Mark — Chapter 7

And for fear of him the keepers did shake , and became as dead men . That is, they were astonished and stupefied like the dead, as S. Jerome says. For they feared lest they should be VOL. III. y 338 . S. MATTHEW, C. XXVIIT. blasted, as it were, and killed by lightning. If the angel only by the lightning glance of his countenance so struck and terrified the soldiers, what would he have done if he had laid his hands on them? For one angel slew in one night 185,000 soldiers in the camp of Sennacherib.

And the angel answered , &c. You will say, How is it that Matthew and Mark speak only of one angel as seen by the women, when Luke affirms that two were seen, who comforted the women with different words from those which Matthew and Mark have? I answer that the account of Luke is different from that of Matthew, and that he relates what happened later, as I shall hereafter show. The women . Namely, the Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna, and the rest (see Luke xxiv. 10). Those are mistaken, therefore, who think that Magdalene, after she had seen the empty sepulchre, immediately ran back to tell the Apostles, without seeing the angels, and that they were only seen by Mary the mother of James and the rest. John, therefore (chap. xx. 1), while he mentions Magdalene only, with her understands all the rest of her companions ; for she was the leader and chief of them all Eve conversing with the devil incurred death; but these conversing with the angel found life. Sorceresses and witches are like Eve, who, conversing with the devil, drink in death ; but peni- tents are like Magdalene, who, invoking angels, obtain life. Fear not ye. “The word ye” says S. Chrysostom, “carries with it much honour, and at the same time declares that those who had dared to commit that great crime would, unless they should repent, suffer extreme punishment For it is not, he says, for you to fear, but for those who crucified Him.” For I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. The word “for” gives the reason why they ought not to fear the sight of the angel, but to rejoice and be glad, because they both love and worship Jesus which was crucified, and minister to and serve Him. He expressly says “ crucified, 99 both to show that he is not WAKING FROM THE SLEEP OF DEATH. 339 ashamed of, but that he openly confesses the Cross and the Crucified, and that he is His servant, because the Cross is the highest honour and glory to Christ and to His followers, and also to signify the fruit of the Cross of Christ; because, says S. Chrysostom, it is the head and sum of blessings, and because by His Cross Christ redeemed not only the women and the rest of mankind, but also made the angels to rejoice, yea, even con- ferred grace and glory on them. And lastly, because by the Cross He reconciled angels to men, and Heaven to earth, “re- conciling through the blood of the Cross both the things which are in earth and in Heaven,” as Paul says (Col. i. 20). He is not here. “ He is not here in His fleshly presence,” says S. Gregory; “and He is nowhere absent in the presence of His majesty.” For He is risen. The Greek word is viyfylh j, which means, He has awaked from death, as it were from a short and light sleep, to light and life. For the death of Christ was like sleep, for He slept, as it were, in the sepulchre thirty-six hours. So also will it be with us. Wherefore, as sleep is a sort of brief death, so also death is a sort of longer sleep. Hence Paul (1 Cor. xv.) does not speak of those who have departed from life as dead, but as sleeping, because we shall all be awakened from the sleep of death, and shall arise again to life in the Day of Judgment Again, He has awaked as trees, which in winter having been, as it were, stripped and asleep, wake up in spring, when they begin to put forth leaves and flowers and fruit So S. Jerome (on Mark xvi.) says, “The bitter root of the Cross has vanished; for the flower of life has burst forth with fruit — that is, He who lay in death has arisen in glory.” And in the same glory He will make His faithful ones to rise. As He said. Christ, whom ye all esteemed as a holy and divine Prophet, foretold and promised that He would rise on the third day. Therefore believe that He has risen, for so great a Prophet could not lie ; especially since ye now see that the body has departed from the sepulchre, and has risen, as I, who am an 340 S. MATTHEW, C. XXVIH angel of the living and true God, most certainly affirm. He Himself foretold the same by David in the 15th Psalm, “Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption;” because, as S. Peter says (Acts ii. 24), “it was impossible that He should be holden of it” Moreover, Christ rose before He was anointed by the women, that He might show that He did not need that anointing, since He rose again by His own power. S. Bernard ( Serm . 12, in Cant.) gives another moral reason, — because He would rather the price of this anointing should be given to the poor than tp Himself. Come. “Enter with nle into the sepulchre; for your sake, that you may enter, I have removed the great stone.” See the place where the Lord lay. That by the beholding of it with your eyes, says S. Chrysostom, ye may see that His body is not here, but has risen from it, so that, “ if ye believe not my words, ye may believe the empty sepulchre,” says S. Jerome. The angel there- fore led the way, and as a guide introduced the women into the sepulchre, and showed it to them empty, that they might not doubt that Christ had risen from it

And go quickly , and tell His disciples , &c Quickly — so that ye may quickly banish the sorrow of the disciples, caused by the death of Christ their Master, and cheer their sorrowful minds, and fill them with joy by the most joyful news of the resurrection of Christ For the women deserved this favour above others, because above others in their devotion to Christ they had come to the sepulchre. S. Gregory {Horn. 25) gives a symbolical reason, “For because woman in Paradise ministered death to man, woman from the sepulchre announced life to men. As if the Lord were saying to mankind, not in words but by deeds, 'From that same hand by which the potion of death was administered to you, receive ye the cup of life.* ” Tell His disciples . Mark adds, and Peter — that is, chiefly and before all, Peter, both because Peter in Christ’s absence was the first and Prince of the Apostles, and because Peter, as he loved Christ above the rest, so also above the rest he was mourning over 341 * AND PETER.” His death. S. Gregory adds a third reason {Horn, 21, in Evang.\ M If the angel had not expressly named him who had denied his Master, he would not have dared to come amongst the disciples ; he is therefore called by name, lest he should despair on account of his denial. In which thing we have to consider why Almighty God permitted him to fear the words of a maid servant, and to deny Himself, whom He had appointed to set over the whole Church, which thing we perceive to have been done by a dis- pensation of great goodness, in order that he who was to be the pastor of the whole Church might learn through his own fault how he ought to have compassion upon others.” He goeth before you into Galilee . First, because Galilee was the native country of the Apostles, to which, after the death of Jesus, they were purposing to return, that they might live more safely among their own relations. Secondly, because in Galilee Christ willed to show Himself openly to all His assembled disciples. For the Jews would not have permitted them to assemble in Judaea. Thirdly, because in Galilee Christ had for the most part preached, and had performed very many miracles. Symbolically: S. Gregory ( Horn . 21) says, “For Galilee means a passing over from death to life ; for our Redeemer had already passed from His Passion to His resurrection, from death unto life. And He is seen first by His disciples after His resurrection in Galilee, because we shall have joy in seeing the glory of His resurrection, if only we pass over from vice to the heights of virtue. He, then, who is announced at the tomb is shown in passing over ; because He who is first known in mortification of the flesh is seen in this passing over of the soul.” Yet Christ appeared to the Apostles in Judaea also, but secretly ; in Galilee publicly. In the historical order of the events must be brought in here what Luke mentions (chap. xxiv. 3), namely, that Magdalene and her companions, while at the invitation of the angel they had entered the sepulchre and seen that it was empty, yet were affrighted ; on account of which the angels cheered them, and at the same time gently reproved their want of faith. For that 342 S. MATTHEW, C. XXVm. Luke’s account is not the same as that of Matthew and Mark, as some think, is clear from the words themselves, which are evidently different. Also, from the circumstance that in Luke two angels are said to have appeared, while in Matthew and Mark only one is mentioned.

