In Librum Primum Regum Variarum Expositionum Libri Sex

(Verse 1.) And he kissed him, and said: Behold, God has anointed you over his inheritance as prince, and you shall deliver his people from the hand of their enemies who are round about them.

That is, a ruler is led to the summit of holy Church, so that he may hold this office by which he establishes peace between God and men. For by sinning we have incurred the enmity of the Creator. Therefore, when a ruler is appointed for the correction of sins, he removes from the midst that which made us enemies of God. Rightly, then, is Samuel said to have kissed the head of Saul. For that prophet bears a fixed kiss on his head who bears in his mind the support of our reconciliation: namely, when he harbors in himself no fuel of divine discord, he who strives in his mind to restore the discordant to peace. Therefore, when the prince has been kissed, it is said: God has anointed you as prince over his inheritance. As if he were reminding him of these things, saying: You who know that you have been placed in this position so that you should dissolve the enmities of sin—what you destroy in others, you ought not to retain in yourself. For some are both anointed and do not receive the kiss; they strive to deliver the people of the Lord, but they do not fear to subject themselves to the yoke of enemies. For he who preaches good things to others but does not do them is, as it were, giving a kiss that he does not receive. For he seeks to make others friends of God, and he himself does not cease to be an enemy. He builds up in himself the enmities of sin, which he attempts to destroy in others by his word.

Therefore, because he alone excels usefully who is a friend of God through the affection of great charity, Samuel is said to have kissed the head of the king. Hence the Truth itself first kisses those whom it ordains, and then sends them to deliver others. "You," he says, "are my friends"; and he adds, saying: "I have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain" (John 15:14). Hence again, rising from the dead, he says: "Peace be to you"; and then he adds: "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained" (John 20:23). So that he might fix, as it were, the kiss of peace in the mind of those whom he had commanded to loose the hatreds of sin. Therefore, having been kissed, he is established as prince over the inheritance of the Lord, because the chosen teacher is chosen so that he may excel in dignity over the faithful subjects, but from his prelacy he should seek not his own gain, but the Lord's. Wherefore he is declared to have been appointed for this, that those who are under him may be delivered from the hands of their enemies. The inheritance of the Lord is the multitude of the faithful. Therefore every secular intention is removed, when the king is declared anointed over the inheritance of the Lord. The fruit of anointing, then, is the cultivation of the divine inheritance. For he fulfills the office of anointing who seeks only the gain of souls. For he remembers himself to have been anointed as prince over the inheritance of the Lord, who seeks this alone from earthly dignity, which Christ sought through his ministry. By this word, therefore, the intention of negligent rulers is reproved.

For they hear that they have been anointed over the Lord's inheritance, because the Lord seeks none but the elect from the earth. They know that he does not call the breadth of the earth, nor an abundance of gold, nor the affluence of riches, but his faithful ones his inheritance—and yet they do not cease to seek what is earthly and to gather what perishes. Into what the Lord does not seek, they thrust themselves with all solicitude; and what alone he seeks, they neglect to seek. It is said, therefore, wherein they may see themselves negligent; it is said, wherein they may become better: "God," he says, "has anointed you as prince in his inheritance." As if he were saying: He has made his inheritance yours; see that you do not reign in it otherwise. "You shall therefore deliver the people from the hand of the enemies who are around it." A great labor is enjoined upon the preacher by this, that the enemies are said to be around it. For it would be grave enough a battle if they were to endure the savagery of malignant spirits on one side only. Hence, declaring through the prophet, he says: "The impious walk around" (Ps. XI, 9). Hence the blessed Peter, exhorting, says: "Your adversary the devil, like a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour; resist him, strong in faith" (1 Pet. V, 8). Our enemies, therefore, are around us, because unclean spirits always lie in wait for our thought, our word, and our deed.

For when they seek to suggest wicked things to us, they are on one side; when they drag us toward evils, we are assailed by their battle on another side; when they invite us to evil works, from the remaining side they stir up war. We have enemies, then, all around us, who in everything we think, speak, and do, we suffer the wars of malignant spirits. But because he is said to free the people not from war but from the hands of enemies, great marks of power are ascribed to preachers: because they ought not only to protect the free lest they be captured, but also to free the captured from their servitude. This, moreover, is then done by our kings, when those who through the boldness of transgression are subject to the yoke of diabolical power come to their senses through their preaching. And indeed only those preachers can do this who arrive at the summit of governance by divine ordination. For those whom almighty God ordains, he sends to endure the battles of the ancient enemy, but he does not abandon them amid those very wars, because he protects his soldiers and makes them victors. But when holy men are raised to the primacy of the holy Church, they are greatly terrified lest the burden of so great an order be imposed on them by the judgment of men, not by the ordination of the Creator. For the strength of the humble, then, signs are given, by which they may know that they have been chosen by God, not by men. Wherefore Samuel also, adding, says: (Verse 2.) And this shall be a sign to you, that God has anointed you as prince.

When you have departed from me today, you will find two men by the tomb of Rachel, in the borders of Benjamin, at noon leaping over great pits, and they will say to you: The asses have been found, for which you had gone to search; and your father, having set the asses aside, is anxious for you, and says: What shall I do for my son?

For it is as if he were saying to a humble shepherd, and one trembling at so great a ministry: You tremble for this reason, because you do not know whether this which has been done concerning you is from God; but because you can know it here, you ought not to tremble. This, then, is a sign to you that not man but God has anointed you as prince: namely, those two men will say to you: The asses have been found, for which you had gone to search. As if he were saying: If you find those two men, and they say this to you, know that God, not I, has appointed you prince. What, then, do these two men designate for us but the perfect preachers of holy Church? They are two, indeed, because they are perfect in both commandments of charity; men, because they are strong in holy conduct. They are said to be found by the tomb of Rachel, because through the study of the contemplative life they are separated from the intention of the world; and while they seek the gain of souls, they are not buried. For by Rachel the beauty of the contemplative life is signified, according to the undoubted judgment of the venerable fathers. By the tomb of Rachel, therefore, the men stand, because the perfect teachers are so devoted to heavenly contemplation that they bear solicitude for holy Church.

They stand by Rachel's tomb because they direct the standing of good work through the power of contemplation, and because they carry out nothing in action except what they arrange by contemplating. And because in the very height of supernal contemplation they strive to hold not their own presumption but the rule of holy Church, Rachel's tomb is described as being in the borders of Benjamin. As I have already said, in Benjamin, who is called the son of the right hand, the Redeemer of the human race is designated. The borders of Benjamin, then, are the rules of the holy Scriptures, of which borders it is indeed written: Do not transgress the boundaries which your fathers have set (Prov. 22:28). Since, therefore, the holy preachers, when by contemplating they see the highest things, do not disagree with the rule of faith, the tomb by which they stand is rightly said to be in the borders of Benjamin. These men indeed leap over great pits at noon, because through the fervor of perfect charity, in which they have been taken up, they despise all the lofty things of this world that are seen. For whatever is seen as lofty in this world is not true height but a pit, which lays low all whom it receives in its ambition down to the depths. The lofty things of the world, therefore, are to be avoided by spiritual men, not desired, because they open themselves from concealment, and those whom they receive by swallowing up they lead down to the depths. Spiritual men, then, leap over the pits, because while they raise themselves by a blameless desire, they despise earthly things.

For as if they had seen the pits, they leap over them when, in order to despise earthly things, they raise themselves to desire eternal goods. Therefore they leap over the pits at midday, because they cannot despise the world unless they have the full light and ardor of supernal charity. Then, therefore, let Saul understand that he has been anointed by the Lord as prince, when those men say to him: The asses which you were seeking have been found. For they tell Saul that the asses have been found when they perceive him to be fit for gathering the gains of souls. As if he were saying otherwise: Do not believe that you have been chosen by God for the ministry of preaching by men, if those men indicate this about you who, being full of the Spirit of God, are perceived to speak not human things but divine. Therefore, because we must be believed about ourselves not by ourselves but by those better than ourselves, Saul fittingly recognizes that he has been anointed by the Lord as prince by the men who at midday leap over the great pits. But it is one thing by whom he is anointed, and another who attest that the anointing itself is from the Lord; because every matter of the holy Church, just as it is more proved by the agreement of the holy fathers, so also is it more strong.

For blessed Paul, as it were, then sought the sign of his own anointing, when he came to Jerusalem to see Peter, and conferred about the Gospel with him and with the other apostles. For he had not received his apostleship from man nor through man, but from heaven, with the Lord Jesus calling him (Gal. 1); and yet he proved the ministry of his anointing through conferring with his fellow apostles. For he says of himself: I conferred with them the Gospel, lest I should run in vain, or had run (Gal. 2:2). The forerunner of the Redeemer had also anointed his disciples, but so that they might recognize the signs of his anointing, he sent them, as it were, to the leaping great pits, saying: Art thou he that is to come, or look we for another (Matt. 11:3)? For John knew him whom he had preached, whom he had baptized; but he sent his disciples so that, having seen the signs, they might believe more firmly and hold more securely the evidences of their election. Those, therefore, who are provided as fit for the order of preaching, recognize that the souls they seek have been found as a sign of their election, [souls] of sinners. And because almighty God rejoices not only in the preaching but also in the conduct of the chosen teacher, he adds and says: And the asses being left, thy father is solicitous for you, and says: What shall I do for my son? We have said that the father of Saul of Kish, who is called the seer in our exposition, designates those who by word and example teach to despise earthly things and to hasten to the heavenly fatherland through a hard and rough manner of life.

We recognize this hardness of the heavenly life both in the word and in the life of our Redeemer. If, then, we look to the summit of our instruction, we are sons of the Redeemer. Our Father, therefore, having sent away the asses, is anxious for us, because our Redeemer so wills us to seek the salvation of others that we not neglect our own. He wills that sinners be called to repentance, but He does not will that those who call the sinners themselves perish. He wills that the converted sinner have the righteousness which he did not have; but He does not will that the righteous man lose the palm of righteousness which he has. With the asses therefore left behind, he is anxious for his son, because he wills his preachers to rest for a time from their anxious attention to others, so that through quiet they may be able to provide better for themselves. And because this same solicitude of holy Church must be taken up again by a good ruler, our rest is interrupted, because the solicitude that comes before precedes it, and that which follows accompanies it. Let the chosen preacher therefore attend to the usefulness of those under him, and attend to his own; but let him so take care for his own that he immediately runs back to the care of others, which he had left; because then our Maker loves us as sons, when we both love those under us as brothers and love Him as a father, while through the affection of solicitude we are joined to these, and through our rest, which He loves, we hasten as to a father to Him. For this love of our rest is expressed in this, that it is said: What shall I do for my son?

This, surely, is what the father says who loves to hold on to his son. This, then, is not said of the son who is present, but of the one who is absent. But because he seeks his father's lost asses, he is greatly beloved by him; for whoever strives by preaching to convert the souls of sinners is already joined to our Redeemer in great charity. He who is certainly, through his care for others, as it were far from him, is near through the quiet of contemplation and the affection of prayer. Since, therefore, he desires us to be near to him both through contemplation and through prayer, he says, as a loving father: What shall I do concerning my son? As if he were to say: How shall I present him, who is absent, as present to me? But because the great men of holy Church praise the solicitude of our preaching, yet censure an excess of solicitude, those who say that the father's asses have been found declare the father to be solicitous for his son. The elect, therefore, can recognize the sign of their anointing; because they are then brought by God to the height of holy Church, when through words and examples they are fit for the salvation of others, and through quiet are zealous for their own; and when they seek sinners for heaven, they do not abandon themselves to the world. It follows: (Vers. 3, 4.) When you have departed from there, and passed on beyond, and come to the oak of Thabor, three men will find you there, going up to the Lord in Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another three loaves of bread, and another a flask of wine. And when they have greeted you, they will give you two loaves, and you shall receive from their hand.

When we wish to make good progress in the holy struggle, it is necessary for us to gather for ourselves the examples of many of the elect; for even bees cannot make honey unless they gather it from various flowers. Saul, then, rightly passes from some men to others, because the more abundantly we behold the examples of the saints, the better we are taught. For the flowers of eternal fruits are the works of the saints, which, while they are bathed with the dew of heavenly favor, we pluck from them, so that we may be filled for our own instruction and for the benefit of others. Hence indeed Saul goes on and passes beyond; when a novice preacher makes progress through the examples of the elect, and from the virtue he has beheld in one man he goes on to examine the manner of life of another. Often it delights him to admire in some the labor of preaching, often in others the strength of good work; those who speak he reveres, those who act he strives to imitate. He looks upon the former, with what beauty they shine in their places; the splendor of the latter he examines not in their outward manner of life but in their inmost heart. Hence also, when he passes on, he is rightly said to come to the oak of Thabor. For the oak is a shady tree and strong. In this tree, surely, the more hidden manner of life of the saints is expressed. For the men of this manner of life, since they do not go out to the outward works of the active life, are as it were in the shade, because they cannot feel the fires of temptation.

For because they rest in heavenly desire, the farther they are removed from the love of the world, the more quietly they remain in the shade of refreshment. But this shade is that of a strong tree, because the conduct of the saints despises earthly things the more powerfully the more purely it rises into love of heavenly things. It is strong also because they powerfully endure the adversities of the world, who love only heavenly things, which they see. And because they are in the great light of inward splendor, who through love disdain to look upon earthly things, that oak itself is said to be Thabor; for Thabor, coming, is interpreted as light. For light comes when the inward brightness of the Creator opens itself to the chosen mind. The oak, then, is called Thabor: because the hidden conduct, by despising earthly things, acts so that it may more clearly behold the innermost light of the Creator. For we are hidden when we keep our senses in the fear of God. And then indeed we discern the coming light, because when the members of the body are well governed, the grace of the Creator is poured back into our mind. And it is to be noted that he is said to come to the oak of Thabor, who knew that his anxious father was making pits for him from the salt-pits. For the preachers of holy Church often praise virtues which they themselves cannot practice. They indeed preach the secret of the contemplative life; but while they are anxious for the guarding of their subjects, they avoid clinging to the secrets of that life.

