and rational, so he walks in a triple path. Inasmuch as he is vegetable, he seeks utility, in quo cum plantis communicat; inasmuch as he is animal, he seeks pleasure, in which he participates with brutes; inasmuch as he is rational, he seeks for honour, in which he is either alone, or is associated with the angels, vel angelicæ naturæ sociatur ;”1 according as he pursues either the false honour of the world, or the true honour of chivalry, which comes from God. But to understand fully the harmony, the union and proportion of all the parts, and the exceeding felicity which resulted from it, as evinced in the religion of these ages, it is necessary to approach still nearer towards the sanctuary, and attend to the lessons of its ministers. "Universal causes," saith Lewis of Grenada, " produce their effects only by the means and ministry of particulars; for instance, the sun, which is the creator of all things here, would not of itself produce the corn unless the labourer had sown it. Now the passion of our Redeemer, being the universal cause of all spiritual good, it was necessary that there should be sacraments, which are, as it were, particular causes, by the means of which the universal cause operates divers effects in the souls which receive them worthily."2 This refers to the great distinguishing principles of the religion of Jesus Christ, wherein it differed from all systems of human philosophy. It is only by keeping these in view that men can understand the religion, the institutions, the manners, or even the architecture of the middle ages. Johnson, a learned modern writer, in his Canons Ecclesiastical, says, that "there can be no doubt among men of knowledge that Christian churches were built principally for the celebration of the blessed Eucharist;"3 which accounts for their form and various peculiarities. It was a feeling of veneration for Jesus Christ in the blessed Eucharist, descending into respect for all men who were or might be partakers of his body and blood, which gave rise to the reverential and exceeding courteous manners of Christendom, according to which the monk would prostrate himself before a guest, and the knight would salute the stranger with all reverence. It was from this cause that institutions arose which were designed for men whose happiness and 2 Catechism, iii. 12. De Vulg. Eloquent. ii. 2. 3 Vol. ii. whose treasures were independent of the world. Hear St. Bernard. 66 Sometimes, O Lord, thou dost infuse into my heart, which sighs for thee, what it is not lawful for me to know. I feel indeed its sweetness, which is so great, that, if it were to last always, I should have nothing more to wish for." It is recorded of this wonderful man, that, in the beginning of his noviciate, he had lost the use of all his senses, his soul was so fixed on God. St. Clare is said to have been so transported on the festival of the Epiphany, that for many days after she could hardly observe any thing. Brother Gilles, of the order of St. Francis, used sometimes to fall into an ecstacy at the very name of Paradise ; for " persons of this holiness," says Lewis of Grenada, "after the habit of love has taken deep root in their souls, are like very dry powder, which takes fire at the least spark which falls on it." These were the delights which God had hidden for those who feared him.1 "O admirabilis et abscondita gratia sacramenti! quam norunt tantum Christi fideles: infideles autem et peccatis servientes experiri non possunt."2 Hence arose the monastery in the deep wood, or the hermitage in the rocky desert, for men who wished to pass their days in solitude and meditation, having no desire to know, or to be known, of the world: hence, too, the exact and scrupulous attention to many moral duties, the neglect of which would have deprived men of these sources of happiness. King Richard Cœur de Lion had not approached the blessed sacrament for seven years, on account of the hatred which he bore to the King of France. But, above all, it is necessary to bear these principles in mind if we would understand the religion which prevailed in these ages. "Independence," says a profound modern writer, "is a kind of synonym for irreligion. When applied to man, it directly contradicts the first and supreme laws of our nature, the very essence of which is universal dependence upon God, and universal interdependence on one another;" whereas "the essence of independence is hatred and jealousy."3 "The great law of nature," says M. de Haller, "is a law of love. Each is to assist the other; the strong, the weak; the rich, the poor; the learned, the ignorant; 2 De Imit. Christ. iv. 1. 1 Ps. xxx. 3 Guesses at Truth. and, reversing the order, those who have least, are no less to assist those who have most. All theories to counteract this scheme, and to substitute other motives of conduct, will fail. This holds in the spiritual as well as in the material world. All depend on higher degrees of power; as neither children make their father, nor servants their masters, so neither do disciples make their teacher, nor the ignorant and the helpless those who are to instruct and assist them.” Thus in the revealed sources of grace, a bond of union was imparted which became stronger than all former ties between men. By the sacramental bond, the faithful became united in one mystical body, which extended from earth, and even the regions of the departed, to heaven and the very throne of God. The ignorant participated in the wisdom of the learned; the weak in the power of the strong; the less perfect in the graces and reward of the most holy. Men were to be delivered not merely by their own faith, but by that of others.2 The paralytic of Capernaum believed not; but those who bore him believed; and Jesus, beholding their faith, said to the