Commentaria in Isaiam
9. NO EVIL BEAST SHALL GO UP BY IT. In desolate Idumea, in the preceding chapter, he said there would be onocentaurs and evil beasts; to this he opposes the Church, from which God will expel and keep them away; as if to say: Christ will remove from the Church the demons, and their devices, snares, and assaults, and everything harmful and terrifying alike. So St. Jerome, Cyril, and Theodoret. Leo Castrius refers this to the exorcisms of baptism, by which the demon is put to flight from the one to be baptized.
worship and impiety to the chaste and pious rites of Christ, AND THEY SHALL COME INTO SION, that is, into the Church, both militant and rather triumphant and heavenly: for to this latter go those who have been freed and redeemed, not to the militant, for they already dwell in it; and the way just mentioned, which leads to the Church militant, leads also through it to the triumphant. So St. Jerome and St. Augustine, sermon 27 on the Feast of All Saints, tome 10, and Tertullian, book On the Resurrection of the Flesh, and it is plain from what follows; for he says:
AND EVERLASTING JOY SHALL BE UPON THEIR HEADS, that is, upon those elect and blessed ones redeemed by Christ, the joy of the citizens, namely of holy souls, who are summoned into heaven by the mind and by the wondrous concord of virtues. So St. Jerome and Cyril.
for head is put for the man, the part for the whole, by synecdoche. Or properly upon the very head: for he alludes to the nuptial crown, THE UNCLEAN SHALL NOT PASS OVER IT, as if to say: The way to the Church will be holy, that is, pure and clean: because no unclean man shall pass over it so as to defile it. By the unclean he means the Gentile and the sinner persisting in his unbelief or crimes: for to these the way to the Church is not open; but only to the penitent, who, when they wish to repent and be converted, though they be unclean, are cleansed from every defilement and filth on this way by the laver of baptism; whence they approach it no longer unclean but cleansed. He alludes to the temple of Jerusalem, from the entrance of which the polluted and unclean were kept out: for that holy temple was a type of the holy Church.
Foolishly, therefore, do heretics gather from this passage that in the Church there are no unclean persons and sinners, but only the just and holy, nay the predestined and elect; for the Prophet does not say that none shall pass through the Church, but through the way that leads straight to the Church. The nuptial crown was wont to be placed on the head of the bride, with whom, amid song and rejoicing, she was led from the fields into Sion; as if to say: Christ will lead his faithful and holy ones into the heavenly Sion in the manner in which a bridegroom is wont to lead his only beloved bride into Sion, with festive applause, with the nuptial crown, with joy so great and so full that all sorrow and groaning are driven far away. So Sanchez. This is what Esdras, book 4, chapter 2, verse 34, says plainly and beautifully, and it is cited in the Church’s Office in Paschal time: “Look for your shepherd, ye Gentiles, he will give you everlasting rest: be ready for the rewards of the kingdom, for the perpetual light will shine upon you for evermore: flee the shadow of this world, receive the joyfulness of your glory: rejoice, giving thanks to him who has called you to the heavenly kingdoms: arise and stand and see the number of those sealed (to these sealed ones John alludes, Apocalypse 7:9) at the banquet of the Lord: who have passed out of the shadow of the world, and have received bright garments from the Lord;”
and a little below: “I Esdras saw upon mount Sion a great multitude, which I could not number, and they all praised the Lord with songs. And in the midst of them was a young man of high stature, taller than all the rest, and he set crowns upon the head of each of them. Then I asked the Angel, and said: Who are these, Lord? And he answering said to me: These are they who have put off the mortal garment and put on the immortal, and have confessed the name of God: now they are crowned, and receive palms. And I said to the Angel: Who is that young man who sets crowns on them and puts palms into their hands? And he answering said to me: He is the Son of God, whom they confessed in the world. And I began to magnify those who stood strongly for the name of God.”
And Tobias, chapter 13, verse 21: “The gates of Jerusalem,” he says, “shall be built of sapphire and emerald, and all the circuit of her walls of precious stone. All her streets shall be paved with white and clean stones, and Alleluia shall be sung in her streets. Blessed be the Lord, who hath exalted it, and may his kingdom be over it for ever and ever.”
And Boethius, book 3 On the Consolation, prose 2: “Eternity,” he says, “is the whole, simultaneous and perfect possession of unending life.” Eternity, therefore, is first, unending; second, vital and ever living; third, whole at once; fourth, the perfect possession of life and of every good. In the goods of this life nothing is perfect, much is lacking: you have riches, honor is lacking; you have honor, health is lacking; you have health, knowledge is lacking; you have knowledge, eloquence and favor are lacking. And at a sumptuous banquet, as soon as you have eaten you are sated, appetite is lacking, pleasure is lacking; you are weighed down by the food, vigor and liveliness of mind are lacking, peace of mind is lacking, and often the place and honor you seek are lacking.
In eternal life the Blessed enjoy all goods at once: for they possess the riches of God, the knowledge of God, the delights of God, the strength of God, of Paradise, of the Angels and of all the Saints; and they have and will have all these together, present, through all eternity.
Will they not, then, have everlasting joy upon their heads, and obtain gladness and rejoicing?
What, then, is blessed eternity? Let us ask those who have entered it and enjoy it. Tell us, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. John, what is blessed eternity? We cannot fully and distinctly conceive it, nor explain and express it. How long have you been in it? For fifteen hundred years. How far have you advanced in it? We have scarcely begun it. Have fifteen hundred years gone by and taken anything from your eternity? Not an hour, not a moment, not a hair’s breadth; it is just as if we were only now beginning it: the eternal pleasure befalls us equally new, equally delightful, equally long, and remains so. What, then, is your eternity, so happy, so blessed? It is an abyss of joys, an abyss of times, an abyss of ages: our times, our joys, our ages have no bottom, have no end; however wise and keen-sighted we may be, we cannot see through to their term and limit; we cannot measure or mete out our eternity, there is no measure that equals it: of our kingdom, our happiness, our glory and joy there will be no end, never an end, never a term. Tell, O St. Catherine, St. Lucy, St. Agnes, you who fought for chastity even unto death and overcame fires, racks, and beasts, what and how great is your eternity! Tell, O St. Jerome, St. Macarius, Anthony, St. Romuald, St. Elias, Eliseus, you who for 50, 60, 100 years renounced all the pleasures of the world and led an austere life, went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, in want, distressed, afflicted, of whom the world was not worthy! what did you receive for such labors? what is your everlasting joy? Tell, O St. Stephen, St. Laurence, St. Vincent! tell, O St. Clement of Ancyra and Agathangelus, who for 28 continuous years bravely and generously endured racks, fires, scaffolds, scourges, a continual and long martyrdom! what is your joy; what and how great is the crown of your eternity? We had a moment of torment; that has long since passed and vanished: now we have an eternal delight, which will never pass away, but will always be today, always present to us. Now we follow the Lamb, and sing: “Thou hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests; and we shall reign for ever and ever. Thy kingdom, O Lord, is a kingdom of all ages, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.” Think of ages of ages, think of all offspring and generations, think of all times present, past, future, and possible; still you will not have measured our eternity: through all these times, through all these generations, through all these ages of ages we shall reign, delight, and triumph with Christ and all the Saints in every pleasure and joy for ever.