As if Samuel were saying: Those men praise the study of contemplation for you; but because they cannot hold what they praise, it must be sought in others. Hence we pass on to the oak of Tabor, when from holy preachers we learn that the study of the contemplative life is praiseworthy; but we seek its perfection in those who strive toward it spiritually. The three men, then, who find the anointed king at the oak of Tabor, designate those who are perfect in the study of the contemplative life. It is well said that they are not found by the king, but that they find the king there. For they are not found, because they are hidden. But they find us, because they open to us the light of their secret way of life, when they deign to do so. They are not found, because they withdraw their life from all human testimony. But they find us, because through the affection of charity they show us something of their light for us to imitate. Likewise, they do not bring forth their virtues to be imitated except to those who desire with great longing to obtain and practice them. First, therefore, we ought to come to the oak of Tabor, so that we may be able to be found by those three men. For we are, as it were, already in the shade of the light that is coming, when we are set aflame with great desires for the highest contemplation.

Then therefore three men appear to us, because those who deign to show themselves to us who desire them are strong in the guard of speech, thought, and deed. For they cannot be of the more hidden life if they had kept the gates of the eyes, the heart, and the mouth open. Therefore, because they guard the heart from unfit thought, the mouth from idle speech, and the whole body from depraved action, they are three; but men, because they observe that same guard most strongly. Three men therefore appear to us, because when we behold such men, we perceive in them the strength of virtue. Indeed, they are in the shadow of the light that is to come, because they are able to see the inner light of the Creator all the more clearly the more diligently they guard a clean heart from the defilement of the world. To such men indeed the Lord appeared after rising from the dead; such men the Holy Spirit filled. For of that hidden gathering it is said: When it was evening on one of the sabbaths, and the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews. And again: After eight days his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them; Jesus came with the doors shut and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you. Of another hidden gathering it is also written: When the days of Pentecost were being fulfilled, all the disciples were together in the same place, and suddenly there came from heaven a sound of a violent spirit approaching, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

And there appeared to them cloven tongues, as it were of fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1). Indeed, those have their doors closed who, against the negligence of human falling, keep the offices of the body under strong and strict custody. They are also within, because they rest in inward love of the heavenly life. To them, surely, the risen Lord appears, because they behold his glory the more clearly the more strictly they follow the mystery of his passion through contempt of the world. These also can be filled with the Holy Spirit, as it were in a house, because those receive abundantly the gifts of his graces who have prepared themselves to receive them by despising visible things.

These are well said to have ascended to the Lord in Bethel. For Bethel is called the house of God. But what is the house of God, if not that house which the inaccessible light inhabits? The inaccessible light is also the revelation of his divinity. For it is light, because it can in some way be seen by pure hearts. Most full indeed in itself, it fills all things, but though it abundantly fills all things, it is not contained. It is contained, indeed, so that it may fill, but filling it is not contained, for when all things are filled, it is not exhausted. The revelation of the Creator, therefore, because it is a light of such greatness that it illuminates all things and is confined in nothing—while it is seen and not comprehended, it is inaccessible light.

These three men, therefore, ascend to the Lord, because those who keep themselves in a more hidden life are raised up in the contemplation of the divine light. But because they cannot yet reach the very appearance of God Almighty, they are said to ascend to Bethel. For whatever the human mind can think concerning Almighty God, God is not. But when by thinking it transcends all things, when whatever it can imagine for itself of the inmost light, of the inmost sweetness and delight, of spiritual pleasure, it believes to be less than that which it seeks, it nevertheless arrives at a certain light which is not God, but which God inhabits. And because the soul of the elect is then wonderfully inflamed, wonderfully renewed, and ineffably enjoys delight, it is compelled to consider how ineffable is the light, sweetness, and delight which He Himself is, if that light which He inhabits is so immense, and yet is not He Himself. For Moses had ascended to the Lord in Bethel, when He spoke with him on the mountain. But he who had come to the light which God inhabits was seeking the light which God Himself was, saying: Show me your face (Exod. 33:13). Of him it is also written that the Lord spoke to Moses face to face (Ibid.). What is it that Moses speaks with the Lord face to face, and yet the Lord is entreated that He would show His face? But the face of God is the knowledge of Him. For God is known through a mirror, and God is known through Himself. Here through a mirror, in heaven through Himself.

That light is a mirror, which God inhabits; but that light itself is what he himself is. And Moses, who is said to have seen God face to face and who asked to see his face, what does he more rightly signify than the perfection of the elect, who already behold the mirror of that supreme light, yet vehemently desire to reach the very truth of the light? That knowledge of the light does not know how to satisfy the desires of the elect, but to stir them up; the other, however, both satisfies and stirs them up. For the thing is so pleasant that it is ineffably desired; and so full that those who have already always seen it in great desire will always be satisfied in ineffable fullness. The men, therefore, who ascend to the Lord are said to ascend to Bethel: because when we make much progress in this life, we can see the very light of the Creator through a mirror, but we are in no way able to see it in itself.

And because only the humble are exalted to this sublime vision, it is well said of these same men: that one was carrying three kids, another three loaves of bread. For he carries three kids who in penitence considers that he has sinned in mouth, heart, and deed. For since sinners are signified by kids—those who at the final judgment are to be set on the left of the eternal Judge—they are expressed by the name of kids. He therefore carries three kids to the Lord who does not cease to consider in penitence the sins of deed, word, and thought. And indeed he is a man, and yet he carries kids; he who strongly guards against sinning, but as a sinner does not cease to make satisfaction. For he was a man, and he was carrying kids, because he said: In many things we all offend (James 3:2). And because they strive by penitence to blot out the sins they confess: one carries three kids, but another three loaves of bread. For we referred above the loaves of bread to the affliction of penitence; because if bread sometimes signifies the delight of the present life, bread is twisted, when we are tormented for the past delight of the flesh. Whence also King Hezekiah, when he is pricked by penitence, promises that he will twist royal delights, saying: I will recount all my days in the bitterness of my soul (Isaiah 38:15). For when the carnal mind is dissolved into the delights of sin, it is as if it has day; because it sees with joy what it does. The days, then, of a reprobate mind are evil delights.

Therefore the sinner reflects on all his days, because when through divine grace he comes to his senses, he does not cease to make satisfaction for all his evils. For first one is said to carry three kids, then another three loaves of bread, so that the virtue of each of the elect may appear—one who is strong in good work, humble in his own estimation, afflicted through the contrition of penitence. And because they cannot be of such great perfection unless they have forgotten temporal things through love of eternal goods, a third is said to carry a flask of wine. For he carries a flask of wine who has filled his mind with the warmth of the Holy Spirit, by which he both eagerly presses forward to the things before him by running strongly, and leaves behind the things that are behind, as if in the great drunkenness of one who is intoxicated. For he was carrying kids who said: Christ came to call sinners, of whom I am the first (1 Tim. 1:15). And because he was also carrying a loaf of bread, he says: I chastise my body and bring it into subjection (1 Cor. 9:27). But as if drunk with the wine of the flask, he says: Forgetting the things that are behind, and stretching myself out to the things that are before, I press on to the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:13). Therefore three men go up to the Lord, and they bring three kids, and three loaves of bread, and a flask of wine, because those devoted to the pursuits of a more remote life rise to the contemplation of the true light from the merit of humility.

But what kind of men they are in themselves, and what kind they are to others, he explains, saying: And when they have greeted you, they will give you three loaves of bread, and you shall receive from their hand. Holy men greet us when they announce to us the good things of eternal salvation. For those who greet us through the body bow the head, so as to show reverence to the one greeted. But for spiritual men to bow the head is to lower the mind from the height of contemplation. For if they do not bow the head, they cannot greet: because they do not instruct us with saving doctrine, if they do not lower the mind from the height of contemplation of heavenly things. For then they show us great reverence: because those for whose sake they deign to descend from their high summit, they do not regard as small.

But while the future king is being greeted, two loaves are given to him. For two loaves are given to the preacher who is to be ordained, when he is taught to weep for sins not only his own but also those of others. He has, then, one twisted loaf when he is afflicted for his own sins, he has another when he tries to lament the sins of those under his charge. And the Psalmist, setting forth this loaf more clearly, says: Rise, after you have sat, you who eat the bread of sorrow (Ps. 126:2). Hence he confesses to the Lord, saying: You will feed us with the bread of tears, and you will give us drink in tears with measure (Ps. 79:6). The twisted loaf, then, is the bread of sorrow, and the bread of tears.

And perhaps for this reason that one man was carrying three loaves of bread: because there were three who were traveling together, so that when they divided them among themselves, each would have one loaf each. This can also fittingly be understood of the kids. And in this matter, what is to be noted except that men of a more retired life, while they hold to a singular manner of conduct, have no care for others? Therefore they have one kid and one loaf, who are pricked with compunction for their own sins alone, and are not burdened for the sins of others through the pastoral office. And because those who are of the same thoroughly read manner of conduct strive after affliction of the flesh in themselves, one man carries three loaves, another three kids, and a third a flask of wine. For as it were one carries what all are about to offer or eat; and all eat or offer what one carries, when each one, inflamed with pious emulation, has good examples in himself for others, and does not neglect to imitate the good things that others have. And because the loaves of bread are spoken of in the feminine gender, this assuredly insinuates that for the one who is pricked with compunction from habit, one weeping after another arises from tears. For as it were the affliction of the penitent is fruitful in the feminine sex, because the more often each one is pricked with compunction, the more abundant streams of tears are supplied to him. Therefore to Saul are given not one loaf but two, because a preacher does not suffice to weep for himself alone.

Let him therefore receive two loaves from the hands of the men, so that he may learn to weep by the example of the perfect, but may recognize the weeping as necessary for himself and for his subjects on his own behalf. And because power is sometimes received in the hand, the three men have three loaves in their hand, because those who have advanced to the citadel of contemplation have weeping in the strength of power. For since they do not wish to be dissolved by vain joy when they are able, they are rightly able to weep when they wish. We, indeed, who are weak and negligent of the guard of our mind, even when we wish to be pricked with compunction and to weep for our sins, are not able. For since spiritual tears are produced from a great fervor of spirit, we who are constrained by the cold of our negligence are quickly prevented from growing warm to tears. Well, therefore, are those said to have loaves in their hands who are reported to appear before the future king at the oak of Thabor, because those who are perfect in the contemplation of the private life have the profit of subjects through the observance of virtues.

2. And it must be noted that Samuel gives instructions to the anointed king, saying: And you shall take from their hand. What better explanation of this word can be gathered than that which is plainly seen: namely, that we do not willingly emulate affliction in holy men? For those who seek the honor of prelacy and its dignity are countless; but those who desire the labor of ministry and affliction of the flesh from that same prelacy are few. We willingly wish to be raised above others, but we avoid lamenting their sins. For then we see the loaves offered to us, but we are unwilling to receive them from the hands of those offering them: because in chosen men we perceive affliction, which we do not imitate. Let the prophet therefore give instruction, saying: You shall take from their hand. So that he who desires to be fit to be a ruler of the Church should by no means avoid assuming what has been said. Well also is Saul first led to men going down into great pits, and then to those who carry loaves, goats, and wine: so that the unskilled preacher may learn in some to despise the high things of the world, and in others to offer to almighty God the affliction of the flesh and sacrifices of tears for himself and for his subjects. But the prophet, still intimating the summit of his progress, adds, saying: (Vers. 5, 6.) After these things you shall come to the hill of the Lord, where is the station of the Philistines, and when you have entered the city, you shall meet a company of prophets coming down from the height, and before them a psaltery, and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a cithara: and they themselves prophesying.

And the spirit of the Lord shall come upon you, and you shall prophesy with them, and you shall be changed into another man.

2. The hill is the height of a mountain. But what is more rightly understood by this hill than the holy intention of the Scriptures? It is indeed the height of a mountain, because it is not low in the plain of the letter, but is raised very high in the sublimity of spiritual senses. The unskilled preacher, therefore, leans upon the straight path of the virtues if, after he has seen the public preachers and the withdrawn anchorites, he sees and acknowledges the height of Scripture. In this matter it must be noted that Saul, in that he stands out from the shoulder and upward above all the people, we have said signifies a learned man and a man of great conduct. Why, then, does he ascend to the hill of the Lord, that he may come to the height of the Scriptures, which he knows? But in like manner it could be asked of him, that he went to see the men leaping over great pits, who was said to be of great conduct. To this it must be said: that to designate great men is the office of one who is engaged in conduct, but unskilled in the ministry of preaching. He, therefore, who can profit through the examples of better men, both in the purity of contemplation and in the office of preaching, ought to return to the height of the Scriptures, because the more he profits in a higher life, the more subtly he attends to the sublimity of the sacred word. Let the prophet say, then: After this you shall come to the hill of the Lord.

As if he were saying: When you grasp the perfection of holy men by perfect imitation, you will advance to such great understanding of sacred Scripture that you will see clearly what you used to imagine you could see in it in a lofty manner.

There is the station of the Philistines: because those who fell from heaven through the power of pride mock the Jews and heretics through the Scriptures. They stand, then, on the hill: because they teach the hearts of those whom they possess in the Scriptures with a false understanding. Therefore, as often as the Jews presume to ascend the hill of the Lord, they are taken captive by the Philistines standing there. For while they think they understand the meaning of Scripture in a lofty manner, demons meet them in their ascent and deceive them with false teachings. Rightly, therefore, Saul is commanded not to go to the hill of the Lord at once, but first, after seeing the companies carrying provisions, bread, and wine; because faithful men are protected by the great safeguard of the teaching and examples of better men. Hence it is also said to the same Saul: You will meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place. As if he were saying: You will be able to fear the station of the Philistines all the less, inasmuch as you will have prophets meeting you for your security. And because it is called a company of prophets, the great multitude of our defenders is signified. Let the Jew therefore fear: because while he ascends alone, he perishes. For what do these same prophets, coming to meet us, say? Woe to him who is alone, because if he falls, there is no one to lift him up (Eccles. 4:10). For he is alone who is abandoned by God.

