The Grove of Beatitudes, Beatitude 3
The Third BEATITUDE Bleſſed are they that mourn, for they ſhall be comforted.
EMBLEME III. The Myrrhe-Tree.
Tam lachrymoſus homo — 3
So of himſelf, as ſoon as born,
The tender Bahe begins to mourn;
But after, pierc'd with griefs and ſears,
Hee's more and more diſtilling tears.
THe Myrrhe-Tree, of it ſelf naturally diſtil's, and, as it were, ſheds tears; but more abundantly when it is prick'd and wounded. Behold the Embleme and Type of Man, who is born weeping, as being (to uſe Saint Auſtin's expreſſion) a Prophet preſaging his own future calamities.
Man likewiſe naturally weeps for the loſs or death of a dear friend; ſo doth a Parent for his loſt, or deceaſed Child; as Jacob did for Joſeph, and David for his Son Ahſalon. Such tears ought to be moderate, according to the ſaying of the Son of Sirach, Modicùm plora ſuper mortuum: Weep not much over the dead.
Temporal loſſes and afflictions do alſo force tears, from thoſe who ſuffer them, as they did from Job cap. 24. v. ult. My harp alſo is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.
But when a man ſheds tears out of remorſe and compunction, he is wounded like the Myrrh-Tree. Thus was David wounded, when he ſaid, In the night-time, I will waſh my bed with my tears. What ſins how great and enormous ſoever, but may be ſwallowed up in ſuch a flood, as Pharaoh and his Army was in the red Sea? Or what Flames can be ſo great, as not to be extinguiſh'd by ſuch a fountain?
There are likewiſe tears of Compaſſion, as Job ſays, I wept over him that was afflicted, and my ſoul took compaſſion on the poor. After this manner, David weeps for Saul; and Tobias for his Countrey men, oppreſs'd with miſeries.
With like tears of Commiſeration, we may mourn with our Lord, while we meditate on his bitter Paſſion: for, as S. Aguſtine ſays, He is not a true member of Chriſts Body, that weeps not with the Head.
There are likewiſe tears of Devotion, which iſſue forth out of an ardent deſire to enjoy the happy Viſion of God. Or, when a devout Soul, repleniſhed with the ſweetneſs of God, mourns for the abſence of her beloved Spouſe. For, Love (ſaith S. Auguſt.) is impatient, neither is there any moderation in tears, unleſs the Lover may enjoy that which he loves.
Tears likewiſe are ſhed by devout perſons, when they behold grievous ſins committed, which are ſo injurious and offenſive to Almighty God. After this manner Eſdras wept, and the Apoſtles for their Lord, when he was ſo cruelly treated by the Jews, as he had foretold, ſaying, you ſhall mourn and weep.
Moreover, tears are ſhed by thoſe, who, out of Devotion, and exceſs of ſpiritual joy, even melt with the contemplation of heavenly Myſteries. Which kind of joy, S. Auguſtine had experienced, when he aſſures us, that the more a devout Soul is filled with holy and fervent deſires, the more abundantly he weeps in Prayer; and mourns, as David did, crying out, Ay is me that my ſojourning and abode on earth is prolonged: I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Kedar; my ſoul hath been a long time a ſtranger. Therefore my tears have been bread to me day and night, while it is ſaid unto me, Where is thy God?
Our bleſſed Saviour ſpeaking of his Paſſion, calls it a Baptiſm, by which his ſacred body was bathed in blood, and his face in tears, like the Myrrhe-tree wounded on all ſides and parts of his body with thorns, whips, nails, and ſpear. Behold him in this ſad and heavy plight, mourn and weep with him, while he exemplifies in himſelf the third Beatitude, Bleſſed are they who mourn, for they ſhall be comforted.
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE III. BEATITUDE.
Of the Eyes of our Bleſſed Saviour weeping.