sick man, "Surge." Lazarus had been dead three days, and his nerves were dissolved, and his body was corrupted. How was he to believe? but his sisters supplied what was wanting to him; and our Lord said to them, Si credideris, videbis gloriam Dei." The Church, without deciding positively where the efficacy of the divine sacrifice of the mass would reach, taught men to believe that in the way of suffrage no limits to its power could be laid down. The Amen of the most simple heart, directed with a view thus to the prayers of Christ's Catholic Church, became an adequate petition for all that God bestows on the children of men. No more was there need of long prayers, and that distinct and perfect knowledge after which the heathen vainly sighed. In the assemblies of the faithful a language was spoken which none but the faithful could understand; for, says St. Bernard, as a man "without knowledge of Greek cannot understand him who speaketh in Greek, or one who is ignorant of Latin, him who speaketh in Latin: so to him who is without love, the language of love will be as sounding brass, See the introduction to the fourth volume of his Restoration of Political Science. S. Cyrilli Catechesis, v. 8. mens."2 or a tinkling cymbal :" and it was in the language of love that the Church spoke; moreover, it was in the language of desire. The Psalms formed her offices of devotion; and it was from their terms being often involved in such veiled and undefined majesty, that they furnished the best expression for the desires of the Christian soul. Great hearts cannot direct a tongue to inform men of their present wants; and how much less can they find utterance when moved by grace to approach God! "Ecclesia columba est," said St. Bernard; ""columba quia innocens, quia geHence he chose the most obscure part of the sacred Scriptures to serve as the text for his spiritual instruction. "To seek God," he says, "is the great good. It forms an accession to no virtue; it yields to no virtue. To what should it form an accession, when nothing can precede it? To what should it yield, which is the consummation of all? For what virtue belongs to him who seeks not God? or what end can be prescribed to him who seeks God? "Quærite faciem ejus semper:' justly, evermore; because even when found, there will be no end of seeking. God is to be sought by desires, and a happy finding does not make an end of a holy desire, but extends it. Thus the consummation of joy is not the destruction of desire ; but it is rather like oil for the flame. So it is joy shall be full, but of desire and of seeking there shall be no end." Men still saw through a glass darkly; but the being a man of desires drew down an angel to Daniel : and to love and hope and believe was substituted for the disputation and fears and suspicions, which had harassed men before the dawn of this glorious light. Religion was now love and pardon, and the indulgence of Heaven3 was imparted in jubilees through the ministry of the servant of the servants of God, and to the end of sanctification and peace. It was a pilgrimage to Rome during the jubilee which delivered Petrarch, as he himself declared, from the tyranny of licentious habits; and it was to the jubilee, through the grace of God, that he ascribes his conversion from the world.4 Even the ideas which men had entertained of virtue were to be submitted to the influence of this divine dispensation. 2 Ibid. 62. In Cantica Serm. 78. 3 Vide Holden Divinæ Fidei Analys. ii. c. vi. § 3. They who opposed the Catholic Church fixed their standard of perfection upon any ground but that of the beatitudes, though so solemnly pronounced by the Saviour, in whom they professed to believe; while on the other hand, those who remained faithful were indifferent to the charges of their enemies, as long as they felt hope of being included in the number whom he had said were blessed : "the poor in spirit, the meek, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst after justice, the merciful, the clean in heart, the peace-makers, those who suffer persecution and reviling for the sake of justice." Yet, how sublime were these views, even according to the weak conceptions of man! If they excluded the pugnacious spirit of the Academy, they united the depth of Plato with the sweetness of Xenophon; and well might the Christian orator exclaim, "Quisquam est, qui alias omnes, si in unum conferantur, scientias cum hac, qua ista tam pulcra, tam admirabilia, tam divina traduntur, ullo modo comparandas putet? Hæc una est non tam liberalis vocanda, quam liberatrix. Hæc aurea illa catena est, qua cum cœlestibus terrestria copulantur. Hæc scala illa est, quam olim per quietem sanctissimus Patriarcha vidit, cujus gradibus in cœlum scandere liceat, atque illic Deum intueri, admirari, adorare, demittentem semet ipsum ex augustissimo illo majestatis suæ fastigio, seseque accommodantem ad humanæ conditionis humilitatem." ""1 Would you observe the humanised, and, as it were, sensible harmony which followed from this union? Hear the young and philosophic Solger, though outwardly at least a disciple of the moderns: "With what feelings of peaceful joy, with what open hearts, do we travel through these happy countries of the Swiss Catholics! We fancy ourselves in the fabulous age of the world, when the earth gave all things in spontaneous profusion; when no one had separate property; every one could take freely from the common abundance, and all were united in love."2 Or have you a wish to contemplate that sublime elevation of soul raised to an unalterable unimpassioned region of eternal peace, which enabled St. Thomas Aquinas to view with equal eye the different fate of mortals? Hark the anthem which comes 1 Antonii Mureti Orat. i. Solger's Nachgelassene Schriften, i. vol. xxxvii. |