No one, surely, raises up this fallen one, because no one of the saints takes up one who has been abandoned by God. Therefore each of the elect ascends securely, because he is not alone. For the one who speaks through us is with us. Indeed he also promises, saying: Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world (Matthew 28:20). For he was not alone who said: I am not alone, but the one who sent me is with me (John 8:16). Likewise he was not alone who sought after this, saying: Do you seek a proof of him who speaks in me, Christ? (2 Corinthians 13:3). This can fittingly be understood not only of the Lord's spiritual manger, but also of the material teaching of the elect. The holy preachers indeed ascend to the hill of the Lord, where the station of the Philistines is, but because they have the prophets as a company coming to meet them, they do not fear the Philistines at all. Who, then, are these prophets, if not the great preachers of holy Church? For it is the office of prophets to reveal hidden things and to foretell future things. But the teachers of holy Church, when they draw the hidden senses of the Scriptures into common knowledge, open up secrets that are unknown; and when they preach eternal joys, they reveal future things. Therefore the prophets come to meet us: the teachers of holy Church, who show us the truth of holy Scripture. For while they tell us those things that we wish to know from the sacred word, they meet us as we go along the way by which one proceeds to the hill of the Lord.

There, then, through the meeting with the prophets we are secure, where the Philistines are: because through the authority of the holy preachers we recognize the understanding of Scripture, in which the Jews and heretics are slain by demons with the sword of their own errors. For behold, if we have recourse to the Law of Moses, we find indeed the hill of the Lord. There certainly we read of the tabernacle, there of the high priest, there of the blood of goats and calves together, and of the Paschal Lamb. The Jews understand this by their own spirit according to the letter, in which, because they have no prophet of the elders, they die. If I wish to ascend this mountain, I see the prophets descending before me, and I ascend securely. And, to leave aside the new ones for now, Isaiah meets the one ascending first, saying: He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer he shall not open his mouth (Isa. 53:7). Hence Paul says: Christ, appearing as high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by hand, that is, not of this creation, nor through the blood of goats or calves, but through his own blood, entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:11-12). But if we wish to have more on this hill, seeking all the prophets, we find them: because what the ancient teachers promised, the new preachers demonstrate to have been fulfilled in our Redeemer.

Therefore the Redeemer of the human race can fittingly be designated by the name "hill." Hence Isaiah, prophesying, says: In the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be prepared on the top of the mountains (Isa. 2:2). It is called a hill indeed for the sublimity of its holiness, but "of the Lord" because it is the Son of the highest Father. And on this very hill the station of the Philistines is said to be: because he was also born as a sign to be contradicted. The station of the Philistines is indeed the opposition of heretics. For as it were standing on the hill, they lie in wait for those ascending to the hill; and while they pervert the sacred Scriptures by expounding them badly, they kill those ascending carelessly to know the Redeemer. The elect man, therefore, should not be afraid as he ascends: he has the flock of prophets meeting him: because all the preachers of the Old and New Testament announce to him that very Redeemer. And they surely come from on high, because what they preach on earth, they see in heaven. Hence it is also said to John as if from the elect flock of the prophets from heaven: Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things (Rev. 4:1). When he had ascended, he saw and recognized the Lamb already reigning, whom Moses had prefigured as to be slain, and whom he himself had seen offered on the cross; and he learned how many thanks those for whom he was slain would give him. Therefore the preachers come from on high, because what they preach to the lesser, they have learned in heavenly contemplation.

Fittingly also the flock of the prophets is said to meet Saul at the entrance of the city, because we are able to see the highest preachers of the holy Church there where they descend, not where they are lifted on high. For we hear the things that they say to us little ones, but the things that they see in the heavens—how they see them, or how they sweetly love them—we do not see. For the apostle Paul was caught up into paradise and taken up to the third heaven; he even heard secret words, which it is not lawful for a man to speak. Who, then, could find such a preacher caught up into paradise or taken up to the third heaven? But the blessed Paul said these things about himself under compulsion. Hence also at the end of the sublimity he had expounded, humbling himself, he says: I have become foolish; you compelled me. How great, then, were those things that he was unwilling to speak, if he was compelled to make these things manifest? For he who both heard things that it is not lawful for a man to speak also saw things that it is not lawful for a man to know.

You might perhaps say: If he had wished, how could he express in human speech the beauty of that third heaven, to report the light of that innermost brightness, the ineffable splendor of the angels, and the inaccessible glory—how sweetly all those eternal citizens, chosen and blessed, receive from that fullness of his, how eagerly they take it up, how fully they are filled, how sweetly they taste the sweetness of the divine goodness, with what delightful fullness they are satisfied: which splendors belong to each individually from that one ineffable light of the Creator, which is at once the beauty of all from that one glory; by what excellence of dignity some surpass others, by what ineffable delight of justice the good are subject to the better?

To this height, then, we cannot follow Paul, but we enter the city, in which, as it were descending from on high, he comes to meet us. For those high things which the preachers see we cannot discern, but we ought reverently to hear the plain things which they teach. But when they descend, they carry before them the psaltery, the timbrel, the pipe, and the lyre. They have the psaltery, surely, because they announce the kingdom of heaven; they have the timbrel, because they preach the mortification of the flesh; they have the pipe, because they command subjects to weep for the obtaining of eternal gladness; they have the lyre also, because they teach the pious to rejoice in the certainty of eternal goods.

The psaltery, which resounds from its upper part, designates the proclamation of eternal joys; for when it suggests loving heavenly things, it sends forth the sound of its sweetness, as it were, from its upper part. But the timbrel, because it is stretched from the hide of a dead animal, not unfittingly figures in it the mortification of our flesh. We have learned from the Gospel about the pipe, because it is customarily used at the funerals of dead men: for when the Lord wished to raise the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, he cast the pipers out of his house and expelled the tumultuous crowd (Matt. 9:25). What, then, is expressed in the pipe but the mourning of the saints? For when they see themselves cast off from that eternal life which they desire, they lament themselves as though dead. But the lyre is a very joyful musical instrument. By this instrument, surely, the word of consolation of the elect is aptly figured, because we rejoice as at the sound of a lyre when the elect preachers console us amid the hardships of this present exile. The psaltery, therefore, is placed first in the promise of the preachers, because before all things the glory of the heavenly kingdom must be proclaimed, so that when we recognize the good that we should love, we may desire to labor to obtain that same good. Hence it is that when Matthew in the Gospel set forth the beginnings of the Lord's Incarnation, he said: John began to preach and to say: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matt. 4:17).

But because, when we come to know heavenly things, if we wish to attain to them, it is necessary that we mortify the passions of the flesh, the preachers of holy Church, as it were after the psaltery, make the sound of the timbrel. And what else is this mortification of the body than a preparation for eternal blessedness? We love, then, to be prepared for heavenly things, and we are commanded to seek them with most ardent weeping. For we lament the dead, as it were, with the pipe, when we grieve vehemently that we do not yet live in that eternal life. After the timbrel, therefore, our preachers have the pipe, when they both teach us to mortify our members and to groan for the love of eternal life. They also bring forth the lyre after the pipe, because they instruct us so to bewail the miseries of this present exile that we may rejoice in the promise of our eternal inheritance. For the great prophet sounded the psaltery when he said: My sheep hear my voice, and I give them eternal life. Striking the psaltery again, he says: The Son of man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life. He sounded the timbrel who said: Mortify your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, lust, concupiscence. He sounded the pipe who said: Be miserable, mourn, let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom.

The timbrel was sounding in him who said: For your sake we are put to death all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter (Ps. 43:22). But he has the pipe before him who likewise speaks to God, saying: You will feed us with the bread of tears, and you will give us drink in measure (Ps. 79:6). The Lord had the pipe before him when he said: Amen I say to you, that you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and you shall be sorrowful (John 16:20). But as if adding the sound of the lyre, he says: Your sorrow shall be turned into joy (ibid.). He was sounding the lyre for us who said: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your modesty be known to all men; the Lord is near (Phil. 4:4). He sounds the lyre for us who, announcing the good things of our city, says: Joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of praise (Isa. 51:3). Since, therefore, the preachers of holy Church announce the heavenly kingdom, and for the obtaining of that same kingdom they command us to mortify the flesh, to weep over our captivity, and to exult in hope of future blessedness, the prophets, descending from on high, are said to have the psaltery, the timbrel, the pipe, and the lyre before them. And the flock of the prophets is indeed spoken of, because there are many shepherds of holy Church, and they have one shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And it must be noted that the prophet is said to have the psaltery, the timbrel, the pipe, and the lyre before him, so that this may appear as the figure of the elect preachers. For the reprobate have what they preach behind them, because they say and do not do, and they neglect to do the good things they know. Hence also to King Saul, who was already despising the Lord's commands, it is said: Because you have cast off the word of the Lord, the Lord has cast you off, that you may not be king (1 Kings 15:23). Hence through the prophet the Lord complains of the Jews, saying: They have cast me behind their body (3 Kings 14:9). The holy teachers, therefore, because they keep the path of heavenly conduct which they preach by the continuous walking of good works, are spoken of in their figure, because the prophets, as they came down, had the psaltery, the timbrel, the pipe, and the lyre before them. For these instruments can be referred to the preaching of the Redeemer. And since not far above we said that the hill of the Lord is the Redeemer himself, let us consider the fittingness of the instruments. He who names him king of the eternal kingdom surely sounds the psaltery for us. And he who asserts in him the discipline of our mortification, as it were, strikes the timbrel. He sounds the pipe who declares the Redeemer dead for the salvation of the world. He strikes the lyre who says that he has risen from the dead and ascended to the heavens. But we rejoice at the gladness of such great instruments if we hear the very company of the prophets resounding. For David says: From the height of heaven is his going forth, and his meeting even to the height (Ps. 18:7).

Hence he says again: All kings of the earth shall adore him, all nations shall serve him (Ps. 71:11). For as it were he held a psaltery in praise of the Redeemer, who grasped the higher part of praise and preached the Redeemer's coming from the highest heaven. Isaiah touched the timbrel of his mortification, saying: And we saw him, and there was no beauty, and we desired him, despised and the last of men, a man of sorrows, and knowing infirmity; and as it were his face hidden and despised; whence we did not esteem him (Isa. 53:3). Sounding the pipe of his death likewise, he says: As a sheep he shall be led to the slaughter, and as a lamb he was silent (ibid., 7). David, striking the lyre of the resurrection, cries out: All the earth shall be moved at his face; say to the nations that the Lord has reigned from the wood; for he has established the orb of the earth, which shall not be moved (Ps. 95:10). Touching also the lyre of the ascension, he said: Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, who ascends above the heavens of heavens to the east (Ps. 67:33, 34). The prophets therefore descend from on high when the holy preachers announce to us those sacraments which they learned by lofty contemplation. And they speak of the psaltery, the pipe, and the lyre, because they declare our Redeemer to be the Lord of the eternal kingdom, and humbled through the human condition, and to redeem the world by his death, and to restore heavenly things by rising again. These instruments of praise they have before them, because they understand what they say.

By contrast, Caiaphas is said to prophesy (John 11), and from what he said, to be ignorant; since he touched the pipe of the Lord's death, but did not have it before him as an elect prophet, but after him. Well, then, is it added concerning the elect prophets: And them prophesying. Because while they see what they speak, they have, as it were, before them the instruments which they touch; and while they preach, they bring forth that which by foreseeing they have known. Saul, therefore, came to the hill of the Lord when, chosen and untrained, a preacher advances in spiritual knowledge, and recognizes the Redeemer of the human race not in the plain of his humanity, but in the high majesty of his divinity. Then indeed he hears the choirs of prophets singing in harmony: because he perfectly understands all the Scriptures which are about him. He, therefore, who saw men leaping over great pits, who beheld kids, and cakes of bread, and a jar of wine being carried, has come to the hill of the Lord; when he who is known to have profited by the examples of the elect is raised to the summit of knowledge, and knowing the Redeemer sublimely, loves him ineffably, from whom he desires again to know what concerns him, as a familiar friend might.

It is well added: And the Spirit of the Lord will leap upon you, and you will prophesy with them. The Spirit of the Lord is said to "leap in," because the hearts of the elect are suddenly filled with his gifts. And they immediately begin to prophesy, because those who are full of the divine Spirit cannot keep silent about the mighty works of God. Or he is declared to be about to prophesy, to whom Samuel promises the grace of the divine word. This is as if he were saying: You who now, in that abundance of the Spirit coming upon you, cannot speak—when that fullness pours itself into you, you will abound with copious speech. Indeed, promising this leaping Spirit to his disciples, the Lord says: When that Spirit of truth has come, he will teach you all truth, and will announce to you the things that are to come (John 16:13). The Spirit leaps upon those whose hearts, coming suddenly, he has enlightened (Acts 2:2), and they were enlightened and prophesied, because they preached the Redeemer of the human race in every tongue. This we certainly see happening even now in the holy Church: because often those who desire to speak divine things are suddenly taught by the same Spirit, and can speak excellently even those things which they learned by no prior meditation. For in keeping the commandments of God, they receive the grace of speech in the sublime revelation of the Redeemer. For what wonder is it if those who are always, through purity of life, the seats of the Holy Spirit can suddenly receive the light of knowledge? But what kind of gift of the Holy Spirit would it be, if he gave knowledge and did not give the affection of great love?