And they went out quickly , &c., with fear. That is, with a sacred trembling, which was caused by the sepulchre of Christ and the angels, and the resurrection of Christ announced by the angels to them, which came upon them in their sorrow for the death of Christ, and in their thoughts about anointing Him, as a thing not only unexpected but well-nigh incredible ; wherefore a new fear was added, lest this vision of angels was only a phantom which deceived them, and lest the body of Jesus had been stolen. And with great joy . Because they had seen the angels, and had received from them the joyful news of His resurrection. Their minds, therefore, were alternating between joy and fear. So S. Jerome says, “A twofold feeling possessed the minds of the women, fear and joy ; fear at the greatness of the miracle, joy in their desire for Him that was risen.” Tell His disciples . Matthew does not mention what they told ; but John and Luke explain it, but in different ways. For John says that Magdalene only said to Peter, They have taken away my Lord out of the sepulchre , and we know not where they have laid Him . But Luke says that they related to the Apostles all the things they had seen and heard. You will say, Whence this difference? I answer, It arises from the women being possessed with fear and doubt, and therefore they told no one anything by the way. And because they did not firmly and certainly believe that Christ had risen, they spoke alternating words, in accordance with the alternations of their thoughts; for at one time they speak of the vision of angels, at another they declare their opinion that the body of the Lord had been taken away. At this point we must bring into the history what S. John relates (chap. xx. 2-19). CHRIST HIMSELF APPEARS. 343 Magd&lene, then, was the first to see Christ, as Mark says. After- wards, at the command of Christ, she hastened after the other women, and overtook them, and then with them again saw Christ, and heard His salutation. So SS. Chrysostom, Jerome, and others.

And, beholdy Jesus met them, & c. As after the courtiers follows the king, as after the priests the High Priest, so here after the angels follows Christ, and confirms His resurrection by show- ing Himself alive to the pious women. For it was His will that the angels should prepare the way for Him, to this end, both that they might more easily believe that He had risen, and that they might not be terrified, as they would have been if, without warning, He had unexpectedly shown Himself to them. Met them. Because they were seeking Him with greater affec- tion and desire than the men. For he who seeks Jesus with fer- vour finds Jesus lovingly coming to meet him, according to that saying, A sky and it shall be given you; seek , and ye shall find 1 So S. Jerome says, “They who thus desired, and who thus ran, merited to have their risen Lord come to meet them, and first to hear the word * Hail , 1 that the curse of the woman Eve might be removed in these women.” Tropologically : Rabanus says, “ Jesus sometimes meets those who are entering on the path of virtue by helping them.” Moreover, Eve is to us the mother of perdition and of sorrow. But these women, instead of the word “Eva,” bear the word “Ave,” because they are the messengers of resurrection* salvation, and joy. Hence we sing to the Blessed Virgin, the mother of Christ, the queen of these women, the hymn “ Ave Maris Stella,” & c. Hail. In the Greek x a ^ trt — * s > rejoice ; in the Syriac, Peace be to you. For this is the proper salutation of the Hebrews, in which, under the name of peace, they pray for every blessing and every felicity. In the Arabic, Rejoice, because ye see your Master now alive again. So, after the example of Christ, blessed souls and angels, when they appear to men, cause joy ; but demons, and the souls of the damned, cause sorrow, fear, and despair. 344 S. MATTHEW, c. XXVIII. And they came and held Him by the feet That is, with reverence and love for His majesty, and with joy at His glorious resurrection, they embraced and kissed His feet. So the Shunamite laid hold of Elisha’s feet, praying him to raise her dead son to life again. So the faithful embrace and kiss the feet of the Pope, and of men illustrious for their sanctity. Christ on this occasion allows Him- self to be touched by the women, that He may prove to them that He is really risen, and make them witnesses and heralds of His resurrection. Whence S. Chrysostom says, “ When with great joy they had hastened towards, they by touching Him received a certain proof of His resurrection.” And worshipped Him. With the worship of latria 9 as the true Messiah or Christ the Son of God, who by the power of His Deity had raised His humanity from death, as He Himself had predicted when alive. The vision, therefore, of Christ risen confirmed and increased their faith in His Divinity, and in the other mysteries which they had been taught by Him when He was alive, but had not fully understood ; so that with Thomas they said, if not with the mouth, yet certainly with the heart, My Lord and my God \ Then said Jesus unto them, Fear not, &c. The vision of what is supernatural and celestial, as was the resurrection of Christ, strikes and alarms the nature of the beholders ; whence S. Jerome says, “ This may be always observed both in the Old and New Testament, that when there is an appearance of any majestic person, the first thing done is to banish fear, that the mind being tranquillised may receive the things that are said.” Go, tell My brethren . Christ now made glorious, in order to give us an example of humility, calls His disciples brethren, so as to console them and raise them up from their sorrow. As if He had said, Tell the Apostles, who are the sons of one and the same God and Father with Me ; but adopted sons through grace, whereas I am His Son by nature through the Deity which I have received from Him as God, and through the hypostatic union with the Deity which I have received from Him as man. S. Chrysostom says, “ Because a woman was made the bfeuse of CHRIST APPEARS IN GALILEE. 345 sorrow to man, now women are made the ministers of joy to men.” Luther wrongly concludes from these words of Christ that women may preach; for it is one thing to tell, another to preach. But if Christ had said to Magdalene preachy she might and ought to have preached. There they shall see Me. In Galilee they shall see Me frequently and openly, and talk with Me face to face, but not so in Judaea, although even there I shall appear to them sometimes. For in Judaea on the day of His resurrection Christ appeared six times. First, He appeared to His mother, as S. Ambrose, S. Anselm, and others teach, and this is the common opinion of the Doctors and of the faithful. Secondly, He appeared to the Magdalene at the sepulchre ( Mark xvi. 9). Thirdly, He appeared to her again with the other women as they returned to Jerusalem (Matt. xxviii. 