Isaiah — Chapter 60

Surge, illuminare Jerusalem, quia venit lumen tuum et gloria Domini super te orta est

Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. The Church's vocation: to rise and shine because she carries within her the divine light (Christ, 'lux mundi,' Jn 8:12). 'The glory of the Lord has risen upon you' = the Incarnation and Resurrection — the Sun of Justice risen upon the new Jerusalem. Lapide: 'surge' (arise) is addressed to the Church in every age — she must constantly rise from the lethargy of sin and worldliness to shine before the nations. Applied to the individual soul: the soul illumined by grace must shine before others ('so let your light shine before men,' Mt 5:16). The Advent and Epiphany liturgy of the Church is saturated with this verse.

Quia ecce tenebrae operient terram et caligo populos: super te autem orietur Dominus

For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. The contrast of light and darkness: the world under sin and unbelief is covered with thick darkness; the Church shines with supernatural light. Lapide: the nations described here are those still in paganism, heresy, or infidelity — covered with the darkness of error. The Church's mission is to bring the light of Christ to these nations. Applied to the contemporary world: Lapide (writing in 1627) sees the Protestant Reformation and Muslim conquests as the 'thick darkness' upon the peoples, against which the Church must shine more brilliantly.

Et ambulabunt gentes in lumine tuo et reges in splendore ortus tui

And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. The procession of the Gentile nations to the Church's light — applied by Lapide to the great missionary age of his own time (16th-17th century missions to the Americas, Africa, Asia). The kings bringing their glory into the Church (v.3, 11) = the conversion of rulers and the offering of their power to Christ. Partially fulfilled; fully to be fulfilled at the eschatological ingathering.

Omnes de Saba venient aurum et thus deferentes

All those from Sheba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news of the praises of the Lord. Applied by Lapide to the Magi (Mt 2:11: 'they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh') as the first-fruits of this Gentile procession. The Magi are types of all nations bringing their gifts to Christ. 'Gold' = faith; 'frankincense' = prayer; 'myrrh' = penance — the three gifts offered by every Christian to Christ. More literally: the wealth of the nations consecrated to God through the Church's temporal works (building churches, supporting the missions, almsgiving).

Non erit tibi amplius sol ad lucendum per diem, nec splendor lunae illuminabit te

The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. The eschatological transformation: the physical luminaries become unnecessary because God Himself is the light of the new creation (Apoc 21:23, 22:5: 'the Lord God will be their light'). Lapide: in the heavenly Jerusalem, God's own essence, communicated through the beatific vision, is the light of all the blessed — surpassing sun and moon as the sun surpasses a candle. 'Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself' (v.20) = eternal, uninterrupted beatitude; no night, no eclipse, no diminishment of divine light in eternity.