one crop for each month. The leaves of that tree are destined for the healing of the nations.

The river here depicted is none other than the torrent of gladness and joy described in one of the psalms as the fast­-flowing river that gladdens the City of God, the river of which another psalm proclaims:

They shall be filled with the abundance of your house, O Lord, and you will give them water from the flowing stream of your delights.

The same figurative language was used by Isaiah to console the people of Jerusalem.

Thus says the Lord, he announced, I will make peace flow over her like a river; the wealth of the nations shall pour into her like a torrent in full spate.

The river of John’s vision, therefore, represents the Lord. More specifically, we can see in it an image of the Holy Spirit.

It is the Holy Spirit who is the river of peace, the torrent of wealth, the river of gladness, the flowing stream of delight, and the abundance of God’s house.

For he is himself the love that unites bride and Bridegroom in the city of glory and constitutes the entire happiness of all who live there.

That love which is the Holy Spirit is the life of the holy angels and of all saintly souls. Consequently the river shown to John by the angel is called a river of life-giving water.

Because its water imparts light and strength it is said to be clear as crystal. This is a beautiful comparison. Crystal is a substance which is translucent yet very durable, qualities which we ourselves shall possess in the life of glory.

Our minds will be wholly irradiated with the divine light, and our bodies will gain a crystalline strength through the gift of blessed immortality in that state of eternal happiness where there will be no more dying.

Now we know that in the Gospel of Saint John our Lord speaks of the procession of the Holy Spirit. When the Advocate comes whom I shall send you, he says, the Spirit of Truth who issues from the Father.

Nor does John neglect that teaching in the Apocalypse. In fact, he affirms it precisely in this very passage, where he tells us that the river issues from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Rupert of Deutz (c.1075–1129): In Apoc. 22 (PL 169:1206); from the Monastic Office of Vigils for Friday of the 5th Week in Eastertide, Year 1.

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Rupert of Deutz: The Power of God and the Justice of the Eternal King Wednesday, Apr 24 2013

(On Revelation chapter 15)

Let us sing to the Lord, great is his renown! Horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.

It is common knowledge that the song of Moses recorded in the Book of Exodus can be understood in a spiritual sense as pointing forward to the Gospel teaching on regeneration.

[...] The author of the Apocalypse is therefore correct in describing the hymn sung by the saints in heaven as the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.

By giving it this title, he is linking together a historical event and a spiritual reality.

The crossing of the sea under the leadership of Moses is seen as a foreshadowing of what Christ, the Lamb of God, does for us in the regenerating waters of Baptism.

‘Lamb of God’ is used here as a richly evocative designation for the son of God, into whose death we have been baptized.

When Moses first intoned his song, he did so in honour of an event that had begun with the slaying of a lamb.

God himself had ordained that on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month a lamb should be sacrificed.

The slaughter of that lamb prefigured the death of Christ, the Son of God, who was destined to be slain in expiation of our sins.

[...] The saints, therefore, are described as singing the song of Moses because they resemble Moses both in their singing and in the subject matter of their song.

But while they too praise the Lord with joy and thanksgiving to the accompaniment of harps, their song consists of one short verse only.

This single verse contains none the less two all-important themes: the power of God and the justice of the Eternal King.

Great and wonderful are your deeds is a proclamation of God’s power. Just and true are your ways is an acknowledgement of his justice.

Of the two it is surely more meritorious to confess the second than the first. If we fear and praise God as the most powerful of spirits because we witness his marvellous deeds, our confession is certainly not lacking in merit.

But if we can discern the divine justice underlying these same deeds and strenuously uphold it in the face of every denial, we shall gain a far greater blessing.

And the same is true even when discernment fails us: we are blessed indeed if we still bow down in loving adoration of God’s justice, worshiping him in the words the Apostle Paul teaches each one of us to say:

O the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, how unfathomable his designs!

Rupert of Deutz (c.1075–1129): In Apoc. 9.15 (PL 169:1109-1110); from the Monastic Office of Vigils for Wednesday of the 4th Week in Eastertide, Year 1.