For those who are filled with that Spirit preach heavenly things, but they love what they speak. Fittingly, then, he adds: And you will be changed into another man. What else is the love of a mind that has been cast out than a change from oldness? For our nature was so condemned by the fall of the first man that it daily fails by falling and by failing grows old. But we who fail in ourselves, when that Spirit leaps into us, are renewed, because at once we become what we were not. He was lukewarm, but suddenly visited by the Spirit, he is made fervent. He begins to burn with devotion, to be exercised vigorously in good work. He is therefore changed into another man, because he began to be what he could not be when the Spirit leapt into him. Already he is someone of good conduct, he loves heavenly things, he despises earthly things, but for the things he loves above and for the things he hates below he cannot prevail to weep. Often indeed he desires to weep and cannot, since he recalls that he has committed many things for which he ought to weep; but when that Spirit suddenly leaps in, he bursts forth into fountains of tears. He is therefore changed into another man, who receives the grace of compunction through the Spirit coming upon him, which he did not have before the coming of that same Spirit. Anyone desires to obtain purity of heart, to think on heavenly things, to be hindered by no assaults of worldly breezes; but to rise up to that which he desires through devotion, he cannot by the affection of purity.

Suddenly, however, caught up in the power of the Spirit coming upon him, he ceases to be carnal, powerfully casts off the cares of the world, and rises with wondrous purity to the contemplation of eternal things. He marvels that he now is what he was not; he marvels that he once was not what he now is. For when he sees himself in spiritual things to be such as he is, he who is such marvels that he could not have been such before. He is changed, then, into another man, who sees that he is what he was not, and that what he had been is no more. Well, then, is it said of Saul: You will be changed into another man. Because when the preachers of holy Church receive the grace of divine preaching, they receive not only knowledge of the word but also the power of love, so that through the word they may be able to profit others, and through love of the word they themselves may become better. For when they speak, they are changed into another man, because when the Spirit speaks through them, they are joined to that same Spirit with wondrous love, and from His will they now dissent neither in word nor in deed. For holy Scripture, praising such a man, says: He who cleaves to God is one spirit (1 Cor 6:17). For we cleave to God when we receive the grace of the Holy Spirit abundantly, and we are made one spirit with Him when we are of one mind with the divine will in thought, speech, and deed. Well, then, did the prophet Samuel add: (v. 7) For when all these signs have come upon you, do whatever your hand finds to do, because the Lord is with you.

These are indeed the signs by which the preacher may recognize himself, and then let him dare to undertake whatever he arranges to do, when he knows them by certain experience; because in the great abundance of charity he has received the power of the Holy Spirit. But the preacher ought to teach what he does, just as Luke says of the Lord: That Jesus began to do and to teach, until the day on which, having given commandments through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen, he was taken up (Acts 1:1–2). Hence Paul says: I dare not speak of those things which God has not accomplished through me, in the obedience of the Gentiles, in word and deed (Rom. 15:18). Samuel therefore commands the anointed king, saying: Do whatever your hand finds. As if he were saying: When you see yourself full of divine grace, teach others whatever you do, because from that same divine grace presiding over you, you have both to live rightly and to preach profitably. But nevertheless he adds what he ought to observe before all these things, saying: (Verse 8.) And you shall go down before me to Gilgal. For I will go down to you, that you may offer an oblation and sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days for me, until I come and show you what you are to do.

What is it that he says first: "Do whatever your hand finds," and then adds: "For seven days you shall wait for me, until I come and show you what you should do"? But he who had received the signs, by which he might know himself anointed king by the Lord, had to be tested as to whether he recognized those very signs. This indeed accords better with a spiritual than with a historical explanation. For we have said that to come to the city of Domat belongs to the perfect knowledge and love of the Redeemer; to be filled with the gift of the prophets belongs to the power of the Holy Spirit. He says therefore: "When all these signs have come to you, do whatever your hand finds." Because whoever is certain from the intimate inspiration of the Holy Spirit can presume both concerning the purpose of a good work and concerning the arrangement of preaching. He said also: "For seven days you shall wait for me, until I come and show you what you should do." Because the chief pastors of holy Church, while they are in doubt about the progress of those who are lesser, are greatly anxious that they may recognize it in them by sure indications. And what are the indications of the spirit, if not the excellent gifts of humility? For the Holy Spirit, the more greatly he illumines the hearts of the elect with the light of virtues, the more abundantly he adorns them with the gift of humility. For the more exalted they are in merits, the more level they are through the virtue of humility. He therefore who is commanded to go down before the prophet to Galgala and to wait, is surely charged with the burden of obedience for the sake of recognizing humility.

The right order of a chosen manner of life is also this: that one not impose obedience on others which he himself has not taken care to show to others. To wait, therefore, is commanded, so that he may be recognized as truly humble. If, then, the sign of a perfect preacher is the filling of the Holy Spirit, and the virtue of humility is the sign of that fullness, what is said in praise of humility but that its gifts are signs of signs?

But because the king, about to sacrifice, is commanded through the prophet to go first, we discern what is said better if it is seen in order. Gilgal indeed is interpreted as "wheel." What, then, does "wheel" signify in this place but the life of those who obey? A wheel indeed advances by rolling, and now seeks high things, now lower things. So surely is the life of those who obey, because it does below what it draws upward, and sees above what it displays below—as if it is lifted to high things and lowered to low things. For what the obedient do below, they lift up above; because when they obey the commands of their prelates, it is earthly things that they do; but from the earthly things they do, they look forward to heavenly rewards. Likewise, what they have above, they bend down to the earth, because in order to do earthly things well they contemplate heavenly things, and they do only that which they see to be fitting for that highest felicity. Instructing Moses to turn this wheel, the Lord indeed says: Make all things as it was shown to you on the mountain (Exod. 25:40). For he who has seen in the highest things what he made in the lowest has surely bent the upper part of the wheel to the earth.

He had also lifted up the lower part to the higher things, who said: As the Lord lives, in whose sight I stand. He was indeed standing in the lowest place through the humility of obedience, while he reproached the faithless king; but he raised the level of his work into the sublimity of divine contemplation, so that he might, as it were, roll the running wheel most excellently, while in earthly work he looked to what heavenly reward he merited. This is truly the form of chosen obedience: that in everything we do outwardly, we look to the power of the Creator, present everywhere. Thus, surely, in the subjection of our obedience we can have both the rectitude of our work and the increase of devotion. We are indeed upright in work then, because for the one whom we behold, we exercise ourselves in the labor of obedience. We are also devout, because we believe that we please him whom we regard as the inspector of our labors and the bestower of eternal recompense. And because the commands of superiors are to be observed with perfect humility, Saul is rightly told: You shall wait seven days. For the number seven is on account of the gifts of the sevenfold Spirit. We wait seven days for the teachers of the Church, when through the power of the sevenfold Spirit we receive such clarity of intimate devotion that we in no way neglect their precepts. In this place it must be noted that he did not say: You shall be in Gilgal seven days, but: You shall wait for me seven days, after you have come down before me.

We descend before the preacher when we do what is commanded us by his judgment. Then indeed we are said to descend, because we subject our minds to their command. But to wait seven days is to fulfill the good of obedience with every light of the heart. This we certainly do when we pass over the commands of our elders as neither harsh nor light. For the Lord willed that no day be free from this light, when he said: Whoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:19). And because the perfect obedience that we show to men is the gift of the Creator, he who waits seven days is said to offer an oblation and to sacrifice peaceable victims. It is indeed the Lord's oblation, because it is offered to men for God, but when offered to men it is received by God. The victims are the services of the obedient, because when we are subjected to men for God, we overcome the proud spirits. By the other virtues indeed we fight against demons, but through obedience we conquer. Therefore those who obey are victors, because while they perfectly subject their will to others, they themselves by obedience rule over the angels who have fallen.

But it must be noted that Samuel commanded Saul to go down before him to Gilgal, yet he was unwilling for him to offer the oblation and victims without him. For he said: I indeed will go down to you so that you may offer the oblation, and slay the peace-offerings. You shall wait for me seven days, until I come to you, and I will show you what you should do. What is this but that we ought wisely to be ignorant of our own good works, and at some time usefully to know them? They are indeed to be ignored, lest they give us, in our weakness, occasion for elation; but they are to be known by the more perfect, so that through devotion they may grow. Hence it is also well said in the Gospel concerning Elizabeth when she was pregnant: And she hid herself for five months (Luke 1:24). For those who are not yet able to be spiritual and strong are designated by the number five. But she who has newly conceived hides herself for five months: because she does good through the senses of the body, but because she is not yet spiritual and strong in this good work, she wisely conceals what she does. Therefore that man offers victims to God, that man offers the oblation, who, waiting seven days and receiving the prophet when he comes, then does what he spends as worthy of God, when in spending it he is just by the virtue of obedience and fearful through consideration of the divine immensity; when he does not believe himself to be anything other than what he knows by the approval of his elders. For, as it were, we offer in the presence of the prophet when we believe that only those works of ours are worthy of divine acceptance which are approved by the judgment of the holy preachers.

And because he is said to sacrifice in the presence of the prophet, this signifies precisely that we ought to trust in our works to wise and spiritual men. And because Saul likewise waits seven days, the preacher of the holy Church ought wisely to order the virtue of the one subject to him, so that he does not praise his good deeds in his presence except when he is able to despise the favor of his praise. Hence the same oblation and victims are foretold to be offered by Saul to God, and not to himself. For he offers victims to God who is not vainly puffed up over the virtue he has, but ascribes everything he accomplishes to the grace of his Creator. This too, which we learn by the teaching of the doctors, Samuel well says in concluding his speech: And I will show you what you should do. For he indicates to the one waiting what he should do, when he who is known to obey perfectly is taught how he ought to command others. But this is not yet shown to Saul, but promised. For he is not sent to sacrifice, but to wait. So, because we profit by the conversation of the saints, this has been aptly added.

(Ver. 9.) Therefore, when he had turned away his shoulder to depart from Samuel, God changed his heart to another.

For the heart is changed to another when it is directed to desire better things; the heart is also changed when it is abandoned to evil. But in the case of Saul, who was first good and afterward evil, how this ought rather to be understood literally is not very clear. Yet if it is said with respect to his progress, he had a changed heart because he who had sought the asses was now thinking about the administration of the kingdom. But if he is recognized to have received an evil heart at that time, he was humble before the prophet; but as he began to depart, he began equally to grow proud. In his own mind he was now thinking himself not a little one but a king. He was not yet exalted in rank, but he was exalted in his own estimation. But because through this sacred history nothing is yet openly said about his pride, we also act more rightly if for the present we keep silent about what can seem unfavorable concerning him. But what can still support his innocence while he remained is said in the following: That Saul was a son of one year when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel (1 Kings 13:1). For if he was a humble king for two years, a changed heart is asserted of him for the vigor of his purpose, not for the precipitancy of his swelling. In that, therefore, which is said—that Saul had a changed heart—he is likened to the new preachers of holy Church, who, when they receive the order of preaching, are made better through divine grace.

For Samuel anointed Saul as leader, but God changed his heart to another, because we receive the sacraments of the sacred orders outwardly from the teachers of the Church, but inwardly we are strengthened by the power of the sacraments from almighty God. The power of the sacrament, however, is the grace of the sevenfold Spirit. And those who receive this grace are, as it were, changed by another heart being received, because those whom the Holy Spirit strengthens by his grace, he straightway makes to be what they were not. Thus, surely, even the disciples of the Redeemer were afraid before; but when, through the coming of the Holy Spirit, their heart was changed to another, they preached the word of God with confidence (Acts 4:31). For why did God change their heart to another, to whom he gave knowledge of all languages (Acts 2:6)? Surely he changed their heart to another, whom he clothed with wondrous love and illumined with the splendors of all virtues. And it is to be noted that then too God changed the heart to another, when he turned away his shoulder so that he might depart from the prophet. For, as it were, he turns away his shoulder so that he may depart, when the one who undertakes the order of preaching arranges to do what is commanded him concerning the pastoral office. He arranges it indeed, but he does not prevail, unless God changes his heart to another, because the highest place is not well ruled unless the mind of the ruler is filled with the supreme grace of the divine gift. But because these things are promised to him in the future, it is added: (Ver. 10.) And all these signs came to him on that day.

For what is the teaching of the chosen preacher but the day of the instructed disciple? For one who walks in the day sees both the level ground on which he walks and the precipices he should avoid. So indeed, when we are enlightened by the teachings of the holy preachers, we plainly see what is to be done and what is to be avoided. In that day, then, in which the prophet preaches, the good hearer perceives the signs of his own election, seeing in himself those gifts of virtues which his preacher showed beforehand would be present in him. These are indeed signs, because by them those who are advanced to the order of preaching understand that they have been chosen by God. Therefore let no one consider himself anointed to the leadership of the Church who has not seen the signs of that day present in the power of perfection. Let him then first attentively observe the first sign, namely, whether by the example of men he already knows how to leap over great pits. Let him also recognize the second sign, if at the oak of Tabor he had three men meet him, whom he saw carrying kids and loaves of bread to Bethel, to the house of the Lord, if he received two loaves from their hands. Let him nonetheless see the third, if he has come to the hill of the Lord, if he has looked upon the bands of prophets, if the Spirit of the Lord has rushed upon him and he can now prophesy in their midst. And he has indeed seen men leaping over pits, if he has already learned by the example of the perfect to refute all things of the world. He has come to the oak of Tabor, if he already knows how to experience the strength and pleasantness of the contemplative life.

In it he also saw the kids and the cakes of bread and the wine being carried to the Lord, because from the lovers of the contemplative life he had already learned both to acknowledge himself unceasingly as a sinner, and to afflict his flesh for those same sins, and to offer the pain of his affliction gratefully to almighty God. He came to the hill of the Lord, if by advancing he ascends to the revealed intimate glory of the Redeemer or to the sublime understanding of the Scriptures. He had the flock of the prophets meeting him, if he understood the concordant knowledge of the holy preachers of the Church. In their midst he felt the Spirit of the Lord leaping upon him, in that ineffable sweetness of inner experience he recognized in himself the gift of the divinity coming upon him, and by speaking he poured forth the abundance of grace made known. As often as the holy preachers show these things to us who are imperfect, through the teaching by which they enlighten us, they bring forth, as it were, the brightest day. And indeed all these things the preachers who have already advanced know, with the ordainers setting them forth.