9). Fourthly, He appeared to Peter (Luke xxiv. 34). Fifthly, to the two disciples as they went to Emmaus (Luke xxiv.). Sixthly, to all — that is, to ten of the Apostles, for Thomas was not with them, and Judas had hanged himself. After the day of the resurrection He appeared, first, to the eleven Apostles, when Thomas was with them, on the eighth day (John xx. 26). Secondly, He appeared to eleven disciples, among whom were Peter and John, as they were fishing in the Sea of Galilee (John xxi.). Thirdly, He appeared on a mountain in Galilee to many — that is, to more than five hundred (Matt, xxviii. 10; 1 Cor. xv. 6). Fourthly, He appeared to James the brother of the Lord in the same place. Fifthly, He appeared to all the Apostles, and to others of the faithful, on the Mount of Olives, when He was going to ascend into Heaven (Acts i. 9). Sixthly, He appeared to Saul when He made him Paul. Christ appeared often on other occa- sions, which are not mentioned by the Evangelists. Now when they were going , behold , some of the watch , &c. We may conclude from this, that when the soldiers saw the angel rolling away the stone they fled and hid themselves behind the hedges, and there remained half dead with fear, so that they could not and dared not stir from the place ; and this was according to 346 S. MATTHEW, C. XXVIIL the purpose of God, that they might, from their hiding-places, see and hear all that the angels said to the women about the resurrec- tion of Jesus, so that they might report the same things to the Chief Priests, and so become messengers of the resurrection of Christ. Wherefore neither the women, nor Peter and John, saw the soldiers, who were lying hid in the hedges. But after the vision of angels had disappeared, and when the women had departed from the sepulchre, the soldiers, coming to themselves, approached the sepulchre, and seeing it empty, they formed a plan, and sent some of their number to the Chief Priests to tell them all they had seen and heard, and to show that it was not through their carelessness that the body of Christ had left the sepulchre. And when they were assembled with the elder s, &c. See here the perversity of the priests and elders, who, not content with having put Christ to death, persecute Him after His death, and try to do away with His resurrection, so as to cover their crime, and lest any one should rise against them as the slayers of Christ, and avenge His death. This was the design of the devil, who was attempting to destroy the Church and all Christians in Christ The priests corrupt the soldiers with money, who were witnesses of the truth, that they might become witnesses of a lie. S. Jerome says that they took this money from the treasury of the Temple, and therefore were guilty of sacrilege: “The money,” he says, “ which was given for the use of the Temple they convert for the purchase of a lie, as before they had given thirty pieces of silver to the traitor Judas.” Saying, Say ye that His disciples came by night \ &c By their perversity, says S. Chrysostom, the High Priests increased the faith which they endeavoured to extinguish, for they speak things impossible and incredible. For first, says Remigius, “ If the soldiers slept, how could they see the theft ? ” Secondly, The disciples were afraid and had fled; how, then, would they have dared to steal the body of Christ, which they knew to be guarded by so many soldiers ? Thirdly, It is incredible that Roman soldiers, who were so faith- PILATE'S ACCOUNT TO TIBERIUS. 34 7 ful and watchful, should all have slept at the sepulchre of Christ, especially when they knew that their own lives were in danger. And let it be granted that they all slept, they would certainly have been awakened by the noise caused by the removal of the stone. So S. Chrysostom says, “ How should the disciples carry Him away by stealth, who did not dare to show themselves? They fled when they saw Him alive; how, when He was dead, would they not have feared the soldiers ? And why did they not rather steal the body on the first night, when there was no one there? Truly they confirm the truth of the resurrection, for they confess that the body was not in the sepulchre . 19 And if this come to the governor’s ears , &c. That is, we will persuade Pilate that your sleep and negligence in guarding the body of Christ was a light matter, and that no harm can happen from it ; for he knows that this business does not concern himself, but us, and so he, to please us and against his own conscience, condemned Jesus to be crucified ; for if he was so yielding when he unjustly condemned Jesus, in compliance with our urgent request, he will be much more yielding in absolving you at our request But the soldiers secretly disclosed the whole matter to Pilate, and confirmed the truth of Christ's resurrection, and Pilate wrote the account to Tiberius, who forthwith was desirous of enrolling Christ among the gods. So Hegesippus relates from the acts of Pilate himself. “The chief of the Jews,” Pilate says, “falsely asserted to me that Jesus was a sorcerer, and had broken their law. And I believed that it was so, and delivered Him to be scourged, according to their will ; but they crucified Him, and set a watch at the sepulchre. But He rose again on the third day, while my soldiers were keeping watch. But the wickedness of the Jews was inflamed to such a pitch that they gave money to the watch, and said, Say ye that His disciples stole away His body. But when they had received the money they were not able to be silent about what had been done ; for they testified that they had seen Him rise, and that they had received money from the Jews. I have therefore made a statement of these things, that no one 348 8. MATTHEW, C XXVTTL may falsely allege otherwise, and suppose that credit ought to be given to the falsehoods of the Jews.” So they took the money, and did as they were taught \ and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews unto this day . That is, among the common people and those of little sense; for the wiser men easily saw through the deceit, and found out the whole matter in secret from the soldiers. Moreover, Longinus, the cen- turion, asserted that Christ had risen, and on that account died as a martyr for Him. But this false story was chiefly confuted by the Apostles, who affirmed that Christ had appeared alive again to them, and who confirmed the same by many miracles. It is also confuted by Josephus, although he was of the nation and sect of the Jews. Let the Jews then listen to him, and believe one of their own nation, though they will not believe Christ For thus he writes (. Antiq ., book 18, cfu 4), “At the same time lived Jesus, a wise man — if it is right to speak of Him as a man. For He was a performer of wonderful works, and a Teacher of those who willingly received Him, and had very many followers both from among the Jews and the Greeks. This was Christ whom, on His being accused by the chiefs of our nation, Pilate had sen* tenced to the Cross ; yet those who had begun to love Him from the first, did not cease to do so. For He appeared to them on the third day alive, for the Prophets had foretold this and many other wonderful things concerning Him. And to this very day the body of Christians, so called from Him, still continue.” Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee . Matthew omits the rest of Christ’s appearances, and mentions only that one which took place in Galilee, because it had been promised both by the angel and by Christ, and because it took place publicly before five hundred brethren, as Paul says (1 Cor. xv. 6). For all the disciples, of whom He had very many in Galilee, were assembled there, according to the command of Christ, because they were safer there than in Judaea from the persecution of the Jews. To a mountain . It is certain that this mountain was not the Mount of Olives, from which, in the presence of His disciples MEANING OF GALILEE. 349 Christ ascended into Heaven. For the Mount of Olives is in Judaea, and not in Galilee. Dionysius, S. Bonaventura, and others think it very probable that this mountain was Tabor, where Christ in His transfiguration had shown His glory to Peter, James, and John. Mystically : S. Jerome says, ‘‘Galilee was the abode of all vices, where before were error and deceit, and it behoved that it should be illuminated by the presence and glory of Christ.” Again, Bede says, “The Lord now had passed from death unto life, from cor- ruption to incorruption ; for Galilee is the same as transmigration.” Allegorically: S. Augustine (de Cons . Evan., lib. 3) says, “ Galilee is the same as transmigration, from the Heb. galal, because the grace of Christ was about to pass over from the people of Israel to the Gentiles; whence He says, ‘I will go before you into Galilee/ because they would not believe when the Apostles should preach the Gospel to them, unless the Lord Himself should first make ready their way in the hearts of men. ‘ There shall ye see Him ;* that is, there shall ye find His members.” Anagogically: S. Augustine, in the same place, says, “Galilee in Hebrew also signifies ‘revelation/ whence it represents Heaven and the beatific vision. That revelation will be the true Galilee : we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him there as He is. That will be the more blessed passing from this world to that eternity, if we so embrace His commandments that we merit to be set on His right hand.” And when they saw Him t they worshipped Him, but some doubted. Not of the eleven Apostles, but of the other disciples. For all the Apostles had now been confirmed by so many visions and proofs, that they did not doubt that Christ had risen. Or if any one prefers to refer this expression to the Apostles, it must be under- stood as meaning, They had before doubted, but were not now in doubt. So Theophylact says, “You ought to understand it as meaning that when they were come into Galilee they worshipped Him ; but they who worshipped Him in Galilee had first doubted in Jerusalem.” 350 S. MATTHEW, C. XXVIII. Moreover, Christ appeared in the same form as He had when He was alive, so that He was recognised by the Apostles as the same and not another. Whereupon He veiled His brightness, for the weak eyes of mortal men would not have been able to bear it. S. Augustine (de Civ. Dei , 22, c. 19) says, “We must believe that the brightness which Christ’s body had when He rose was veiled from the eyes of the disciples.” And Jesus came and spake to them , &c Maldonatus and others are of opinion that these things were not done and said by Christ now when He appeared in Galilee, but at the last appearance which took place on the Mount of Olives. For Christ seems there to have said His last farewell to His Apostles, and to have given them His last commands; and to have sent them forth as His ambassadors to evangelise the world, which He did at His ascension. Is given to Me. That is, to Me alone ; and that both because I am the Son of God and God, for from eternity has been given to Me by the Father, with the divine essence, all power and majesty ; and also because I am man (as S. Cyril, Athanasius, and others say). It was given to Me inchoately in My incarnation on account of the dignity of the hypostatic union with the Word ; and it was given to Me in its fulness by God on account of the merits of My Passion, when having overcome death, sin, hell, and the devil, as the Redeemer of men, I obtained full right and dominion over them at the price of My blood. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, &c. Hence, according to the tradition of the Church, it is well known that this is the form of baptism, “ I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; " in which we profess our faith in the Holy Trinity and in the Divine Unity, saying, in the Name, not in the Names. Hence S. Isidore (lib. 7, EiymoL c. 4) says, “ It is called a Trinity, because One Whole is constituted of Three, as it were a Tri-unity, resembling memory, intelligence, and will, in which the mind has in itself a certain image of the Divine Trinity ; for since They are Three, They are One.” Whence, in opposition CHRIST’S PERPETUAL PRESENCE. 351 to the Arians, Macedonians, Nestorians, and other heretics, it is clear that the Son is true God, and of one substance (fo oou<no>) with the Father and the Holy Spirit, as S. Athanasius, Augustine, Hilary, and others teach. Christ, therefore, here most clearly expresses the mystery of the Holy Trinity, which Moses obscurely shadowed forth in the Old Testament, lest the ignorant Jew's should believe that the Three Persons were Three Gods, and so after their custom worship a plurality of Gods. Morally; Learn here that it is a divine work to teach and convert all nations, even rude and barbarous ones. Whence S. Gregory ( Horn . 