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Bede the Venerable: St Cuthbert and the Otters Wednesday, Mar 20 2013

March 20^th is the Feast of St Cuthbert (c 635-687)

When this holy man (St Cuthbert) was thus acquiring renown by his virtues and miracles, Ebbe, a pious woman and handmaid of Christ, was the head of a monastery at a place called the city of Coludi, remarkable both for piety and noble birth, for she was half-sister of King Oswy.

She sent messengers to the man of God, entreating him to come and visit her monastery. This loving message from the handmaid of his Lord he could not treat with neglect, but, coming to the place and stopping several days there, he confirmed, by his life and conversation, the way of truth which he taught.

Here also, as elsewhere, he would go forth, when others were asleep, and having spent the night in watchfulness return home at the hour of morning-prayer.

Now one night, a brother of the monastery, seeing him go out alone, followed him privately to see what he should do.

But he when he left the monastery, went down to the sea, which flows beneath, and going into it, until the water reached his neck and arms, spent the night in praising God.

When the dawn of day approached, he came out of the water, and, falling on his knees, began to pray again.

Whilst he was doing this, two quadrupeds, called otters, came up from the sea, and, lying down before him on the sand, breathed upon his feet, and wiped them with their hair after which, having received his blessing, they returned to their native element.

Cuthbert himself returned home in time to join in the accustomed hymns with the other brethren.

The brother, who waited for him on the heights, was so terrified that he could hardly reach home; and early in the morning he came and fell at his feet, asking his pardon, for he did not doubt that Cuthbert was fully acquainted with all that had taken place.

To whom Cuthbert replied, “What is the matter, my brother? What have you done? Did you follow me to see what I was about to do? I forgive you for it on one condition – that you tell it to nobody before my death.”

In this he followed the example of our Lord, who, when He showed his glory to his disciples on the mountain, said, “See that you tell no man, until the Son of man be risen from the dead.”

When the brother had assented to this condition, he gave him his blessing, and released him from all his trouble. The man concealed this miracle during St. Cuthbert’s life; but, after his death, took care to tell it to as many persons as he was able.

The Venerable Bede (672/4-735): Life of St Cuthbert, 10 @ Mediaeval Sourcebook.

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John Maximovitch: Have You Ever Observed the Life of the Heart? Thursday, Mar 14 2013

Focus on the Eternal.

Just as a basic concern is to be careful of anything that might be harmful to our physical health, so our spiritual concern should watch out for anything that might harm our spiritual life and the work of faith and salvation.

Therefore, carefully and attentively assess your inner impulses: are they from God or from the spirit of evil?

Beware of temptations from this world and from worldly people; beware of hidden inner temptations that come from the spirit of indifference and carelessness in prayer, from the waning of Christian love.

If we turn our attention to our mind, we notice a torrent of successive thoughts and ideas.

This torrent is uninterrupted; it is racing everywhere and at all times: at home, in church, at work, when we read, when we converse.

“It is usually called thinking,” writes Bishop Theophan the Recluse, “But in fact it is a disturbance of the mind, a scattering, a lack of concentration and attention.”

The same happens with the heart. Have you ever observed the life of the heart? Try it even for a short time and see what you find.

Something unpleasant happens, and you get irritated; some misfortune occurs, and you pity yourself;

you see someone whom you dislike, and animosity wells up within you;

you meet one of your equals who has now outdistanced you on the social scale, and you begin to envy him;

you think of your talents and capabilities, and you begin to grow proud.

And all of this can pass through the heart in a matter of minutes.

For this reason one ascetic, who was extremely attentive to himself, was quite right in saying that “man’s heart is filled with poisonous serpents. Only the hearts of saints are free from these serpents, the passions.”

But such freedom is attained only through a long and difficult process of self-knowledge, working on oneself and being vigilant towards one’s inner life, i.e., the soul.

Be careful. Watch out for your soul! Turn your thoughts away from what will soon pass away and turn them toward what is eternal.