Since, then, they have the day of signs, let them heed it profitably, whether they now see the promised signs. For he who has not yet learned to despise the glory of the world could indeed hear the first sign promised, but he did not see it shown. If he does not know the strength and sweetness of the contemplative life, he has not deserved to see the good of the following sign. If he has not ascended the height of the Scriptures through the knowledge of intimate learning, he has not yet come to the hill of the Lord. If he does not yet have the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon him, he cannot prophesy. For without that Spirit the shepherd is carnal, and what he speaks cannot be referred to the dignity of preaching, but to the boldness of rashness. By what fear, then, can we wretched men be terrified? For behold, we have undertaken the leadership of others, who do not have the strength of the leadership we have undertaken. We have heard the signs of spiritual prelacy which we do not see in ourselves through the light of experience. We desire earthly things, we are occupied with outward cares, and we are driven so much farther from heavenly contemplation the more we are weighed down by the solicitude of earthly deeds. And pressed down by this mass of earthly life, when can we attain that splendor of the intimate glory of the Redeemer, when can we reach the most lofty senses of the holy Scriptures? But even heavenly things which we do not know, we cannot speak as though they were known.

And we who through quiet do not wish to devote ourselves to the love of the inner life do not perceive the Spirit of the Lord leaping upon us. Therefore let the signs, both known and not yet possessed, terrify us, so that when we are pricked with compunction for the immensity of our negligence, we may seek the power of the office we have undertaken through tears and lamentation. Hence the Psalmist laments in the voice of the weak, saying: We have not seen our signs; there is now no prophet (Ps. 73:9). For he is a prophet when these signs of prophecy already spoken of are present to him to be foreseen. If, then, someone is taken up to the height of prelacy, let him not hold to what he is by the loftiness of his rank, but to what he is by the power of perfection. Let him therefore say: We have not seen our signs; there is now no prophet. As if he were saying: I would say that there is a prophet now, if I could discern the gifts of the Spirit, with which the person of a prophet ought to shine. For he who has heard of the perfection of the pastoral office he has undertaken, but has not merited to attain it in himself by his manner of life, is not a fit teacher of holy Church. In the first king, then, the progress of all the pastors of holy Church is shown, when it is said: All these signs came to him on that day. And because this progress of the chosen preachers is wonderful, it follows: (Verse 11.) But those who had known him yesterday and the day before, seeing that he was with the prophets and prophesying, said to one another: What is this that has happened to the son of Cis? Is Saul also among the prophets?

What is it that they say: "What is this thing that has happened," except that they marvel greatly at what could not be comprehended by them? They knew the man, the son of a man; they saw him joined to the prophets. They knew him as carnal, they saw him as spiritual; they knew him as simple, they saw him as a prophet. They say therefore: "What is this thing that has happened to the son of Cis?" They could know what he had been; how what he was could come from himself, they did not know. This, then, is the progress of the spiritual preacher: that he who was once known in common life should have, in a higher order, that which is unknown. Indeed, three degrees of perfection are shown, because he says "yesterday, and the day before." For in two days the preacher is recognized; in the third he has that which even those who knew him do not recognize. For the first day belongs to hearers, the second to companions, the third is that of preaching. For the pastor had the first day when, as a disciple, he obeyed his superiors. For he is seen as it were in a great light who is devout in the virtue of obedience. He had the second day when he began already to be a co-worker with better men. For that brightness of a great manner of life makes the greatest day in the example of the elect. The Lord, suggesting this day, says: "So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 5:15). But the third day is that of the Spirit leaping upon him, and of prophecy.

On the third day, indeed, the shepherd is seen, when he makes the loftiness of his dignity equal to the splendor of his conduct, when, clothed in heavenly power, he shines upon his subjects by that life and that teaching, so that he can be seen by them, examined, and yet cannot be judged. Such indeed was Moses, when he came down from the mountain with a most radiant face; his subjects saw the brightness, but they could not direct their sight upon the shining splendor (Exod. 34:35; 1 Cor. 3:7). Such was he who gloried, saying: But we, beholding the glory of God with unveiled face, are transformed into the same image, as by the Spirit of the Lord (1 Cor. 3:18). Such indeed were those whom the Holy Spirit had filled. Hence also those who had gathered in Jerusalem say in wonder: Are not these who speak Galileans (Acts 2:7)? They asked, surely, so that they might know what they heard, and they could not know. But those who knew Saul ask in wonder about the thing that happened to him; because we sometimes see as humble and despised in the lower order of holy Church those whom, when the Holy Spirit takes them up to the order of preaching, he clothes with the splendors of his gifts and shows to be wonderful in those same splendors. But we rightly admire the virtues of the saints when we ascribe them to the goodness of the Creator. Therefore Moses also, confessing to the Lord, says: Who is like you among the gods, O Lord, who is like you, glorious in the saints, wonderful in majesty, working prodigies (Exod. 15:11).

Is it from this that he calls them Psalmists: "Wonderful is God in his saints; he himself will give power and strength to his people" (Ps. 67:36)? Rightly is it added: (v. 12) "One answered the other, saying; And who is their father?"

What is the meaning of the fact that up to this point it was said of Saul alone: "What has happened to the son of Cis?" And now, as it were, it is answered concerning many: "And who is their father?" But if it is understood according to the history, it cannot stand in any way. It remains, therefore, that the meaning which is taken away from the letter be sought in the spiritual signification. When, then, it is said: "Who is their father?" not only Saul is attended to as prophesying, but that whole band of prophets. And indeed all these prophets, because they were greatly spiritual, were reckoned not from a carnal lineage but from a heavenly origin. The father of the prophets is surely he who through Malachi asks, saying: "If I am the Lord, where is my fear? And if I am a father, where is my love?" (Mal. 1:6). For because they are joined to almighty God in great charity, they are called the sons of him whom they love as a father. This fits the preachers of the new Church all the more fittingly as he has raised them higher into heavenly nobility, who disclosed to them the clarity of so great a lineage in the form of that prayer. Thus, he says, you shall pray: "Our Father who art in heaven" (Matt. 6:9).

This is as if he were saying: The holy preachers would be worthy of wonder if they accomplished the wondrous things they do by their own power; but as it is, what is seen is no wonder, because it is he who works this through them, to whom nothing seems difficult. Let one therefore say to another: And who is their father? As if he were saying: What wonder is it if they teach wondrously, since it is not they who speak, but the Spirit of their Father who speaks in them? Therefore it is not said: Who is his father? Lest what belongs to many sons be ascribed to the only one. For he alone, who is the Son by nature, dares to say: My Father is working until now. And again: The Lord said to me, You are my Son, today I have begotten you. For to bring out the difference between the two dignities, he speaks to Mary Magdalene, saying: I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Whenever, then, one preacher is seen to be distinguished by a wondrous life or preaching, in the heavenly generation he is seen not alone but with countless others; because almighty God, who is wondrous in one, makes men's admiration far more wondrous when countless ones are considered, who possessed what they marvel at in one. This can, however, be fittingly referred to the detraction of carnal men; for when they attempt to diminish the fresh fame of spiritual men, they search out their carnal affairs to bring forward for disparagement.

And very often in the holy Church those who hold no worldly eminence have a wondrous reputation for holiness. So when carnal men reproach them either for the lowliness of their birth or for their poverty—men who are already great and rich by divine birth—they ask, as it were in mockery, about the father of the prophets. And because they regard it as a very new thing that little men of the world can appear so great, it is added: 250 (Ibid.) Therefore it became a proverb: Is Saul also among the prophets?

If they looked into this with the eyes of the heart, they would certainly not regard it as a new thing. For the Holy Spirit acts according to his custom when he raises the poor, the humble, and the simple to the summit of virtues. For it is written of him: Who sets the humble on high, and raises up the mourners in safety (Job 5:11). Hence the almighty Father says of this same almighty Spirit of his through the prophet: Upon whom does my spirit rest, except upon the humble and quiet man, and one who trembles at my words (Isa. 66:2)? Hence Paul says: Not many wise according to the flesh, not many noble, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the strong; and God has chosen the base things of the world, to destroy the things that are, so that no flesh may glory in his sight (1 Cor. 1:26, etc.). This proverb can certainly be applied even to the elect.

For no less wonder was felt concerning the blessed apostle Paul, when it was heard by the Church that he who was accustomed to assault the Church by threatening and striking was now preaching and defending it. Then indeed those who heard could say: Is Saul among the apostles? Does he preach Jesus who used to persecute Jesus? But this has now become a proverb among the elect. A proverb is, indeed, when in what is said something else is hidden. But the conversion of the blessed apostle Paul has become a proverb for the sinner. Let every sinner therefore hear the conversion of blessed Paul, and not despair because of the multitude of his crimes. For Saul, breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, was afflicting the elect everywhere; he was keeping the garments of Stephen, the protomartyr of those who stoned him, and as it were was stoning him with the hands of all, since he made them all free to stone him. But he who, while persecuting Christ, was such a man, when converted to Christ, became the head of the nations, because he obtained the primacy of the whole Church. Since we see so great a sinner converted, honored by the Lord with such sublime dignity, let us presume that we can find remission of our sins. Our proverb, then—that is, that a persecutor is taken up for evangelizing—contains this mystery: that a converted sinner may not only hope for pardon from the Lord, but may also be able, by striving manfully, to attain to the crown.

But this is usually the difference between carnal and spiritual preachers: carnal preachers, after the lofty words of preaching, descend to the depths of wicked works; but spiritual preachers, after the sublime things they speak, raise themselves up to the far higher desires of the heavenly homeland. Hence it is also added: (Verse 13.) But he ceased prophesying, and came to the high place.

He comes to the high place after the ministry of prophecy who lifts his mind to the heavenly joys that he preaches, and raises himself up by loving the things that he shows forth by speaking. Indeed, when teachers preach plain things to lesser folk, they are, as it were, on the plain with those whom they teach. And because after the words of preaching they prepare themselves by good works to obtain the things they preach, they are said to come to the high place. Yet those who are sublime in word and deed are not so in the thought of elation. They always do great things, but they never desire to be seen as great. Well, then, is it added: (Verses 14 and 16.) And the uncle of Saul said to him and to his servant: Where did you go? And they answered: To seek the asses, which when we had not found, we came to Samuel. And his uncle said to him: Tell me, what did Samuel say? And Saul said to his uncle: He told us that the asses were found. But the matter of the kingdom he did not tell him, which Samuel had spoken to him.

The "word of the kingdom" is the honorable dignity of the pastoral office. For by its very display it speaks, because he is not a father who is raised up to so great an order. Therefore the king does not declare the word of the kingdom, because the pastor of the Church speaks with the great splendor of divinity, but he does not speak with elation. For he who does not declare the word conceals what he speaks. For he always speaks the word to whom the word is present; otherwise it is not a word. Therefore he has the word of the kingdom who shines with that manner of life which, as if by speaking, offers examples of the heavenly journey to others. Therefore he does not declare the word who does not reveal the greatness of his sanctity through vainglory. He indeed has what he may declare, but he does not wish to declare what is shown through himself. For he who radiates with great dignity and great sanctity shows many things by living which he does not say by speaking. The Lord certainly willed the preacher to have this word of the kingdom when he commanded bells to be placed on the priest's garment (Exod. 28:34). The priest's garment is indeed the display of good conduct. It is, as it were, fitted with many bells when he multiplies good works which cry out as an example to those of lesser station. But the king does not dare to declare the word of the kingdom, because it is commanded to the priests that they bear the beauty of the garment before the Lord. He indeed bears the beauty of the garment before the Lord who both displays good things and, from the display of good works, seeks to please not men outwardly through vanity, but God inwardly through love.

Then certainly the priest is silent, but as he walks, what he carries cries out; because the chosen preacher does not make himself known by boasting, but by living well he by no means ceases to speak. Let it be said, then, of Saul that he did not declare the word of the kingdom to his uncle: because chosen men, when they receive the splendor of dignity or the increase of a good life, bring themselves forward by examples but conceal themselves in silence. And because they believe themselves to be less in merits than other chosen men, he to whom he does not declare the word is said to be his uncle. For an uncle is so called as the brother of the father. But the Redeemer of the human race makes as many sons as he instructs in the sacraments of faith and doctrine unto the unfading glory of the eternal inheritance. For those who are instructed in the Church are, as it were, still little children. But he who now comes to meet him as a perfect man, greater in merits, is the brother of the Redeemer. Such men, indeed, the blessed apostle Paul praises, saying: Heirs of God, co-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). Therefore, because perfect preachers regard other chosen men as perfect and themselves as imperfect, Saul is called the uncle of him who is reported to have questioned him about the word of the kingdom. But Saul had spoken that same word of the kingdom to Samuel: because chosen men have learned the spiritual conversation they possess from the speech of their elders. But the king who had been initiated through anointing had not yet been chosen by the people. Hence it also follows: (Verse 17.) Samuel called the people to the Lord in Malphath.

Masphath, as I said, is interpreted as "speculation" (or "watchtower"). But in the ordination of a king, the people are called together at Masphath, because those who assemble to ordain a pastor of the holy Church are taught to attend to his spiritual qualities, not his carnal ones. To "speculate" indeed means to recognize the preacher who is to be ordained through the form of sacred Scripture. For sacred Scripture is the mirror of the elect. For as it were through a mirror the pastor is known, when he is shown by his conduct to be such as is proclaimed in the sacred word. Well, therefore, does Samuel convoke the people at Masphath, so that the election of a good bishop may not be by human judgment but by divine: since such a one is chosen not as can be determined by the will of men, but as is declared in the sacred word. And because this is a matter of divine gift, it is fitting that the people, who are known to expect such great things from God, be purified from their guilt through the satisfaction of penance. For that very knowledge of sin is a preparation for the divine gift, because often when we believe ourselves unworthy of the divine gift, we merit it through humility. Hence also Samuel urges those who had gathered to receive the king first to turn to the consideration of their sins, because it is added: (Vers. 18-19) And Samuel said to the children of Israel: Thus says the Lord God of Israel: I brought Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of all the kings who afflicted you.