12 , in Ezek.), “There is no sacrifice so acceptable to Almighty God as a zeal for souls.” That saying also of Dionysius the Areopagite is well known, “ Of all divine works, the most divine is to co-operate with God in the conversion of the wanderers, and in the bringing back of sinners to Himself.” Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever 1 have commanded you . That is, all the commandments which I have enjoined in the Gospel ; for faith alone does not suffice for salvation, but the keeping of the commandments is required, and the constant prac- tice of virtues. For not the hearers of the law are just before God \ but the doers of the law shall be justified (Rom. ii.). And, behold, 1 am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Although I ascend into Heaven, I will not forsake you, whom I am sending abroad over the whole world. / am with you, both as God and as man, by present help, grace, consolation, guidance, deliverance, which I will always bestow upon you and your suc- cessors ; by means of which I will make all difficult things easy to you, says S. Chrysostom, so that out of all nations ye may gather together for Me a Church, that is, a company of faithful and holy men. And I am with you unto the end of the world. This world shall come to an end sooner than My presence in the Church shall fail. “He who promises,” says S. Jerome, “that He will be with His disciples to the end of the world, shows both that they shall live for ever (in their successors), and that He will never depart from them that believe.” 35 * S. MATTHEW, C. XXVIIL “Do not fear,” says Prosper (lib. 2, de Vocal . Gent c. 1), “because of your own weakness, but have confidence in My power, for I will not leave you in the performance of this work. Not that ye shall be without suffering, but, which is a much greater thing, I will take care that ye be not overcome by any cruelty of them that rage against you.” This is what Christ promised to His Apostles before His death (John xvl 16), I will pray the Father, and Be will give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever , even the Spirit of Truth. For the gifts of the Holy Spirit and of Christ are the same, since the Deity of each and the operation of each is the same. For the external works of the Holy Trinity are undivided; and that which One Person works, the other Two also work. To the Holy Spirit, however, who proceeds forth as love, are fitly attributed the works of grace and holiness. So Christ was visibly present with Paul (Acts xxiL 17), and S. Stephen in his martyrdom (Acts vii.). For this reason, likewise, Christ has willed to abide continually in the Church in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist For as the humanity and deity of Christ are present in glory in Heaven, and are adored visibly by the angels and saints, so are the same likewise present in the Eucharist, but hidden under the forms of bread and wine, and therefore invisible, and are there adored, and even par- taken of by the faithful. Wherefore it is Christ who, by the ministry of every priest, performs daily that miracle of miracles, namely, the wonderful conversion of the bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord, which theologians call transubstantia- tion; for neither man, nor angel, nor created power could effect this. He Himself therefore, in it offers Himself as an unbloody victim to the Father. Tropologically : Christ is in and with the faithful soul even to the end of life, granting to it that great gift of perseverance, by which the elect are brought to Heaven. For He does not desert the just man, unless He first be deserted by him. Where- fore Christ is in a holy soul, first, politically , as it were a king CONCLUSION. 3 in his kingdom, inasmuch as He directs and rules it aright accord- ing to the laws of justice Secondly, He is in the soul economically , as a father in a house and family, which he rules wisely; He is what a charioteer is in a chariot, so that we ought ever to be crying out to Him, as Elisha did to Elijah when he was being carried up into Heaven, My Fat her , the chariot of Israel and the charioteer (Vulg.) thereof Thirdly, Christ is in the soul ethically , in the manner of reason and prudence, which prudently directs all its actions, according to the rule of divine reason and eternal law which is in the mind of God Fourthly, He is in the soul physically that which the soul is in the body; for He is, as it were, the soul of the soul, Him- self the life-giving life of grace, in order that the soul may live not an animal and carnal life, but a spiritual and divine one Lastly, He is, as it were, a divine fire, kindling the soul with the dame of charity. He is in the soul what the sun is in the world, making it fruitful in good works, according to that saying, He worketh in us to will and to do (Phil. ii.). And, He worketh all things in all according to the purpose of His own will (Eph. i.). It is He who inspires our words with power, in order that they may be effectual to the conversion of the hearers from sin to holiness, according to that saying of Paul, 1 have planted , Apollos watered \ but God gave the increase (i Cor. iii.). Therefore, O wise and holy soul, go forth to meet thy God with love and desire. Thy Jesus desires to be with thee ; do thou in thy turn desire to be with nought but Jesus. His delights are with thee ; let thy delights be with Him. Suffer thyself, therefore, to be ruled and guided by Him, as a kingdom suffers itself to be ruled by its king, an army by its leader, a chariot by its charioteer, the will by the reason, the body by the soul, the world by the sun. M Thou art sufficient for God,” says S. Augustine ; “ let thy God be sufficient for thee.” END OF S. MATTHEW. VOL. III. Z COMMENTARY UPON THE GOSPEL OF S. MARK. INTRODUCTION. M TV /T ARK,” says S. Jerome in his Catalogue of Ecclesiastical iVA Writers , “was a disciple and interpreter of S. Peter. At the request of the brethren at Rome, he wrote a short Gospel, based upon what he had heard S. Peter relate. This, when Peter had heard, he approved of, and sanctioned its being read in the Church.” Shortly afterwards, S. Jerome proceeds to say, “Mark took his Gospel, which he had compiled, and went to Egypt He first preached Christ at Alexandria, and founded a Church there, which possessed such great purity of doctrine and life that it influenced all followers of Christ by its example. In short, Philo, the most eloquent of the Jews, beholding the primitive Church of Alexandria, as yet Judaizing, wrote a book upon its peculiarities, as it were in praise of his own people. And similarly as S. Luke records that at Jerusalem those who believed had all things common, so has Philo preserved the memory of what he saw at Alexandria under S. Mark as the teacher of the Christians. He died in the eighth year of Nero, and was buried at Alexandria. Anianus succeeded him.” Clement of Alexandria {Strom. /. vi.) and Papias of Hierapolis attest the same things; so does Eusebius ( H \ E. iL 15), who adds 356 S. MARK. that S Peter confirmed S. Mark’s Gospel, and delivered it to be read for all time in the Churches. S. Athanasius ( Synops \ sub fin.) and S. Epiphanius (Harts. 