Today I wanted to share with you not only a passage from the Imitation of Christ, but also one of my favorite readings from the Divine Office. It is an Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday that is a beautiful reminder of God's love for His creatures--for us.
from the Imitation of Christ:
"What good does it do to speak learnedly about the Trinity if,
lacking humility, you displease the Trinity? Indeed it is not learning that
makes a man holy and just, but a virtuous life makes him pleasing to God. I
would rather feel contrition than know how to define it. For what would it
profit us to know the whole Bible by heart and the principles of all the
philosophers if we live without grace and the love of God? Vanity of vanities
and all is vanity, except to love God and serve Him alone" (The Imitation of Christ, Book One).
…and from the Divine Office
An ancient homily on Holy Saturday
Something strange is
happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and
stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth
trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has
raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the
flesh and hell trembles with fear.
He has gone to search for our
first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness
and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam
and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them
bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him
Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out
to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your
spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper,
and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
I am your God, who for your
sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now
by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who
are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you,
O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise
from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you
who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me
and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.
For your sake I, your God,
became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above
the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for
the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the
sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I
was crucified in a garden.
See on my face the spittle I
received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See
there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped
nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to
remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed
firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.
I slept on the cross and a
sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from
your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from
your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was
turned against you.
Rise, let us leave this place.
The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that
paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was
only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I
appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them
worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift
and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal
dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open.
The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.
(http://www.ebreviary.com/ebreviary/usa2/ebusatriduumprayer3.nsf/d76f03c63d3ce749852573f2000d363f/4762b71c32f112cc8525764600515a0f/$file/triduum_morning_office_2_d.pdf)