But today you have rejected the Lord your God, who alone saved you from all your evils and tribulations, and you have said: By no means, but a king shall be over us.

He indeed carefully showed them both the good things the Lord bestowed upon them and the evils they themselves did to the Lord, so that they might recognize they had sinned the more grievously the more boldly they dared by sinning to offend him from whom they had received such great goods. But what it means to reject the Lord, and how it should be understood according to the letter and according to the spiritual sense, has been extensively expounded above (in the exposition of verse 7, chapter VIII), where the Lord says to Samuel: They have not rejected you, but me, according to all their works which they have done from the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt. But because the holy preachers instruct by teaching those whom they pierce by rebuking, he added, saying: (Verse 19.) Now therefore stand before the Lord by your tribes and families.

We are indeed commanded to stand before the Lord when, by the precept of our forebears, we prepare our hearts to know his commandments. Or the elect stand before the Lord when they are considered by the highest men in spiritual virtues, so that the one who appears better among them may be preferred to the rest through pastoral care. And because there are many orders of the faithful, they are commanded to stand before the Lord by tribes and families. Pursuing this more fully, he adds, saying: (Verses 20, 21.) And Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the lot fell upon the tribe of Benjamin, and he brought the tribe of Benjamin and its kindreds near, and the kindred of Matri fell, and it came even to the son of Cis.

He made all to stand by tribes and families, so that he might consider all, and having considered all, choose the more useful one. But since he himself, with the Lord revealing it, had already known the king, and at his command had anointed him as prince, what is it that he still seeks to be chosen through tribes and families? But the king had been found by the prophet alone. He is therefore sought as one already found, so that he who was not found by the people might be found by them. He is sought also by lot, so that the people could not doubt that the one whom the prophet chose had been provided by divine dispensation. What then is signified in this deed, except that the princes of the holy Church are to be chosen with much consideration? For the highest preachers, from the inner grace of the Holy Spirit which they have, are filled with the great light of providence.

And because they are greatly humble, they do not presume upon the greatness of their inner illumination. Therefore they also approve before others those things which they order well within themselves. For the prophet alone knows the future king, when the supreme ruler of holy Church discerns the person and merits of the one to be ordained a ruler. He anoints him as prince as well, when he declares him full of spiritual gifts. Yet he still convokes the people, divides them by tribes and kindreds, casts lots, and finds by a kind of skill the one whom he already knows. The tribes indeed and the families stand as if divided, when the diverse orders of holy Church are regarded in the state of their virtues. For when we look upon the many perfections of the elect—the purity of virgins, the strength of the continent, the honorable ministries of clerics, the solicitude of monks—we regard them as tribes standing. And because in God's service there is great variety among these, while we consider the varieties that exist within each order, we see them standing not only as tribes but also as kindreds. And the lot falls upon the tribe, because better men are often found in one order than in another. For he receives, as it were, the lot of the tribe, when those who are more perfect are seen to be suited to the ministry of preaching for others. But the lot falls not yet upon the person, but upon the tribe, when there are many in whom a worthy person is concealed. Thus there still remains for the highest men something to inquire into.

Rightly, then, is the lot said to have fallen upon the tribe of Benjamin; but Samuel applied that tribe and its kindreds and passed through them all the way to Cis his son, because the elect and eminent men of holy Church do not cease to consider the virtues of individuals, until they come to the one who is found worthy by the lot of pastoral ministry. But those who are worthy are greatly terrified to take up the burden of so great an order. Whence also it follows: (Vers. 21, 22.) They sought him therefore, and found him not: and they consulted the Lord for him, whether he would come thither. And the Lord answered: Behold, he is hidden at home.

For they hide themselves lest they be found, because they shrink from undertaking a dignity whose burden they judge themselves unequal to. For spiritual prelacy has the outward glory of dignity, and it has also the inward greatness of work. For a ruler is both honored by his subjects and bears those by whom he is honored. With the beginning of honor, then, the cause of the burden is born, because from the very source whence honor is received by the ruler, he takes up that by which he is weighed down. Although that honor of dignity is in itself a great burden of the mind, because it ought to be despised, and yet it pleases. It ought indeed to be despised lest it lift up the mind through pride; and it ought to be accepted so that the subjects may venerate the heavenly things which the teacher speaks.

A heavier burden, then, is born from honor, because the chosen pastor can bear it with great strength of mind, so that he despises in himself what he receives in himself for God—that is, so that he is such a man for God but is not such a man for himself, and denies himself and does not deny himself; so that he is what he is for God, and is not what he is for himself. And so the honor offered by a subordinate is accepted so that the preaching may be commended. But the preacher despises the honor offered because he is not puffed up by being honored, but rejoices that the ministry of God's word is commended. Yet how difficult this is to accomplish is better grasped by thinking than by speaking. For it is impossible for weak minds to bear the burden of others bravely and to set aside, by strength of mind, the reverence of honor offered to them—so that amid the attentions of that same honor he may know how to rejoice in the progress of those under him, and may not know how to swell with pride on account of his own reverence. Therefore, because chosen men do not wish to displease God, when called they shrink from undertaking the office of prelacy. But they hold that same flight from ministry as a virtue of humility, not as a boast of dignity. For they flee as much as they can; but if they have been provided for by the Lord, they can by no means lie hidden. Wherefore also the same Saul hides at home, but is shown forth when the Lord reveals him, because chosen men withdraw themselves from the outward ministries of holy Church, but nevertheless, with the Lord arranging it, they are brought forward to set outward ministries in order.

But since now in the holy Church those who withdraw themselves from such great honors are few, while those who thrust themselves in are many, those who thrust themselves in ought to be marked; because the one who is said by the prophet to have been hidden at home was sought not for the spiritual dignity of the Church, but for the secular glory of a kingdom. For they were not seeking him to make him high priest, but they wanted to make him king. Let the priest therefore consider with what mind the summit of the holy Church is to be fled, if kings flee so cautiously to ascend the summit of the world. But because holy men, the more earnestly they shrink from undertaking the office of prelacy, are the more devoutly sought out by devoted peoples, it follows: (Verse 23.) They ran together and took him from there.

After these things it is also added: (Ibid.) And he stood in the midst of the people.

The prelate stands in the midst of the people when his strength is seen by all his subjects. For to stand is a matter of virtue. He, therefore, who does good works stands steadfastly. And because these same good works provide an example to the lesser, to stand in the midst of the people is seen not to be in solitude. This is also fittingly understood as said for the rectitude of intention. For he who stands with uprightness of body lifts his head on high. But he who does good publicly does not stand with fortitude of work if he does not have rectitude of intention. The king, then, is said to stand in the midst of the people, so that the form of the prelates of the holy Church may be shown; because they ought to display good works as an example to their subjects, but to avoid receiving the glory of the world from that same good work.

But he also indicates how great he ought to appear, and says: (Ibid.) And he was taller than all the people from the shoulder and upward.

We showed above at length (Book IV, chapter 4, number 20) that surpassing greatness of body in the holy preachers designates increase of perfection. In the midst of the people, therefore, one who is lofty is seen, who, placed at the summit of virtues, is not unknown to those subject to him. For the right order of the chosen preacher is that before the sublimity of the ecclesiastical summit, he ascend the summit of virtue, that for the honor of God he obtain the summit of glory, but that he shine with greater sublimity when the perfection of virtues has been revealed. Such a Pastor is indeed greatly to be proclaimed by perfect men, and to be desired and loved by lesser men. Well, then, is it added: And he said to all the people: Surely you see whom the Lord has chosen, that there is none like him in all the people.

(Verse 13.) And all the people cried out: Long live the king.

It follows: (Verse 24.) Samuel spoke to the people the law of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and placed it before the Lord.

Concerning the royal law, because we have spoken at length on it above (Book IV, chapter 4, number 1 and following), we recall only this about it: that it is not prescribed for the sake of history, but shows what reprobate kings will do and what good kings will avoid. By kings, indeed, subjects are to be defended, not despoiled of their own goods. They ought to render help to their subjects; they ought not to take away fields, vineyards, and olive groves. But if anyone should wish to contend that these things were written not to be avoided but to be done, the law of tyrants is written in place of that king who, having cast off the Lord, is demanded. The cruel law of the kingdom, therefore, is the vengeance of a people casting off the Lord. For it was not unjust that he should lose fields and vineyards, who was willingly losing the Lord reigning over him. All things, therefore, that are contained in this royal law contrary to equity, we perceive to be equitable, if in demanding a king we consider whatever the people had done wrong. For what great burden of law is it in the examination of divine equity, if they unwillingly placed their sons and daughters in the king's service, whom they had willingly taken away from God's freedom? And what is seen to be unfitting, if—what is set down last—they themselves became servants of men, who were casting off God reigning over them? While the law of the kingdom is written, therefore, a penalty of perpetual memory is handed down by which the bold may be punished; and because it had been brought forth through the Lord's justice, it is said to be placed back before the Lord.

But perhaps that law was something other than this law that is written. If this is true, Samuel speaks this law before the king to the people, so that the king may know what to require of the people, and the people may know what they ought to render to their kings. This law is written in a book so that it may be preserved for the memory of future generations. It is placed before the Lord so that it may be held venerable. But we have said that the kings of the Churches are the holy preachers, and we have shown plainly that all things contained in the royal law apply to them. Therefore Samuel speaks this law to the people when the chosen teacher instructs the faithful of the holy Church in what humility they ought to be subject to their prelates. It is also written in a book when he firmly implants these things in their mind. For one who speaks in such a way that his hearers forget what they have heard speaks the law to the people, but does not write it in a book. Therefore the words that the teacher speaks, to write them in a book, is to commend them attentively to the minds of his hearers. The Lord, as it were, wished to write what he had said when he said: Remember my word, which I have spoken to you. The servant is not greater than his master (John 15:20). Hence Paul, describing the law of the kingdom that was spoken as written in a book, says: Remember your prelates, who have spoken to you the word of God, whose end of conversation beholding, imitate their faith (Heb.

If, however, someone wishes to understand that another law was prefigured here, let him look at that law which the blessed Paul sets forth, saying: "He who proclaims the gospel should live by the gospel; and he who serves at the altar should live by the altar" (1 Cor. 9:14). For the Lord was speaking this law of the kingdom to the people when he said: "He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward" (Matt. 10:41). And to describe this more precisely in the book, strengthening his statement from the lesser case, he says: "Whoever gives one of my little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple will not lose his reward" (Mark 9:41). It follows: (Verses 25, 26, 27.) Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own home. But Saul went to his home in Gibeah, and part of the army went with him, those whose hearts God had touched. But the sons of Belial said: "Can this man save us?" And they despised him.

If the simple history is what is sought, what could ever have been said more plainly? But if we attend to the force of the individual words, great things are enclosed in this simplicity of words. For the people is declared to have been dismissed into their own house, but the king is stated not to have been dismissed into his house, but to have gone away. Separately too it is said concerning the houses of the people and concerning the house of the king: because the people is reported to have been dismissed into their own house, and the king to have gone away into his own. Yet the people was dismissed before the king went away. Concerning the people also as they go away, it is carefully signified, and they are reported to have gone away into their own house not all together, but one by one. But concerning those who followed the king it is not said: A part of the army went away, one by one after the king, but: A part of the army went away with him. Finally, however, those who follow the king are reported to have had their hearts touched by God; those who spurn the king are called sons of Belial. This manner of speaking is assuredly not simple, but very subtle to him who knows how to consider not what it sounds forth plainly on the outside, but what it suggests wisely within. What is it, then, that the king is said to go away into his own house, but the people to be dismissed? But we have shown that the king designates the pastor of the Church, and the peoples those who are subject. For to go is a matter of the free; to be dismissed is a matter of him who can be held back. The king, therefore, is said to go away so that in the person of the preacher the freedom of the mind may be proclaimed. For teachers can go away when they wish, and return, because they are strong in good work, wise in inner disposition.

They come, surely, when they go out to their subjects either by the example of good work or by the word of preaching. But they go away when they return to the secret of the mind, and arrange within what they are about to do outside. In this consideration, indeed, because they remain daily, they lie hidden, as it were, within the house. The king is said, then, to go away into his own house, because the preacher of eternal life, approved by his working, secure in the teaching of wisdom, is free to go out to works and to enter into the counsels of the mind.

But the people is sent away into its own house, because the faithful subjects are not free to arrange what they wish, but what they are commanded. They are sent away, as it were, held fast, while they are commanded to do what has been ordered and to avoid what has not been ordered. And because they are sent to different works, each one is sent away into his own house. For in order that we may carry out well the things that are commanded us, before we appear in the work, it is hidden within in inner consideration. Our kings, then, send each of us into our own house, because they command us to go, by the secret disposition of the mind, to the things that they enjoin on us. They themselves command well indeed, but if we neglect to foresee the measure of our working, we scatter with an inconsiderate mind the things that have been well commanded. Each one, then, returns into his own house, when each faithful subject, by arranging in the counsel of the mind, first undertakes the work of obedience that he proposes.

But because, after the king was chosen, the people were dismissed to their own home before the king is said to have gone away, something else can be signified in this. For those who receive the king go to their own home when each subject prepares himself by considering how he may render faithful obedience to the one whom he asked to preside over him. In this place, then, it is not for us to consider what has been commanded, but to submit ourselves with lowly disposition to those who are to command. And for the king to go to his own home is for him to consider how he may command those who have been discreetly prepared. One home, then, is the king's, another the subject people's; because the former consider, with a lofty mind, the paths of their subjects to be ordered, while the latter prepare, through the strength of their inmost purpose, to carry out the commands of their prelates. Whence also the king's home is said to have been situated in Gabaa. For Gabaa is called "high." The king's home, then, is shown to be in Gabaa, because the chosen teacher strives not to dwell in low and earthly thoughts, but to meditate on high and heavenly things. Whence also it is well said that part of the army went with him to Gabaa, because those who are strong against the devil follow their chosen shepherd to the heights of the virtues. Part of the army, then, is said to go with the king, because in the holy Church there are many faithful who know how to obey their prelates humbly, but do not know how to think on high things. They know indeed how to carry out what is commanded, but they do not know how to foresee what is to be commanded to others.

