In illud Dominus regnavit

Of the same author, on Psalm 96: "The Lord has reigned; let the earth rejoice and let many islands be glad," that is, the human being and the Church. And on the phrase "Day by day utters a word" of Euphrosyne, for if no good thing had happened, the prophets would not have proclaimed "The Lord has reigned." But because when Christ reigned, sin is dissolved, the devil is put to shame, demons have fled, the stings of death have been broken, the paradise closed to Adam has been opened, the thorns of our sins have withered, my tribulation has been uprooted, and a threefold grace has been placed upon my head, my ancient curse is dissolved, I no longer fear hearing "You are earth and you will go to earth"; for in baptism I laid aside earth and put on heaven, and henceforth I hear: "You are heaven and you will go to heavens; the Lord has reigned; let the earth rejoice and let many islands be glad." No longer do I lie beneath the earth, no longer am I held in those hidden, dark, and lightless chambers and enclosures of the devil in Hades; I must now mount clouds and run up to heaven through the grace of the reigning Christ. The word is not without witness: "For we shall be snatched up in clouds, Paul cries out, to meet the Lord, and thus we shall always be with the Lord." "The Lord has reigned; let the earth rejoice, and let many islands be glad." No longer does Eve fear Adam reproaching her; for in Mary her defeat has been redeemed.

And I no longer fear the serpent that slithers in curves, that turns its head elsewhere, I no longer fear its venomous bite; for I am no longer earth but salt, for the Lord said to the serpent when he cursed it: "You shall eat earth all the days of your life." Before the coming of Christ I was earth eaten by the serpent, but the Lord came and changed me into salt. Learn, beloved, how salt is made, so that you may understand yourself in that matter: salt, then, is made from water and spirit, and so he regenerated us from water and spirit. 2 "The Lord has reigned; let the earth rejoice and let many islands be glad." Why not all but many? The many are the orthodox churches; but those lacking right faith are the churches of heretics; how then can they rejoice, when they insult King Christ in various ways? Would that those too might be called churches, beloved, and not dens of foxes, where there are foxes not by a change of nature but by a transformation of mind.

If Eunomius or Arius or Macedonius should approach my Lord Christ and say to him, "I will follow you wherever you go," he fittingly and appropriately replies, saying, "Foxes have dens, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." Concerning these, the Preacher says, "Catch for me the little foxes that destroy the vineyards." The little foxes are the disciples of the heretics, who, slipping into our churches, corrupt the faithful who stand out like grapes in the Christ-bearing vineyard by their teaching; "for evil communications corrupt good manners." "The Lord therefore has reigned; let the earth rejoice, let the many islands be glad." Then the following: "A cloud and darkness surround him." The cloud once sheltered the Hebrews when they were departing from Egypt, checking the burning rays of the sun while illuminating itself with its own light. But if you wish to see that cloud more clearly, go up onto the mountain with Christ and Peter and James and John, and there you will see the luminous cloud overshadowing, and a voice coming out of the cloud saying, "This is my beloved son in whom I was well pleased; listen to him." What then is "a cloud surrounds him"? Cloud and darkness are different. For a cloud is a luminous and very fine fabric of light-bearing air. Darkness, however, is a misty and foggy gloom. How then is there cloud and darkness around him? And he placed the cloud first and then the darkness. For first the cloudiness (divinity?) and then the humanity.

He said "cloud" in order to display through the cloud the godlike and light-bearing beauty of his divinity; and he said "darkness" in order to signify through the darkness the human veil. With this darkness the Word of God concealed his own journey. For listen to the prophet saying: "Coals were kindled from him, and he inclined the heavens and descended, and darkness was under his feet." He said "feet of God" in order to indicate his journey on earth. "Coals were kindled from him, and he inclined the heavens and descended, and darkness was under his feet." He concealed the journey of his divinity with the veil of the flesh, so that the manifold path of his wisdom might not be known to the opposing powers. "For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." As the prophet also says: "In the sea is your way, and your paths are in many waters, and your footprints will not be known." And while the prophet says that his footprints will not be known, Eunomius dares to trace the generation of his divinity.

And he inclined the heavens and descended, and darkness was under his feet, and he mounted upon cherubim and flew, he flew upon the wings of the winds." Not that the Lord has wings and flies, but the prophet said "he flew" in order to indicate the swift and rapid descent of the Word of God from the heavens to the earth. "And he mounted upon cherubim and flew. He flew upon the wings of the winds." Who are these if not the angels? "For he makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire." But since I have called the darkness misty and foggy, a misty darkness so that no one might think I am speaking a myth and not a reality, let the prophet himself bear witness: "and he mounted upon cherubim and flew, he flew upon the wings of the winds." And "he set darkness as his concealment," that is, the body. That he calls the tent of the body darkness, the next verse of the psalm will teach you. For after saying "and he set darkness as his concealment," he added, saying: "around him is his tent." Did you see his cloud? Did you recognize his darkness? Do you know what darkness is? Now solve that much-discussed interpretation, which has been spoken by many but not truly interpreted: "Day belches forth word to day, and night announces knowledge to night. And he set darkness as his concealment." "Darkness," says Scripture, "God called night." There was night among the nations; therefore the Lord put on the night; he put on our tent.

Day belches forth word to day." The Father to the Son, inasmuch as day is light and the Son is light. "For I am the light of the world." "Day belches forth word to day." Draw near to the Jordan, and there you will see how the day above belches forth word to the day standing below; for it speaks thus: "This is my beloved son, in whom I was well pleased." But lest you think that the prophet omitted the Holy Spirit when he said, "Day belches forth word to day," learn, beloved, that he confessed the Trinity: for the Father is day, the Son is day, and the word is the Spirit flying in the midst of the air in the form of a dove. And that the word is the Holy Spirit, let Paul testify: "Take the sword of the Holy Spirit, which is the word of God." 9 "Day belches forth word to day, and night announces knowledge to night." "For a cloud and darkness surround him." He is both day and night, both God and man: Day according to divinity, Night according to humanity; for in comparison with divinity, humanity is night. For this is: "He set darkness as his hiding place." "And he called the darkness night." "Night announces knowledge to night." Christ, according to his humanity, announces to every night on earth, that is, to humanity, knowledge concerning the Father, himself, and the Holy Spirit. To him be glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.