51) say the same Wherefore Tertullian (/. iv. coni . Marcion) attributes the Gospel of S. Mark to S. Peter, because, as S. Jerome says, “ it was compiled from what S. Peter related, Mark being the writer.” The same S. Jerome, or whoever is the author of the preface to his Commentary on S. Mark, says, “After Matthew soweth Mark, He, I say, who roareth as a lion, who fiieth as an eagle, who leameth as a man, who sacrificeth as a priest, who watereth as a river, who flourished! as a field, who fermenteth as wine For Christ who is spoken of is man by being bom, is a calf by dying, a lion by rising again, an eagle by ascending into heaven.” For this cause the cherubim of Ezek. i. and the Apocalypse, which have four faces, signify the four Evangelists. For the face of a man denotes Matthew, who relates the works of Christ’s humanity ; the face of an eagle, John, who speaks of the divinity of Christ; the face of an ox denotes Luke, who begins with the priesthood of Zacharias; and the face of a lion designates Mark, because he begins his Gospel from the loud roaring of John the Baptist, as it were of a lion. For these four have drawn the chariot of the glory of God, the chariot of the Gospel, through the whole world, and have subdued all nations to Him, that He may triumph. The name Mark happily agrees with this symbolism, whether we derive it from the Hebrew or from Latin. For Mark in Hebrew, says Pagninus (in interpret Heb. now in.), means the same as smoothed , polished, cleansed from rust. It is derived from plO, marak, to clean, to polish. As Jeremiah (xlvl 4) says, “Stand in the helmets, polish the lances;” where for polish the Heb. has p"10, mircu, polish ye. Thus S. Mark polished the lance of his Gospel and preaching, that it, like a lion, might subdue the Egyptians and other nations to Christ. But S. Isidore (L vil Origen, c. 9) says, “ Mark means high in commandment ” (but I know not from what root), that is to say, on account of the INTRODUCTION. 357 Gospel of the Most High , which he preached. Again, the Heb. of Mark may be, as it were, DID "ID, mar cos, or the Lord of the Chalice , that is to say, of suffering and martyrdom. But in Latin, Carolus Signonius (de Horn. Roman.) says, “ He is called Marcus who is bom in the month of March." But Isidore says Mark means a strong hammer , Marcellus is a moderate-sized hammer, and Marculus a little one. Thus S. Mark was a mighty and strong hammer , breaking in pieces the rock, i.e. 9 bruising with compunction the strong hearts of the Gentiles, and moving them to repentance and a Christian life. Mark , then, and Marcellus are the same as Martellus , a hammer. So Charles, the grandfather of Charlemagne, was called Charles Martel, because of his warlike prowess, by which he crushed a host of 300,000 Saracens. Or Marcus may be taken to be the same as Martins, a sort of heavenly Mars. The Marcian gens at Rome, an ancient patrician family, was so called from Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome. King Ancus was called the sacrificial \ because he restored worship which had fallen into decay, or had been improperly per- formed. How religious and brave S. Mark was appears from the insti- tution of the Essaei,* who were the first religious, and the prototypes of all religious, of whose wondrous sanctity more anon. Lastly, the Romans used to give the prcenomen Marcus to first- born sons. Marcus Tullius Cicero was so called because he was a first-bom son. Thus Mark was a first-bom son, and singularly beloved of S. Peter. Thus he speaks of him as Marcus , my son (1 Pet v.). For he as a son had drunk of S. Peter's spirit, and was an express image of the wisdom and holiness of S. Peter. You will ask, Of what country, who, and what was S. Mark? I answer: 1. That he was of the Hebrew nation, and of the tribe of Levi. Bede adds that he was a priest, of the family of Aaron. 2. Theophilus, Victor of Antioch, and Euthymius think that this Mark was the same as John Mark, who was nephew of * The Christian Essenes of Alexandria (Trans.). 358 S. MARK. Barnabas, and who journeyed with him and & Paul to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, the same S. Mark as he to whom S. Paul refers in his Epistle to Philemon, and Col. iv., and 2 Tim. iv. But I say that this Mark was a different person from John Mark, for at the same time that John Mark was with Paul and Barnabas in Greece, this Mark was with S. Peter at Rome, and was sent by him to preach first at Aquileia, and afterwards at Alexandria. 3. Origen (lib. de Recta Fide\ S. Epiphanius (/fares. 51), and Dorotheus (in Synops.) think that Mark was one of Christ's seventy- two disciples. But the contrary, namely, that he was converted and baptized by S. Peter after Christ's death, is more probable; For he calls him his (spiritual) son (1 Pet v. 13), “The Church which is at Babylon saluteth you ; and so doth Marcus my son.* So S. Jerome, Eusebius (H. E. vii. 14), &c, who say that S. Mark was a disciple and companion of §. Peter. 4. S. Austin (/. 1, de Cons . Evang. c. 2) calls Mark the abbre- viator of Matthew, not because he made a compendium of his Gospel, as some say, but because he often relates more briefly, as he had received them from S. Peter, the things which Matthew records at greater length. I said “often," for occasionally Mark relates events in the life of Christ more fully than Matthew does, as is plain from the account of Peter's denial. Some things also he unfolds with greater clearness than Matthew. Mark is fuller in narrative than Matthew, but has less of Christ's doctrine. Mark’s, therefore, is an independent Gospel. Whence the Arabic prefixes the following title to his Gospel : — In the name of the Father , and of the Son , and of the Holy Ghost , One God \ the Gospel of the Father , Patriarchy Apostle , & Mar (i.e., Lord) Mark the Evangelist. 5. Mark wrote this Gospel a.d. 45, in the third year of the reign of Claudius, as Eusebius says (in Chron.\ shortly before he went to Alexandria, where he governed for nineteen years the Church which he there founded. His disciples were so excellent that they were called Essaei, that is, holy and pious. For they, as INTRODUCTION. 