Here you will find the happiness that your soul seeks, that your heart thirsts for.

John Maximovitch (Orthodox Church; 1896-1966): Translated from Pravoslavnaya Rus and taken from Orthodox America, Vol. XIV, No. 2-3. Sept – Oct. 1993 @ Kandylaki.

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John of Fécamp: Happy Are All You Saints of God Thursday, Nov 1 2012

Happy is the soul who asks to be released into heaven from its earthly prison!

She is secure and tranquil, fearing neither enemy nor death  for she both possesses and unendingly perceives the ever-present and most beautiful Lord whom she serves whom she loves and whom, glorious and rejoicing, she at last attains.

Happy are all you saints of God who have traversed the sea of mortality, and attained the port of everlasting rest, security and peace: secure and tranquil, you are always festive and glad.

I beseech you by the Mother of charity: you who enjoy tranquility, concern yourselves with us; you who are tranquil in your unfading glory, concern yourselves with our manifold misery.

I implore you through Him Who chose you, who made you to be as you are, through Whose beauty you are now satiated, through Whose immortality you have been made immortal, through Whose blessed vision you eternally rejoice keep us always in mind, relieve our distress, you who stand unruffled as we are tossed about in the storms of this life.

You who are the most beautiful gates, raised up to  great heights, come to the aid of us, lowly paving stones, far below. Extend your hands and raise us up, who lie prostrate at your feet. Like those recovering from sickness, may we be made strong for battle.

Intercede and pray constantly and unceasingly for us miserable and most negligent sinners, so that, through your prayers, we may be united with your holy company: for we cannot otherwise be saved.

We are exceeding frail, exceeding weak and despicable, slaves to intemperance and lust, and indisposed to every virtuous and gallant undertaking. And yet, helpless wretches as we are, we are listed under thy banner, and borne up by thy Cross.

Thus are we buoyed up by thy faith, and commit ourselves boldly to this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts, where is that Leviathan, that serpent ready to devour (Psal. 104:25, 28), wherein are rocks and quicksands.aud other dangers without number, on which the careless and the unbelieving run their vessels, and suffer shipwreck daily.

Intercede for me therefore, most gracious ones, all you ranks of the saints and of the universal assembly of the blessed, that, assisted by your prayers and merits, I may be able to bring this vessel and its landing safe to shore, and that I may be conducted to the haven where every pious soul would be, the haven of peace and salvation, of uninterrupted rest, and never-ending joy.

John of Fécamp (d. 1079): Book of the Writings and Sayings of the Ancient Fathers, ch. 23-24.

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A Monk of the Abbey of Bèze: There the Saints Feast and Leap with Joy in the Presence of God Thursday, Nov 1 2012

Continued from here….

When shall we see the first-born of the dead, the joy of the Resurrection, the man of the right hand of God, He whom the Father has established?

He is the Son of God, chosen from among thousands.

Let us hear Him, run to Him, thirst for Him; may our eyes stream with tears of desire, until we be taken away from this valley of tears and rest in the bosom of Abraham.

But what is Abraham’s bosom?

What do they possess, what do they do, those who rest in Abraham’s bosom?

Who will understand by his intelligence, who will explain in words, who will experience through love what strength and beauty, glory, honor, delight and peace there are in Abraham’s bosom?

Abraham’s bosom is the Father’s repose.

There are revealed openly the power of the Father, the splendor of the Son, the sweetness of the Spirit.

There the Saints feast and leap with joy in the presence of God, there are luminous dwellings, there the souls of the Saints rest and take their fill of the abundance of Divine praise.

In them is found joy and gladness, thanksgiving and words of praise.

There is magnificent solemnity, opulent repose, inaccessible light, interminable peace.

There are the great and the humble, and the slave set free from his master.

There dwells Lazarus, who once sat covered by ulcers by the door of the rich man, now forever happy in the glory of the Father.

There is enjoyment for the choirs of angels and saints.

