Volume 37 · p. 389
Book of Esther, page 389
sed nunc, heu! multi sacco mortalitatis culpae. Usque ad fores palatii gradiens, gratiae, et gloriae: non enim erat licitum indutum sacco aulam regis intrare. Glossa: "Quia nullus cum corruptione praesentis vitae, caelestem aulam intrabit." Quod audiens Esther consternata est: et vestem misit nuptialem, ut ablato sacco induerent eum, pallium scilicet laudis pro spiritu maeroris 1.
4. Item, Ipsa est virga aurea, signum vitae aeternae. Esther, IV, 11: Sive vir, sive mulier, quicumque, non vocatus, interius atrium regis intraverit. Glossa: non habens vestem nuptialem: statim interficiatur, morte aeterna: nisi forte rex auream virgam, id est, Mariam, ad eum tetenderit pro signo clementiae, ut sit in propitiatricem, atque ita possit vivere.
5. Item, Ipsa est interventrix, et revocatrix desperatorum. Ideo enim Dominus eam creavit in nativitate, et assumpsit in matrem in incarnatione, et exaltavit super omnes choros Angelorum in assumptione, ut pro peccatoribus intercedat. Esther, IV, 13 et 14: In domo regis es. Glossa: "In interiori regis sinu." Prae cunctis Judaeis, imo prae omnibus Angelis, et omnibus Sanctis. Si enim nunc, hoc est, in tempore angustiae nostrae, silueris, id est, non intercesseris pro nobis, quod absit a te, quia Dominus desiderat audire te, dicens illud Canticorum, II, 14: Sonet vox tua in auribus meis, etc. Et quis novit utrum idcirco ad regnum veneris, a Deo praeordinata, a Patriarchis praefigurata, a Prophetis praenuntiata, a peccatoribus postulata, a tota Trinitate electa, et praeelecta, ut in tali tempore, iracundiae Dei, tribulationis, et maeroris omnium filiorum Adam, parareris? Glossa: "Ideo rex te fecit reginam, ut nobis in persecutione auxiliareris."
6. Commendatur etiam Regina nostra a maxima fidelitate, bonitate, et misericordia, quae consideratur in hoc, quod fere tota ejus supplicatio est pro nobis coram Deo, ut ab hostibus liberemur. Unde, Esther, V, 1 et seq.: Induta est Esther regalibus vestibus. Glossa: "Fide, spe, et charitate, et caeteris virtutibus, quibus induta, regi dignius societur." Et stetit, ut peccatrix, advocatrix, adjutrix, postquam assumpta est, in atrio domus regiae. Et sedebat rex super solium... Cumque vidisset Esther reginam, natura, gratia, gloria, largitate, dignitate, nobilitate, miseratione, prae omnibus praecipuam, stantem, non ut superbum luciferum sedere volentem, sed stantem mirabiliter juxta crucem 2, et misericorditer, et fideliter in caelo pro peccatoribus. Placuit oculis ejus, et extendit contra eam virgam auream, id est potestatem, quam vult matrem suam habere in caelo, et in terra, et sub terra. Dixitque ad eam rex: Quid vis, Esther regina? Quae est petitio tua? Etiamsi dimidiam partem regni mei petieris, imo totum, dabitur tibi... At illa respondit: Si inveni gratiam in oculis tuis, o rex, dona mihi populum meum 3. Glossa: fide meum, devotione meum, ipsius affectuosa veneratione meum, tota donatione meum, et tua commissione, pro quo obsecro, stans quandoque apud crucem miserabiliter, sed nunc apud te in caelo laetanter. Quomodo enim potero sustinere necem et interfectionem populi mei 4? Cum possim, et sciam, et velim ipsos liberare per te, et per tuos, et per me.
7. Item, Ipsa per suum ortum, et nativitatem, totam Ecclesiam luce gaudii immensi perfudit. Esther, VIII, 16: Judaeis, id est, Christianis, nova lux, id est, Maria, oriri visa est, quando scilicet nata est. Ipsa enim est gaudium maestorum, honor caelestis patriae, et tripudium omnium beatorum.
but now, alas, many are in the sackcloth of mortal guilt. He went as far as the doors of the palace, of grace and glory, for it was not lawful for one clothed in sackcloth to enter the court of the king. The Gloss: "Because no one with the corruption of the present life will enter the heavenly court." When Esther heard this she was dismayed, and she sent a wedding garment, so that, when the sackcloth had been removed, they might clothe him, namely with the cloak of praise for the spirit of grief 1.
4. Likewise, she is the golden rod, the sign of eternal life. Esther IV, 11: Whether man or woman, whoever, not called, shall enter the inner court of the king. The Gloss: not having the wedding garment, let him immediately be killed, by eternal death, unless perchance the king shall extend to him the golden rod, that is, Mary, as a sign of clemency, so that she may be for him a propitiatress, and thus he may be able to live.
5. Likewise, she is the intervener and recaller of the desperate. For therefore the Lord created her in the nativity, assumed her as mother in the incarnation, and exalted her above all the choirs of Angels in the assumption, that she might intercede for sinners. Esther IV, 13 and 14: You are in the house of the king. The Gloss: "In the inner bosom of the king." Before all Jews, indeed before all Angels and all Saints. For if now, that is, in the time of our distress, you shall be silent, that is, shall not intercede for us, which may it be far from you, because the Lord desires to hear you, saying that word of the Song of Songs II, 14: Let your voice sound in my ears, etc. And who knows whether for this reason you have come to the kingdom, foreordained by God, prefigured by the Patriarchs, foretold by the Prophets, sought by sinners, chosen and prechosen by the whole Trinity, that you might be prepared in such a time, of the wrath of God, of tribulation, and of the grief of all the sons of Adam? The Gloss: "Therefore the king made you queen, that you might help us in persecution."
6. Our Queen is also commended for the greatest fidelity, goodness, and mercy, which is considered in this, that almost her whole supplication before God is for us, that we may be freed from enemies. Hence, Esther V, 1 and following: Esther was clothed in royal garments. The Gloss: "With faith, hope, and charity, and the other virtues; clothed with these, she is more worthily joined to the king." And she stood, as sinner, advocate, helper, after she was assumed, in the court of the royal house. And the king was sitting upon the throne... And when he had seen Queen Esther, preeminent before all by nature, grace, glory, generosity, dignity, nobility, and compassion, standing, not like proud Lucifer wishing to sit, but standing wondrously beside the cross 2, and mercifully and faithfully in heaven for sinners, she pleased his eyes, and he extended toward her the golden rod, that is, the power that he wills his mother to have in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And the king said to her: What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your petition? Even if you ask half of my kingdom, indeed the whole, it will be given to you... But she answered: If I have found grace in your eyes, O king, give me my people 3. The Gloss: mine by faith, mine by devotion, mine by affectionate veneration of her, mine by total gift, and by your commission, for whom I beseech you, once standing wretchedly by the cross, but now joyfully with you in heaven. For how will I be able to endure the slaughter and killing of my people 4? Since I can, and know how, and wish to free them through you, through yours, and through me.
7. Likewise, through her rising and nativity, she poured over the whole Church the light of immeasurable joy. Esther VIII, 16: To the Jews, that is, to Christians, a new light, that is, Mary, seemed to arise, namely when she was born. For she is the joy of the sorrowful, the honor of the heavenly fatherland, and the festal dance of all the blessed.
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