IN this third Beatitude, conſider a happineſs oppoſite to fleſh and blood, viz. to weep and mourn; which our Lord did many times, but never was ſeen to laugh. He mourn'd and wept on the Croſs, and was comforted; ſeeing by the effuſion of tears, and blood, he was to redeem us from the tyranny of Satan.
Mourning is an attendant as unſeparable from man, as the ſhadow from the body. He that condoles the death of a dear friend, mourns in black for a year. How long then, ſhall he mourn that lives as an exile upon earth! If he call to mind his manifold ſins, how can he do leſs then mourn? Or, if he ſeriouſly think of the dreadful day of Judgment, how can he but fearfully conſider what he ſhall be, and mourn, not knowing the event. Or, if he fix his thoughts on the many miſeries and dangers of this Life, ſhould he not mourn, conſidering where he is? Or finally, elevating his eyes from the reſidence of mortality, can he contemplate the joyes of Heaven, and not aſpire and ſigh with David, becauſe his ſojourning is prolong'd? not mourn, becauſe he is not where he would be?
O my Soul, What haſt thou been? Sinful. Where ſhalt thou be? As yet it is unknown. Where art? A Priſoner in thy Body, in a vale of tears. Where art thou not? Not in Heaven; not with God thy Centre, but in the way a Pilgrim going towards him. Run, then, that thou mayſt comprehend; And ſeeing to be diſſolv'd, and he with Chriſt is thy happineſs, weep with him, that with him, and by him, thou mayſt be comforted.
Here pauſe a while, and then conſider; To contemn the world, is to be poor in Spirit. To have Repoſe of Mind is to be meek; after which follows Mourning. For if a Man attend to himſelf and others, he ſhall find nothing but what is lamentable, while he beholds his own, and all the enormous crimes of the world, which is altogether bent to malignities; Who then can be ſo inſenſible as not to mourn? ſo drie as not to ſhed one tear?
O my Soul, Is it thou which art ſo barren? If to ſuffer with Chriſt be to reign with him; to be comforted, thou muſt weep with him. If he call thy ſins his own, if he mourn for thine, as if they were his own; if he ſhed tears, to waſh away thy ſinful blotts: canſt thou forbear weeping? Canſt thou be ſo ſtony-hearted, as not to be transfixt with grief, ſeeing his tender Heart wounded, and his Eyes ſhedding tears for thy ſins? Not one tear for thy ſelf, while he ſhowers down ſo many to purifie, and cleanſe thy feſtering Heart, ſoyl'd with ſo many Crimes!
O bleſſed Saviour! Thou art the true Moſes, and haſt a Rod to ſtrike, as well as to guide; wound (I beſeech thee) this ſtubborn Rock of mine, this obdurate Heart, that it may bleed with grief, and ſorrow for my ſins; That mine Eyes may guſh forth with tears: for this is the onelyonly grief which I deſire; this, the mourning which produceth Conſolation: for thou haſt ſaid it, Bleſſed are they that mourn, for they ſhall he comforted; in this Life, with ſpiritual ſolace, given to true penitents; and in the future, with perpetual joy, in perfect Beatitude.
Perfect Beatitude! Compleat Happineſs! O! ſhall I not mourn to find comfort there? Or ſhall I rather ſeek the fleeting Pleaſures, and tranſitory Conſolations of worldly felicity: which to enjoy, is inſtantly to be reduc'd to mourning. Shall I not (then) mourn, and ſigh after thoſe Comforts, which, once obtain'd, ſhall exempt me from all mourning?
Alaſs! Whither can I caſt mine Eye in this vale of tears, and not behold an Object that extracts tears, and invites to mourning? Here I behold manifold diſeaſes; There dyſaſtrous and untimely deaths; In this place, mortal Hatred accompanied by Revenge; In that, I hear Detractions, horrible Oaths, and Blaſphemies, with infinite miſeries and calamities. And if I reflect an Eye on my ſelf, what mutinies of rebellious Paſſions and diſordinate Appetites I diſcover in my own boſom, which made even Saint Paul himſelf mournfully to cry out, Ay me! unhappy Man, Who ſhall deliver me from the body of this death, that is, from a body which cauſeth a ſpiritual death to the Soul.