O how broad and pleasing is Abraham’s bosom! O how calm and secret! How free and clear!

O Israel, how good is Abraham’s bosom, not for those who glory in themselves but for those whose hearts are good, principally for those it embraces and makes anew.

Without your help, O God, eye has not seen what has been prepared in the bosom of Abraham for those who await you.

Man does not know this secret, which does not appear upon earth to those who live in pleasure.

This secret is one which the eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man.

It is what is promised to the faithful fighting for Christ, and what is given to the victorious who reign with Christ in glory.

Anonymous Monk of the Benedictine Abbey of Bèze (early 12^th century?): Elevations on the Glories of Jerusalem (quoted in Jean Leclercq OSB, The Love of Learning and the Desire for God; A Study of Monastic Culture, ch 45).

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Thomas Aquinas: “Let Us Praise Men of Renown, and Our Fathers in Their Generation” Wednesday, Oct 31 2012

[from a sermon preached for the feast of All Saints]

“Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord: the people whom he hath chosen for his inheritance” (Psalm 32:12).

In many ways, holy mother Church applies her effort to this end, that she advance her children to desire heavenly things.

And if you wish to consider this properly, it would seem that the whole of her effort strives for this, which, having disdained earthly things, directs us to desire heavenly things.

This is evident from the first founder of the Church, our Savior, who in His proclamation and in His zeal of instruction, says at Matthew 3:2, “Do penance” so that we might remove ourselves from earthly affairs; “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”: which he says to entice us to desire heavenly things.

Among the different things provocative of a desire for heavenly things, he recalls and impresses upon our hearts today the glory of the saints for which we strive.

If it is agreeable, we will ask God at the beginning (of this sermon) that He give me something worthy to say on behalf of the fitting nature of so great a celebration, that it be to His honor, of all the saints, and the salvation of our souls.

“Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.” It is commonly laid upon men’s souls that they hear with delight the praises of their homeland and of their parents:

the praises of their homeland, that they may hasten to return to her; the praises of their parents, that they, by imitating them, may not become degenerate.

But what is our homeland? That homeland for which we strive is a heavenly homeland. Wherefore, the Apostle state at Hebrews 13:14, “For we have not here a lasting city, but we seek one that is to come.”

Our parents are the spiritual people who have taught and instructed us, who have supplied us with an example of living rightly and well.

These very people are saints in this heavenly homeland whose solemn rites we celebrate today. And for this reason we ought to persist in our praises of these very people with delight.

Whence it is said at Ecclesiasticus 44:1, “Let us praise men of renown, and our fathers in their generation.”

[...] David praises this very assembly of the saints because of their dignity, at, “Blessed are the people.”

The dignity of this very assembly is indicated because they have arrived at that place for which we strive. They possess that which we desire. They have been established beyond that which we are able to understand.

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274): Sermon “Beata Gens” for the Feast of All Saints.

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John Damascene: The Saints (3) – Sharing in Their Crowns of Glory Tuesday, Oct 30 2012

[Following from here...]

Those who worship God will take pleasure in those things whereby God is worshipped, while His shield-bearers will be wrath at those things wherewith God is wroth.

In psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, in contrition and in pity for the needy, let us believers worship the saints, as God also is most worshipped in such wise.

Let us raise monuments to them and visible images, and let us ourselves become, through imitation of their virtues, living monuments and images of them.

Let us give honour to her who bore God as being strictly and truly the Mother of God.

Let us honour also the prophet John as forerunner and Baptist, as apostle and martyr, for among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist,… and he became the first to proclaim the Kingdom.

Let us honour the apostles as the Lord’s brothers, who saw Him face to face and ministered to His passion, for those whom God the Father did foreknow He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, first apostles, second prophets, third pastors and teachers.

Let us also honour the martyrs of the Lord chosen out of every class, as soldiers of Christ who have drunk His cup and were then baptized with the baptism of His life-bringing death, to be partakers of His passion and glory.

Of these the leader is Stephen, the first deacon of Christ and apostle and first martyr.