359 the first religious, lived in such purity and holiness as to become the admiration of the whole world, and afforded a mirror of per- fection to all other Churches. Hence S. Jerome and Cassian call S. Mark the chief and founder of the Coenobites. See what I have said concerning the Essaei in Acts v. 2. Moreover, S. Mark founded the first Christian school at Alex- andria, from which so many holy doctors, bishops, and martyrs proceeded. This school of Alexandria wonderfully flourished under the Emperor Commodus, a.d. 180, when Pantaenus presided over it. Pantaenus was succeeded by Clement, Clement by Origen. Finally, S. Mark added to the laurels of an Apostle, Doctor, and Evangelist the crown of martyrdom. In the Roman Martyrology for the 25th of April we read concerning him thus, 41 At Alexandria, the natal day of B. Mark the Evangelist, he, for the faith of Christ, being stretched and bound with cords, was dragged over the rocks, and grievously tormented. Afterwards, being shut up in prison, he was first comforted by an angelic vision, and at last by the appear- ance of the Lord Himself, by whom he was called to the heavenly kingdom in the eighth year of Nera” The body of S. Mark was translated by merchants from Alexandria to Venice* A.D. 827. There it is cherished with the utmost veneration, insomuch that the Senate have adopted as their insignia a lion, the emblem of S. Mark; and when they issue any command, they call it the mandate of S. Mark. You will ask, secondly, in what language Mark wrote his Gospel,— in Latin or Greek? Many think he wrote it in Latin. And the reason seems plain. For Mark wrote at Rome for the Romans; therefore, say they, he must have written in the Latin tongue. For the Romans did not understand Greek (as Baronius abundantly proves) in a.d. 45. For although S. Chrysostom on Mark asserts that he wrote his Gospel at Alexandria, yet S. Jerome, Eusebius, Clement, and other Fathers declare, passim, that he wrote it at Rome. And the author of that Commentary upon S. Mark was not S. Chrysostom, as I will prove hereafter. So the Syriac version, which at the end of S. Mark’s Gospel adds expressly, S. MARK. 360 “Here endeth the holy Gospel, the Gospel of Mark, which he spake and preached at Rome, in the Roman language.” S. Gregory Nazianzen, in the poem in which he gives a catalogue of Holy Scripture, thus assigns the Evangelists to languages and nations, — “ The wonders of Christ for the Hebrews S. Matthew did write 5 S. Mark for Westerns ; for Greeks S. Luke in learning bright 5 * For all S. John, who soared aloft with heavenly sight” On the other hand, S. Jerome affirms expressly, in the preface to the Gospel, that Mark wrote in Greek. “I am speaking,” he says, “of the New Testament, which, without doubt, was written in Greek, with the exception of the Apostle Matthew, who first in Judaea published the Gospel of Christ in Hebrew.” And he adds that he for this reason, at the command of Pope Damasus, cor- rected the ancient Latin Vulgate version of the New Testament, and therefore of S. Mark’s Gospel, in accordance with the Greek original. S. Augustine teaches us the same thing: “Matthew is said to have written in Hebrew, all the rest in Greek.” The same was the common opinion of ancient and modem writers. Reason favours the same view. For S. Mark wrote his Gospel when he was about to pass to Alexandria, that he might preach it there. But the inhabitants of Alexandria spoke at that time the Greek language. For Alexandria was founded, and its name given, by Alexander the Great SS. Athanasius and Cyril, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria, and the rest wrote in Greek. Again, Mark was more skilled in Greek than he was in Latin. Wherefore, also, the Greek text of his Gospel is more polished and elegant than the Latin. For the Jews, who were neighbours of Greek-speaking countries, and subjects of Alexander the Great and his successors, learned thoroughly the Greek language, but not so the Latin, as being far distant from Latin-speaking countries. Moreover, the Greek language was then very widely diffused, as Cicero says. For this reason the Romans, especially the patricians and the wealthier sort of people, were skilled in Greek. Indeed, they sent their sons to Athens that they might INTRODUCTION. 361 be thoroughly grounded in Grecian wisdom and eloquence. And Mark wrote this Gospel not for the Roman plebeians, but for patricians and nobles, for such persons as S. Clement, S. Pudens. Listen to Clement of Alexandria {tom. 6, in Biblioth. Patr. in Edit Parisiensi .), “Mark, the follower of Peter, when Peter was preaching the Gospel publicly at Rome, in the presence of certain knights of Caesar’s household, and was advancing many testimonies about Christ, being requested by them, wrote from the things which were spoken by Peter a Gospel, which is called that accord- ing to Mark.” In like manner S. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans in Greek, as I have shown in my preface to that Epistle. Lastly, S. Mark was present with S. Peter at Antioch, where the disciples of Christ were first called Christians. And at Antioch Greek was spoken. Hence Greek was more familiar to Mark than Latin, and it is possible that Greek was his mother tongue. For although the Apostles and primitive believers received the gift of tongues from the Holy Spirit, yet they received it for sufficiency, not for elegance, and so they spoke each their own vernacular better and more elegantly. You will reconcile both opinions if you say that Mark wrote his Gospel both in Greek and Latin, as Genebrard thinks, and our Barradi {tom. 1, /. 1, c. 19) and Possevin. Hear Peter Natalis {in Cat Sand. L 4, c. 86), “Peter sent Mark to Aquileia as its first bishop. There he wrote again his Gospel in Greek, which he had previously written in Latin at Rome, which Gospel, together with the ivory chair in which he sat to write it, is still shown in the church of Aquileia.” Further, some imagine that the Latin original of Mark has perished through the injuries of time, as the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew has perished. But it is difficult to believe so. For how would the Roman Church, so faithful to her trust, and so care- ful a guardian of the sacred writings, and especially in those early ages from Mark to Constantine, when it was so ardent and constant in zeal for religion, have suffered so great a treasure 362 S. MARK. committed to her to be lost? Surely she who kept so faithfully what pertained to others did not lose her own. What, did so many copies of the Gospel of S. Mark, which noble Romans and other Italians, converted to Christ by SS. Peter and Paul, would emulously cause to be transcribed, perish to a single copy, so that not even one has survived ? Wherefore we shall say, with greater probability, that Mark, for the reasons already assigned, wrote originally in Greek, but immediately afterwards, either by himself or by some other translator, rendered the Greek into Latin, and delivered both to the Romans, in a similar way to S. Paul, who wrote his Epistle to the Romans in Greek, but sent the same to them translated into Latin by Tertius, his scribe and interpreter. The reasons are — ist Because SS. Jerome and Austin affirm that Mark wrote in Greek, not in Latin, and. Because, as Bellarmine has lightly perceived ( de Script Eccles. in Afarc.