Volume 13 · pp. 620–621
Sermon LIII. On the Same Feast of Dedication
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SERMO LIII.
IN EODEM FESTO DEDICATIONIS.
Et dixit qui sedebat in throno: Ecce nova facio omnia. Apoc. XXI, 5.
NOTA, quod quadruplex est thronus. Thronus gratiæ, misericordiæ, justitiæ, et gloriæ. In quolibet Dominus sedens, nova facit omnia. In primo quievit, in secundo tortus est, in tertio sedebit in die judicii et in morte cujuslibet hominis, in quarto regnat.
I. Thronus gratiæ est Beata Virgo Maria. Unde Luc. I, 28: Ave Maria gratia plena. Unde Apostolus ad Heb. IV, 16: Adeamus cum fiducia ad thronum gratiæ, scilicet Beatæ Mariæ, quæ est thronus Salomonis eburneus. Cum fiducia: quia propter nos regina facta est. Item, introducta est in cellam vinariam 1. Tamen dicebat: Vinum non habent 2, tamquam ad eam pertineret.
Hic fecit Dominus nova, scilicet, quod filia est mater patris, quod mater permansit virgo, quod Deus factus est homo.
II. Secundus thronus misericordiæ est beata Crux. Ibi misericordia superexaltavit judicium. Unde Bernardus: « Viscera Domini misericordia affluunt, nec desunt foramina per quæ effluant. » Ibi enim misertus est latroni, Joanni, matri. Joanni, cui talem dedit matrem, et toti generi humano.
SERMON LIII.
ON THE SAME FEAST OF DEDICATION.
And he who was sitting on the throne said: Behold, I make all things new. Apocalypse 21:5.
NOTE that the throne is fourfold: the throne of grace, of mercy, of justice, and of glory. In each one the Lord, sitting, makes all things new. In the first he rested, in the second he was tortured, in the third he will sit on the day of judgment and at the death of any human being, in the fourth he reigns.
I. The throne of grace is the Blessed Virgin Mary. Hence Luke 1:28: Hail Mary, full of grace. Hence the Apostle at Hebrews 4:16: Let us approach with confidence to the throne of grace, namely of Blessed Mary, who is the ivory throne of Solomon. With confidence: because on account of us she has been made queen. Likewise, she has been introduced into the wine-cellar 1. Nevertheless she was saying: They have no wine 2, as if it pertained to her.
Here the Lord made new things, namely that the daughter is the mother of the father, that the mother remained a virgin, that God was made man.
II. The second throne is of mercy, the blessed Cross. There mercy superexalted judgment. Hence Bernard says: "The entrails of the Lord flow with mercy, nor are openings lacking through which they may flow out." For there he had mercy on the thief, on John, on his mother; on John, to whom he gave such a mother, and on the whole human race.
Hic etiam fecit nova, scilicet, quod pauper pauperem ditavit, id est, latronem, cui regnum dedit: pro crucifixoribus oravit, moriens mortem superavit.
III. Tertius thronus est justitiæ, scilicet potestas judiciaria in ultimo adventu, quando corpora suscitabit, humiles exaltabit, se manifestabit: ibi justus et injustus apparebunt.
Faciet ibi nova, quia omnes malos et bonos a se invicem dividet, corpora gloriosa et immortalia resuscitabit, unumquemque secundum justitiam remunerabit.
IV. Quartus thronus est gloriæ. Post judicium ibi sedebit, quando reformabit corpus humilitatis nostræ configuratum corpori claritatis suæ 3.
Ibi etiam nova faciet, ibi in atriis domus Dei florebunt Sancti 4.
Footnotes:
1 Cant. II, 4.
2 Joan. II, 3.
3 Ad Philip. III, 21.
4 Cf. Isaiam in multis locis super hoc.
Here also he made new things, namely that a poor man enriched a poor man, that is, the thief, to whom he gave the kingdom; he prayed for those crucifying him; dying, he overcame death.
III. The third throne is of justice, namely judicial power at the last advent, when he will raise bodies, exalt the humble, manifest himself; there the just and the unjust will appear.
There he will make new things, because he will divide all evil and good people from one another, will raise glorious and immortal bodies, and will remunerate each one according to justice.
IV. The fourth throne is of glory. After judgment he will sit there, when he will reform the body of our humility, configured to the body of his brightness 3.
There also he will make new things; there the Saints will bloom in the courts of the house of God 4.
Footnotes:
1 Song of Songs 2:4.
2 John 2:3.
3 To Philippians 3:21.
4 Compare Isaiah in many places on this.
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