Also let us honour our holy fathers, the God-possessed ascetics, whose struggle was the longer and more toilsome one of the conscience: who wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented; they wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth, of whom the world was not worthy.

Let us honour those who were prophets before grace, the patriarchs and just men who foretold the Lord’s coming.

Let us carefully review the life of these men, and let us emulate their faith and love and hope and zeal and way of life, and endurance of sufferings and patience even to blood, in order that we may be sharers with them in their crowns of glory.

 John Damascene (c.675-749): De Fide Orthodoxa 4, 15.

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John Damascene: The Saints (2) – Fountains of Salvation Tuesday, Oct 30 2012

[Following from here...]

Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you? The Lord is that Spirit, and if any one destroy the temple of God, him will God destroy.

Surely, then, we must ascribe honour to the living temples of God, the living tabernacles of God. These while they lived stood with confidence before God.

The Master Christ made the remains of the saints to be fountains of salvation to us, pouring forth manifold blessings and abounding in oil of sweet fragrance.

And let no one disbelieve this. For if water burst in the desert from the steep and solid rock at God’s will and from the jaw-bone of an ass to quench Samson’s thirst, is it incredible that fragrant oil should burst forth from the martyrs’ remains?

By no means, at least to those who know the power of God and the honour which He accords His saints.

In the law everyone who touches a dead body was considered impure, but these are not dead. For from the time when He that is Himself life and the Author of life was reckoned among the dead, we do not call those dead who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection and in faith on Him.

For how could a dead body work miracles? How, therefore, are demons driven off by them, diseases dispelled, sick persons made well, the blind restored to sight, lepers purified, temptations and troubles overcome, and how does every good gift from the Father of lights come down through them to those who pray with sure faith?

How much labour would you not undergo to find a patron to introduce you to a mortal king and speak to him on your behalf? Are not those, then, worthy of honour who are the patrons of the whole race, and make intercession to God for us?

Yea, verily, we ought to give honour to them by raising temples to God in their name, bringing them fruit-offerings, honouring their memories and taking spiritual delight in them, in order that the joy of those who call on us may be ours, that in our attempts at worship we may not on the contrary cause them offence.

John Damascene (c.675-749): De Fide Orthodoxa 4, 15.

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John Damascene: The Saints (1) – Treasuries and Temples of the Holy Spirit Tuesday, Oct 30 2012

To the saints honour must be paid as friends of Christ, as sons and heirs of God: in the words of John the theologian and evangelist, As many as received Him, to them He gave power to became sons of God;

So that they are no longer servants, but sons: and if sons, also heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.

And the Lord in the holy Gospels says to His apostles, You are my friends; henceforth I do not call you not servants, for the servant does not know what his lord does.

And further, if the Creator and Lord of all things is called also King of Kings and Lord of Lords and God of Gods, surely also the saints are gods and lords and kings.

[...] Now I mean gods and kings and lords not in nature, but as rulers and masters of their passions,

and as preserving a truthful likeness to the divine image according to which they were made (for the image of a king is also called king),

and as being united to God of their own free-will and receiving Him as an indweller and becoming by grace through participation with Him what He is Himself by nature.

Surely, then, the worshippers and friends and sons of God are to be held in honour?

For the honour shown to the most thoughtful of fellow-servants is a proof of good feeling towards the common Master.

These are made treasuries and pure habitations of God: For I will dwell in them, said God, and walk in them, and I will be their God (Levit. 26:12; 2 Cor. 6:16).

The divine Scripture likewise says that the souls of the just are in God’s hand and death cannot lay hold of them. For death is rather the sleep of the saints than their death.

For they travailed in this life and shall to the end, and precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.

What then, is more precious than to be in the hand of God? For God is Life and Light, and those who are in God’s hand are in life and light.

Further, that God dwelt even in their bodies in spiritual wise, the Apostle tells us, saying, Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you?

John Damascene (c.675-749): De Fide Orthodoxa 4, 15.

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