For he was, as it were, recalling the soldiers of this side, Paul, when he wrote to the Colossians, saying: Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas, and John who is called Justus, who are of the circumcision; these alone are my helpers in the kingdom of God (Col. 4:10). Likewise, addressing the Romans, he says: Greet Prisca and Aquila, my helpers (Rom. 16:5). And after a few things: Timothy my helper greets you, and Luke, and Jason (Ibid. 21). For he called his disciples his helpers, because they were lesser in order, but partakers of the labor; they were subject to the Apostle by the humility of obedience, but while with him they preached the glory of the eternal kingdom, with him equally defended the truth, resisted the unbelieving, and bravely endured the persecutions brought upon them, they were as soldiers of the king in the war of God. With the king at Gibeah a part of the army is said to have gone, because perfect disciples in the high disposition of holy Church are the co-helpers of their teachers; they bear what aids they can through the height of virtue, but they serve those whom they help through humility.

And because this none but those can do who have been prevented by the grace of the Holy Spirit, when a part of the army is said to be with the king, it is added: Whose hearts God has touched. For since we are accustomed to touch with the finger, God touches the hearts of the saints when he bestows on them the grace of the Holy Spirit. And they feel his touch, because, having received the gift of inward power, they are stirred from the weakness of their carnality. And they immediately become soldiers of the heavenly army, because through the power of the Holy Spirit they abandon weak things and are prepared to do strong things in the war of Christ. But because some within the holy Church do not fear to despise their prelates, let them hear that those who despise the king are called sons of Belial. By the vice of pride, indeed, they are begotten in imitation of him of whom it is written: He sees every lofty thing, and he is the head over all the sons of pride (Job 41:25). These words aptly describe the ways of the proud, for they say: Can this man save us? For holy men, because they despise present things, seek eternal things; the contempt of the world that they hold in their mind they bring forth also in their outward conduct. Within they are venerable, without they appear contemptible. The proud, therefore, because they look only at what can be despised outwardly in the saints, but do not deserve to perceive what is greatly to be venerated, say: Can this man save us? — as if they asked in contempt: Are such great things to be hoped for from so small a man?

Should this man, so small, be believed able to save men so great, so weak to save men so strong? For what else is it that they say—"This man also"—except that the proud and arrogant, looking upon others, always believe them to be small and weak, but themselves great, strong, and wise? Deservedly, therefore, are they called sons of Belial, because while by pride they exalt themselves, they conform themselves to him who is said to have fallen from heaven in the same manner. Of those who likewise despise the king it is also said: And they brought him no gifts.

If we discuss these things according to the letter, they surely suggest this: that both the lords of the earth and the spiritual prelates of holy Church are to be honored with outward offices. Whence the blessed Paul the Apostle addresses the proud Romans, saying: Render to all their dues; to whom tribute is due, tribute; to whom revenue is due, revenue. Hence the prince of the Apostles, exhorting, says: Be subject to every human creature for God's sake, whether to the king as excelling, or to governors as sent by him. But we render spiritual gifts to our rulers when we offer them the due reverence of honor and keep with great devotion the things they command. For great gifts are the reverence of honor and the humility of subjection; because while we are subject to our rulers inwardly through humility and outwardly display the reverence of honor through external obedience, we offer them one gift from the body and another from the heart.

Therefore, to represent the type of the proud, the prophet does not say, "They did not bring him a gift," but "they did not bring him gifts"; because when they despise the chosen preachers, they surely disdain to offer them honor from the body and humility from the heart. But when the chosen preachers recognize the fault of their subjects, sometimes they eagerly hasten to correct it at once by rebuking, and sometimes they pretend not to know it, so that they may seek a fitting time to erase it. Hence concerning the same despised king it is immediately added: (Ibid.) But he pretended not to hear.

Indeed, he hears the wickedness of his subjects who knows it; but he hears and does not respond—rather, he pretends not to hear—because very often, when the cause demands it, the known arrogance of subjects is left uncorrected, so that at a more opportune time it may be struck as though once recognized. And we rightly recognize this discretion of ecclesiastical censure in this very king of Israel, if we look upon the different times and deeds of his reign. For while still inexperienced and newly ordained, he is said to pretend not to hear the words of those who despise him; but once his kingdom over Israel was confirmed, he is reported to have fought to the right and to the left, and wherever he turned, to have conquered. Therefore a fault that cannot be struck with deserved severity must be overlooked, not exposed, because subjects transgress more boldly if the weakness of their prelates is known. Let these matters, discussed in the fourth book of this work, suffice, so that through this beginning of speaking we may renew our zeal to expound what remains.

BOOK FIVE.

CHAPTER ONE.

i. When in the pious preface of this work I wished to assert the profundity of this sacred history, I asserted that it can be seen most especially in the fact that it was written by prophets. They indeed were accustomed to say mystical things not only in words but also in deeds: to bring forth plain things, but to mark out deep things. For because the Holy Spirit was speaking through them, what they, as men, said was plain, but deep and mystical, because the supreme and uncircumscribed Spirit was suggesting the utterance to men. Since, therefore, we are expounding the prophet Samuel as he speaks, we stand in need of so much greater study as he himself, sublimely taken up into the grace of the Holy Spirit, spoke outward things but saw inward things. For the most part he asserted carnal things, but he signified the inmost and spiritual things. But because it is impossible for human study to reach divine things, we must not trust in our own strength, but in the condescension of the Holy Spirit who, sent by the Redeemer, has filled the whole world, and this Spirit, which contains all things, already has in all things the knowledge of the voice (Wisdom 1:7). Let us therefore now hear what the same prophet goes on to set forth concerning the deeds begun by the Israelites.

(1 Samuel 11:1-2.) And it came to pass, he says, after about a month, that Naas the Ammonite came up and began to fight against Jabes Galaad. And all the men of Jabes said to Naas: Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you. And Naas the Ammonite answered them: On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that I pluck out the right eye of every one of you, and make you a reproach in all Israel.

If the history is what is sought, nothing can be said more plainly, nothing more easily understood. But if we wish to follow the spirit, let us first hear Paul speaking, who, looking upon the old things, says: All these things happened to them in figure; but they were written for our sake, upon whom the ends of the ages have come (1 Cor. 10:11). He also intimates that there are spiritual wars, saying: Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12). When, then, Naas is said to come up and fight against Jabes Galaad, the battles of the vices are designated. By these words, surely, the course of sacred history is shown, so that new wars were stirred up against the new king; and while he brought them to a good end, he demonstrated the glory of his valor. Who, then, is this Naas the Ammonite? What is Jabes Galaad? But Naas is interpreted as serpent, Jabes as dried up. Of the serpent, moreover, it is said in Genesis: Because he was more cunning than all the living creatures (Gen. 3:1).

If we look for the likeness of this serpent in the vices, what do we find more similar than the violent impulse of gluttony—that is, of the gullet? The impulse of lust, the crime of theft, the appetite for shameful gain, the onslaught of anger, the bitterness of worldly sorrow, the sloth of acedia, the appetite for vainglory, the swelling of pride—these are openly detestable. But the vice of gluttony is all the more deceitful in that it is also more hidden, because it suggests food to the body as if it were necessary, yet while it abundantly refreshes the flesh, it plunges the sword of lust into the mind. It persuades of what is not a sin, but from the very thing by which eating is received as if it were not a sin, the soul is made subject to the sin of lust. Hence also in paradise the serpent is shown to have come to the woman to deceive her by the vice of gluttony—one thing suggesting, another obtaining—so that while he showed what was to be eaten, he might administer unforeseen death. This serpent, then, designates the greed of gluttony, because both by regard for just necessity it creeps and it scatters the venom of impious delight. It is well also that he is called the Ammonite, which people is interpreted as sorrow, because what he persuades seems joyful, but it will be greatly mournful in eternal damnation. But he is called a people because all the gluttonous are weighed down by the multitude of innumerable cares through anxiety of the belly. He ascends against Jabes Galaad because he desires to cast down the bodies of the just, placed in the high virtue of abstinence, into the concupiscence of foods.

The flesh is rightly called dried out when it is not weighed down by the moisture of fat. Naas ascends against those whom he sees dried out, because the spirit of the gullet brings heavier wars upon those whom he recognizes as thinned by fastings. And Naas is well said to have begun to fight, since holy men hold the suggestion of the gullet not in a covenant of friendship but in the opposition of battle. For the abstinent, as it were, fight with the serpent when they suppress the appetite of the gullet with great virtue, so that they are not infected by the poison of luxury. Indeed, it is the fighting of the gullet to provoke the bodies of the hungry abstinent to disordered repletion of the belly.

But the appetite of the gullet can tempt perfect men, yet it cannot overcome them. Well, therefore, is Naas said to have begun to fight against the dried-out one, not to have conquered, because elect men feel the impulse of carnal desires, but they know how to resist those same desires with the virtue of the mind, they know how to provide what is necessary through discretion. They know how to suppress the fiercely rising impulse of the gullet, they know how to supply just foods to the necessity of the body. Hence indeed the great Teacher says: I know how to eat and to hunger (Phil. 4:12). He knows how to eat and to hunger who both refreshes the body moderately and does not consent to the vice of the gullet suggesting immoderate consumption of foods. Therefore also, responding to Naas, they say: We have been made your confederates, and we will serve you.

They seek a covenant from the gullet, who would wish to refresh the flesh at its own demand, if they could feel no incitements of luxury in the flesh. It is as if they say: We will give you what is just for you, so that you do not bring upon us what is not just. It is indeed just that the body be refreshed, but it is exceedingly unjust that the refreshed flesh be aroused through the ardor of lust to the insult of the spirit. We therefore seek a covenant when we wish so to favor the flesh for the perception of foods that we feel no evils of luxury from the flesh. But this we can indeed wish, yet we cannot obtain it, because clearly we offer just refreshment to the flesh as a kind of tribute, but no goods of peace are promised to us by the flesh. For when we rightly direct the hearing of the mind to the responses of the vices, we recognize this in the voice of the gullet, that if we fatten the flesh through swelling concupiscence, we are struck with blindness of heart. Therefore the same Naas says: On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may pluck out the right eyes of all of you. Our right eye is the gaze of eternal brightness, but the left eye is carnal concupiscence. The right eye, then, is plucked out when the mind is struck with such blindness that it is no longer opened to see heavenly things. The eye is indeed plucked out when the light is so torn away from the reprobate mind that no root remains in it from which a renewed light might burst forth.

Naas therefore gouges out the right eyes of those allied to him, when the gullet so prevails over those conquered by abstinence that they desire only carnal things, and no longer attend to what they used to love. And because whoever is cast down in this life is condemned in the future before the angels and elect men, it is added: And I will make you a reproach in all Israel. For then indeed the reprobate are made a reproach in all Israel, when at the final examination, before all the elect, they blush for the iniquities they have committed. Or they are made a reproach in this life: because, while they themselves with blinded heart boldly perpetrate evils, holy men blush for their guilt. But those who, with their right eyes torn out, disdain to seem base, should attend to what follows: (Verse 3.) And the inhabitants of Jabes said to him: Grant us seven days, that we may send messengers to the borders of Israel; and if there be no one to defend us, we will go out to you.

Who are the inhabitants of Jabesh, that is, of the dried-up place, if not those who possess the chastening of a wasted flesh through the long practice of virtue? For many begin to resist the gullet, but when they start to be worn out by the labor of abstinence, they incline themselves to the habit of their accustomed gluttony. For as if they desire to enter the city of Jabesh and to be made its citizens, but when they do not endure the torment of dried-up and hungry flesh, they can by no means become its inhabitants. Therefore they inhabit Jabesh who hold the thinning of the body through the vigor of the mind as a possession of their own, and as if by the walls of a dried-up place they are surrounded, in that through the very fact that they thin the body they are protected from the fiery darts of luxury. Those who are wearied when the goads of the gullet rise up most violently seek a truce of seven days, in which, if help is lacking, they go out to Nahash. But we expound this war of the Ammonites better if in it we observe the weakness of the flesh that has been caught and the shrewdness of the instructed mind. We see this more clearly too if we attend more subtly to what is contrary in the foolish and weak. For some within the holy Church are devout through desire, but slackened by the accustomed weakness of vices. They can indeed set good things before themselves, but because they cannot carry out what they set before themselves, they are both overcome by present concupiscence and trust that the good which they abandon in the present they can recover in a nearby time.

Often, indeed, they resolve to fast, but when they are overcome by their accustomed gluttony, they judge that they must eat on that day and fast on future days. And since the savagery of the gullet is always present to them, the desire for future goodness is also present—this is brought about by the serpent’s deceit, so that the good which is proposed is not found. For tomorrow, what is always promised is never obtained. But because this is done by those whose mind is weak and whose flesh is strong, let us see how those mock the serpent whose mind is strong but whose flesh is weak. For concerning that same serpent the Psalmist says to the Lord: This dragon, whom you formed, to mock him (Ps. 103:26). For he is never more fittingly conquered than when his cunning is overcome by pious deceit. Hence the Redeemer, reproaching blessed Job with the cunning of his own wisdom, says: In his eyes, as if with a hook, you will catch him (Job 40:24). In his eyes, indeed, as if with a hook, he caught the serpent—he who showed him his flesh and concealed his divinity; and while he [the serpent] seized what he desired, by that very thing he was held and destroyed, because he did not see it.