Notwithſtanding all this, ſhall I think to transform this our vale of tears into a Paradiſe of delights? This our gloomy ſhade and ſhadow of death, into a ſolid ſubſtance of joy and contentation? Do I not know that Enoſh (a Man, in the Hebrew Tongue) ſignifies one ſubject to diſeaſes, infirmities, and miſeries? What then is this wretched world, but an Hoſpital for the ſick, and a Houſe of Lazars; with which, what ſuites better than mourning?
How can I (then) but reflect on my ſelf, and bewail what I am; a Child of Adam, born of a Woman (ſaith Job) and living but a ſhort time, ſubject to many miſeries. Amongſt which, ſhall I live in jollity, with the Voluptuous; ſport, with the Libertine; gourmandize, with the Epicure; joy in worldly pelf, with the covetous; or in honors, with the ambitious? No: I have reputed laughter an error, (ſaith the Wiſe-man) and to joy, I ſaid, Why art thou in vain deluded? The end of joy is ſeiz'd on by ſorrow and mourning. And it is better to go to the houſe of mourning, then to the houſe of banquetting. Better is it, amidſt of afflictions to mourn with our Lord weeping on the Croſs, than amidſt vain joys and tranſitory delights, to exult with the impious. Better to ſhed one tear with thy Redeemer, drench'd in a briny flood, than a thouſand for temporal diſaſters.
Ah! me-thinks I ſee dropps of blood diſtilling from his Head, wounded with thorns, and from thence deſcending to his weeping Eyes, to make a mixture, ſuch as was in his Heart, of blood and water. Tears from his Eyes trickling down his pale cheek, to aſcend from thence to the Throne of his Father, to ſpeak in my behalf. As David ſaid, (it may be in the perſon of Chriſt) Hearken unto my tears. And ſhall I joyn with him in this Petition, exhibited for the waſhing away of my ſins, and yet not diſtill one tear? Shall the Maſter of Requeſts preſent to his Majeſty, the Humble Petition of ſome great Del…nquent, with tears in his Eyes; and the party (guilty) ſtand by, not onelyonly tearleſs, but alſo with a merry countenance? Nay, ſhould he ſecond it with laughter, what were it but to make expreſſion of the little (or no) reſentment and feeling he had, of his crime and preſent peril?
Such is the ſtate of voluptuous ſinners, who are ſo far from mourning, that they rejoyce in evil-doing, ſpend their dayes in mirth and jollity, and in an inſtant deſcend to Hell.
Oh! rather let us ſit with the Iſraelites by the Rivers of Babylon, (fleeting delights of the world), elevate our Eyes to our Heavenly Country, and mourning, ſay, How ſhall we ſing the Lord's ſong in a ſtrange Country, the world, into which we came weeping, ſurcharg'd but with one ſin, and ſhall we not mourn here, overloaden with many? Not return to Earth, (from whence we came) powring out (if it were poſſible) a flood of tears for the expiation of our manifold crimes?
The Myrrh-Tree wounded, diſtills abundantly tears; ſo may the Sinner, pierc'd to the heart by compunction. The Turtle mournes for the abſence of her Mate; ſo may the Soul of the juſt Man, to be united to her beloved Spouſe. The Hart transfixt with an Arrow dyes weeping; ſo may the ſinner wounded by true contrition, dye to himſelf, and live to Chriſt. A fiſh lives by waters, and a Chriſtian was born again by water; And, living in a vale of tears, ſhould be like Ros Solis, a plant which even in the heat of Summer is alwayes repleniſhed with dew; like a Magdalen, who obtain'd remiſſion by tears, and by tears was accompanied by our Saviour weeping: And finally, by tears, had the prerogative to ſee him firſt riſen from death.