\ it is evident, from a collation of the Greek and Latin texts, that the Old Latin and the Vulgate editions, both of Matthew and Mark, have been translated from the Greek. This is proved by Franc. Lucas by many examples. To these you may add that the Latin translator of Mark Grecized, as when he says (iL a) ct convenerunt multi* ita ut non caperet neque ad januam , words which are obscurely translated into Latin from the Greek, which reads clearly and elegantly, «<rri p\ jxtn rd nj* Otyav, #>., so that not even the places about the door could contain the crowd. Again, in iv. io, the Vulgate has, et cum esset singularis, whilst the Greek is plain, xara,a6tag t ie. } alone . Also vil 17, 18, 20, Qua de homine exeunt , ilia communicant hominem , the Gr. xmoT 9 i.e., make a man common or unclean , is clear. For the Hebrews call common unclean things, that is, things which all, even the impure, use promiscuously and in common. So, again, in chap. i. 47, &a<^- fi /£•#» is translated verbally, diffamare , to make known abroad. Again, xpoedpparoi is rendered ante sabbatum , Le., the day before the Sabbath. The original of the Gospel of S. Mark is religiously preserved at Venice, but the letters are so corroded and worn away by age INTRODUCTION. 363 that they cannot be deciphered. When I was inquiring about the matter at Rome, several reliable persons, who had carefully investigated the subject, wrote to me to this effect, that the following is the tradition among the Venetians. They say that this Gospel was written by S. Mark at Aquileia, and left by him there, and that it was brought from thence to Venice. For when Attila took Aquileia after a three years* siege, and destroyed it, many of the inhabitants fled to the marshes bordering on the Adriatic, and there, in a marvellous manner, laid the foundations of Venice, a.d. 452. Moreover, a trustworthy man, a canon of S. Mark’s at Venice, who has the custody of this relic, and is therefore an eye-witness, wrote to me in answer to my inquiries, within the last few days, that this autograph of S. Mark is written in Greek, and was brought from Aquileia to Venice a.d. 1472. Pagnini has written a dissertation on this question, dedicated to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, in which he maintains that S. Mark in the first instance wrote his Gospel in Latin at Rome, and afterwards in Greek at Aquileia, but that the Latin has been lost, since the present Latin of S. Mark is a translation from the Greek. He cites many passages which go to prove the great prevalence of Greek at Rome in those times. He also cites Damasus as saying (lib. de Vit. Potit.) in the Life of S. Peter , that the Evangelists wrote in Latin (mentioning Mark), in Greek, and Hebrew. But it is well known that this work is not by Damasus, but by Anastasius, the librarian. What Pagnini adds, that S. Peter preached to the Romans in Greek, and that S. Mark, as his interpreter, rendered his words into Latin, cannot be consi- dered worthy of credit Besides, the duty of an interpreter was diffe- rent from this, as I have shown on 1 Cor. xil 10. The Syrians, as Fabricius tells us in the preface to his Syriac New Testament, assert that Mark wrote in Latin. They also say that the same Mark translated not only his own Gospel into his Galilean or Syriac mother tongue, but all the other books of the New Testament. But it is difficult to believe this. For there is no mention of S. MARK. 3<54 such a translation by Clement of Alexandria, or Origen, Eusebius, Athanasius, Epiphanius, Cyril, Theodoret, S. Jerome, or other Fathers, who either were Syrians, or who lived in Syria and Egypt, and treated carefully the subject of the various editions and translations of the Holy Scriptures. Therefore this Syriac translation of the New Testament seems to have been made later than S. Mark’s time. Lastly, S. Mark’s Gospel has always been reckoned amongst the canonical Scriptures, with the exception of the last chapter, doubts about which were formerly entertained by some, as S. Jerome testifies (Ep. 150, ad Hedib. q. 3), because it contained certain things which savoured of Manichaeism, which S. Jerome recites (lib. 2, con t. Pelag.). The words were these, “And they were satisfied, saying, Substance is that world of iniquity and unbelief which suffereth not through wicked spirits the true power of God to be apprehended : therefore now call back thy righteousness. * But these words have been since removed. Observe Mark’s whole strength is given to narration, and does not care for the order in which things were done. Hence he places events which were done afterwards before some which were prior to them in order of time, and vice versa . Hear S. Jerome (Introd. to S. Matt L), “ Second, Mark, the interpreter of the Apostle Peter, who indeed had not himself seen the Lord, the Saviour, but had heard his master’s preaching, related according to the truth of the things which were done, rather than the order in which they were done.” There is extant a second volume of S. Chrysostom’s Com- mentary upon S. Mark, which, although not devoid of genius, learning, and piety, nevertheless seems to be wanting in the style, spirit, and subtlety of S. Chrysostom. Hence Bellarmine says that it is undoubtedly not the work of that Saint, but of a certain simple monk, who expounded the Gospel to his brethren. Victor of Antioch, an ancient author, wrote especially upon S. Mark, whom one Theodore Peltanus has translated out of Greek into Latin. INTRODUCTION. 365 The author of the Commentary or Scholiast upon S. Mark in the works of S. Jerome is not S. Jerome himself for he shows himself to be unskilled both in Greek and Hebrew. Here only a few things occur to be noted, because most have been spoken of in S. Matthew. There the reader will find them annotated. Here, therefore, I shall be brief. 366 6. MARK, C. I.