Holy men, therefore, in order to mock the enemy, possess the rigor of their manner of life in present virtue; in exchange for the illusion of weakness they promise the flesh some advantage in the future. For often the things they do are great, but on account of the weakness of the flesh they never presume to do hard and harsh things and to promise them. Indeed, they bear those same hard things all the more easily the less they see that their burdens are present in a perpetual promise. But while they live excellently and strive daily to advance and not to fail, that permitted indulgence of the flesh, about which they cannot despair, they always promise to the flesh from a future reckoning, and yet they by no means cease to inflict on it the pain of the affliction they have begun. Through that, therefore, in which hope is left to the flesh in its appetite, the spirit, as it were, promises the presence of its coming for the future good of that same flesh. But because it does not abandon the accustomed rigor of continence by failing, the flesh has the promised pleasure in the future, and the chosen mind has the strength of virtue in the present. In this place it must be noted that they go out to Naas under a condition, but they are fortified within the walls of the city without a condition: because those who abstain trust that even in that respect in which they are weak according to the flesh, they are strengthened by divine mercy. And because they desire to trample underfoot the vice of gluttony by deceiving it, they say: Grant us seven days. For time is, as it were, granted by gluttony when it is restrained with this consideration, that at some time its desires may be served.

For in that span of days the citizens of Jabesh-tero wait for aid from Naas, who has gone out against them, because the appetite of gluttony desires to be cast down from the weak flesh, but the chosen mind desires to be strengthened in the virtue of abstinence. In seven days, however, aid is sought, when against the darkness of temptations we are raised up by every light of the heart, when against wicked counsels we hold fast with our reason to whatever we can; and the rays of light that we do not perceive in ourselves we fortify by the instruction of another. For while we look to the conduct of the perfect for the strength of our own virtue, it is as if through seven days we find aids of defense. We ask for a truce, indeed, because when we fight against Naas, that is, the serpent, the more hidden his poisons are, the more subtle the counsels we must seek. Hence they also promise to send messengers into all the borders of Israel, because chosen men are aided for the benefit of their own edification by the examples of all who see God. But what is said—If there is no one to defend, we will come out to you—shows in the voice of the elect, not doubt about aid, but certainty. As if mocking the adversary who persuades with cunning words, they utter words that give him hope and by no means take away their own confidence. For those who say, If there is no one to defend, we will come out to you, grant a certain hope of coming out. But because those who say this are certain of aid, they deceive their enemies by promising.

But where those same aids may now be found, he explains, saying: (Verse 5.) Therefore the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, and spoke these words in the hearing of the people, and all the people lifted up their voice and wept. And behold, Saul was coming in the morning following the oxen from the field, and he saw the people weeping, and said: What does the people have, that it weeps?

Gibeah, as we have already said above, is interpreted as "sublime." And because the height of merits is not equal in all the elect, the messengers are reported to have come to Gibeah of Saul, so that we may be taught in spiritual signification that when we are driven by strong temptations, we should have recourse to the counsels of our preachers. But we are also instructed by the act of the weeping people, that we should be joined to our brothers' needs with the inmost compassion of the mind. Moreover Saul saw the people weeping and asked for what cause they wept, because the chosen teacher, by compassionating the need of his subjects, makes it his own, and desires to relieve it. He came indeed from the field, because he goes forth from the secret of his fertile heart. But he came from the field in the morning, because in the rising splendor of the true light he inquires into the causes of his subjects. And he follows the oxen, because strong affections of charity go before him. For he has, as it were, two oxen before him, who is both joined to his neighbors through love and inflamed with divine charity, and thence loves his neighbor in an ordered way, because the love of God strongly kindles him. Wherefore also the Lord says through Moses: You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey (Deut. 22:10).

The donkey is carnal love, for it carries those whom it loves as a strong animal does; and because it loves them inordinately, not for God's sake, it is lascivious. Therefore the ox and the donkey cannot be yoked for plowing, because the soul is not cultivated for the fruit of eternal reward if the purity of the love by which it is joined to God is polluted by an inordinate love of neighbor. Saul, then, coming from the field, follows the oxen, because the chosen teacher keeps both affections of charity whole in a fruitful heart, from which he can prepare for himself the rich fruits of eternal recompense. And he comes in the morning, because when he goes out to his subjects, he reveals the day of his virtue. But now, having learned the needs of the people, let us hear what is said. For it follows: (Ibid., verses 6 and 7.) And they had told him the words of the men of Jabesh. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. And taking each ox, he cut it in pieces and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying: Whoever does not come out and follow Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen.

What do we say in these words, except that the weak things of the saints, and those which seem carnal, are not weak and carnal, but spiritual and strong? For we are accustomed to reprove excess of anger in religious men, but behold, Saul, in order that he might be able to be angry too much, first the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him. How fearful, therefore, is the anger of the saints we perceive, if we consider the Spirit of the Lord rushing upon them, if while we look at them raging outwardly, we likewise attend to the Spirit moving within them. As often, therefore, as we are corrected by the zeal of our elders, we can tremble greatly beneath their indignation, if we believe their impulse to be the motion of the Holy Spirit. And because Saul cut both oxen into pieces and sent them into all the borders of Israel, and issued threats, that so it should be done to the oxen of all who refused to follow him and Samuel, what else does this suggest, except that the more sluggish, each one of them, for providing aid to their neighbors, are not only to be invited but compelled? Hence also it is immediately added.

(Verse 7.) Therefore the fear of the Lord invaded the people, and they went out as one man.

For since we are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves, we rightly provide them with help when we are not compelled by fear to render these things, but are stirred by love. But when we lose the effect of this debt of love, it belongs to the zeal of our preachers that we rise up to help our brothers out of fear. Hence it is rightly said: The fear of the Lord invaded the people, and they went out as one man: because for the most part we are lukewarm in love of neighbors; but we are roused to a state of devotion by the threats of our prelates, and we undertake the good work out of fear, but from the beginning of fear we are brought to the bond of great charity. Hence also it is well said that fear invaded the people, but all are reported to have gone out as one man. For many cannot go out as one man unless they ascend to an equal unity of love. For hence also it is said of the perfect disciples of the Redeemer: They had one heart and one soul (Acts 4:32). It follows: (Verse 8.) And he numbered them in Bezek; and there were of the children of Israel three hundred thousand, but of the men of Judah thirty thousand.

First the sons of Israel are said to have gone out, then to have been mustered by Saul, because the chosen preacher, when he attempts to move the militia of his subjects against hidden enemies, first perhaps looks upon their purpose, and then places them in the number of warriors. For we are, as it were, within, and we cannot be mustered as long as the strength of our mind is hidden from our pastors. And when we go out, we are mustered, because when we reveal to them the fortitude of our minds, they now trust that they have us as allies in the spiritual battle. But when they desire to raise up weak minds to the purpose of good work, they attempt to instruct us not only by the teachings of greater men, but also to kindle us by the examples of lesser elect. Well, therefore, are the three hundred thousand of the sons of Israel and the thirty thousand of the men of Judah reported to have been mustered. For the number thirty pertains to the rectitude of faith and the zeal of good action, because the precepts of the law are nothing if they do not tend toward the contemplation of the highest Trinity. Aptly, therefore, are they called the men of Judah, who are contained in thirty thousand, because they have the confession of right faith and the strength of good action. But our fathers were of the same faith and action, yet in the contemplation of divinity, by how much more deeply they had advanced than we, by so much did they also exhibit stronger works of faith. Wherefore also the three hundred thousand of the sons of Israel are mustered.

Thirty indeed comes from three, and ten comes into thirty, but in the number thirty the ten is as simple as the three; yet to count all the way to three hundred, we multiply the ten thirty times and the thirty ten times, because even if the contemplation is great, great are the works of the subject people, yet those things which came first in our fathers were incomparable. For as it were our number, the ten, is gathered ten times into their perfection, while our works are greatly submitted to their perfection. Therefore the thirty thousand men of Judah and the three hundred of the sons of Israel, counted together with us, lead preachers to battle against Nahash; if they wish to help the tempted abstinent subjects, they set before them both the outstanding deeds of the strongest fathers and those of the lesser. Israel indeed is called the one seeing God, or, in whom God is; a name that certainly does not fit one still weak or unskilled. As many perfect men as we bring forth in affliction of the flesh and contemplation of the mind, so many armed men do we strike down the serpent of Nahash with. But now let us hear with what words the king's army strengthens the besieged.

(Verse 9.) And they said to those who had come: Thus shall you say to the men who are in Jabesh Gilead: Tomorrow your salvation will be at hand, when the sun has grown warm.

Such, perhaps, is that saying which is given to us by the counsel of that wise man: If the spirit of one who has power ascends upon you, do not quickly leave your place (Eccles. 10:4). The place of each of the elect is the position of good conduct. But when it is permitted, the spirit that has power is able to attack, because it could by no means attack the hearts of the elect unless divine dispensation permitted it. He therefore commands that we not leave our place, because if we are strong amid the brief shadows of temptations, the divine light will soon be present, at whose coming the power of darkness vanishes. Well, then, is it said: Tomorrow, when the sun has grown warm, salvation will be yours. The exhortation of the holy preachers is the day, because while it touches the tempted hearts of the lesser ones, it raises them to the hope of victory. But night follows this day, because even if divine aids are withdrawn, still the rushing darkness of carnal desires does not depart. What, then, is tomorrow's day but the advent of divine visitation? For it is called tomorrow's day because for the tempted elect the splendor of divine aid is very near. Whence also through the prophet the Lord says: I am God near at hand, and not God far off (Jer. 23:23). Hence the Psalmist says: The Lord is near to all who call upon him in truth (Ps. 144:18).

Hence the Lord himself also promises again, saying: Before she calls, I will say; Behold, I am here (Isa. 58:9). The first day, then, is the light of preaching; the next day is that of divine grace. But it must be noted that he said: When the sun has grown warm; so that the brightness of the day may illuminate the darkness of understanding, and the heat of the sun may kindle the love of the heart; so that the mind may see through the light the good it should desire, and through the warmth of the mind may long for what it sees. For this twofold remedy of the mind is offered against the twofold war of the devil. For the malignant spirit, in order to overcome the minds of the elect by tempting them, first sets before them the darkness of evil thoughts, then kindles the flames of desires, because unless he has first blinded the mind, he does not impel it to the depravity of concupiscence. But the elect mind, while it is permitted to be tempted, is disturbed in both respects, because it can feel the annoyances of desires to the extent that, with God permitting, it cannot cast off from itself the darkness of thoughts. But because it is permitted by God to be tempted, at the coming of his grace it is relieved from both evils: while it receives light against the darkness, and through the warmth of the coming spirit it casts off the coldness of the mind. For it begins to see heavenly things, which was unable to lift its mind from carnal things, and what it lovingly beholds it ardently desires.

Rightly, then, it is said: Tomorrow your salvation will be, when the sun has grown warm; because if we bravely endure the violent assaults of the ancient enemy, we are lifted up by the swiftness of divine grace to the light of the heart and the strength of great charity. And because the chosen hearts of subjects gladly receive this counsel of the holy preachers, it follows: (Verse 9.) The messengers therefore came and announced to the men of Jabesh. And they rejoiced.

But let us also hear what they answer to the Ammonites, with the help promised to them. For it follows: (Verse 10.) And they said: In the morning we will go out to you, and you shall do to us whatever pleases you.

ii. This indeed, because those who are already secure in nearby help say it, gives a certain hope to the enemies whom they mock by promising. By their voice they indeed feign weakness, but within they keep the strength of the promised help. They promise one thing, therefore, and believe another. For those who were saying: Tomorrow we will go out to you, and you shall do to us whatever pleases you, were giving the enemies to believe this, that they would so hand themselves over into their hands as to be able to do with them whatever they wished. But those who knew that the king would come on the following day to their aid were planning to go out with him, not to the hands of the enemies, but to their slaughter. According to the spiritual sense, however, to Naas the serpent, that is, to the gluttony of desire, we promise our going out on his day, but on our day we vanquish his battle lines. His day indeed is the delight of bodily satiety.

For he who proposes to fill his belly instead of [doing] his will, as it were, dedicates the first day to concupiscence, and yet he is still within, because he has set before himself a certain light of delight which he has not seen by acting. Tomorrow, then, he has gone out, who has displayed that pleasant thing which he promised to the flesh both by acting and by delighting in it. But holy men, as I said above, mock gluttony; because since they cannot despair of its appetite forever, that which they promise and do not take up, they promise again as it were in the future light of delight. They are indeed compelled outside by the excessive frailty of the flesh, and within they are clothed with the strength of great charity. Through that [frailty], indeed, those who cannot renounce their appetites promise as it were with an outward voice what they do not have in intention. Through that [charity], however, because they are secure concerning divine things, they propose to do something other than what they speak with the voice of infirmity. On his day, therefore, they go out to Nahash, because to fight against the concupiscence of gluttony they advance through the light of heavenly aid, and having been visited by supernal grace, they are now strong against every assault of the flesh, who, when left to themselves for a little while, feared its attacks. That splendor of divine grace, indeed, because through the mouths of preachers it is sometimes poured into the lesser members of holy Church, follows: (Verse 11.) And it came to pass, when the next day had come, that Saul set the people in three parts, and entered into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and struck Ammon until the sun grew warm.

The people are indeed divided into parts, so that we may strike down the serpent Nahash not with a single battle line. And indeed it is divided into three parts, so that the fruit and dignity of sacred abstinence may be shown: because by fasting we are recalled to that contemplation of the Holy Trinity which we lost by eating. For this is why the fasts of the Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel are commended. For Moses, in order to be worthy to receive the Law, fasted twice for the number of forty days (Exod. 34:28). Elijah, in order to escape the hand of Jezebel, came to Horeb, the mountain of God, in the strength of a single meal for forty days (1 Kings 19:8). Our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ, fasting for forty days in the desert, took no food at all (Matt. 4:1). Saul therefore divides the people into three parts: because, as an example for those who abstain, the fasts of the Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel are brought forth. And when the next day comes, the teacher enters the middle of the camp: because when divine grace, which enlightens the hearts of preachers for teaching, also irradiates the minds of hearers, it powerfully raises them to the hope of victory. On the next day, therefore, the teacher, about to triumph, enters the camp of the enemies, and opens it, and powerfully strikes the battle lines of their desires within it. And because the minds of the subjects themselves profit by hearing, in the morning watch the king is said to enter the camp of the Ammonites, and to remain among their slaughters until the day grew hot.