Question 172. How does she comprehend in herself the blessing given to Issachar?

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QUAESTIO CLXXII. Qualiter comprehendat in se benedictionem datam Issachar?

Sequitur benedictio Issachar, de qua dicitur, Genes. XLIX, 14 et 15: Issachar asinus fortis accubans inter terminos: vidit requiem quod esset bona, et terram quod esset optima: et supposuit humerum suum ad portandum, factusque est tributis serviens.

Glossa: « Recte post nativitatem Gad et Aser Lia talem filium genuit: quia nisi per abstinentiam et patientiam mens humana ad verum gaudium non pertingit. Oportet ergo non solum falsam delectationem, sed et vanam perturbationem excludere, qui vult de veritate gaudere. Et iste filius Issachar, id est, merces dicitur: quia illud gaudium verum tamquam mercedem omnium laborum exspectamus ¹. » Et infra: « Scimus, quod sicut mare semper fluctuat, terra autem in aeternum stat, sic et caetera elementa semper in motu sunt, et sola terra stante, stare caetera nesciunt. Quia scimus, quod mens quae per varia desideria fluctuat, quam adhuc saecularium curarum procella exagitat, ad illud internum gaudium non admittitur, et illo torrente voluptatis non potatur: quanto minus inebriatur ². » Et infra ³: « Haec est illa vere beata terra, mentis tranquillitas videlicet, quando mens in seipsa tota colligitur, et in uno aeternitatis desiderio immobiliter figitur. Haec est illa terra quam Veritas promittebat dicens: Beati mites, quoniam ipsi possidebunt terram ⁴. » Et infra: « Issachar pro hac terra asinus factus et fortis libenter supposuit humerum suum ad portandum, et factus est tributis serviens. Multum sibi subito viluerat, qui se asinum animal videlicet poenae prae caeteris vilius reputabat. Multum concupivit terram quam vidit, pro qua ad omnem laborem fortis perduravit. Viderat sane quod ad pulchritudinem terrae illius, omnes justitiae nostrae ut pannus erant menstruatae. Viderat nihilominus, quod non sunt condignae passiones hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam quae revelabitur in nobis. In uno ergo sibi vilis, in altero fortis effectus: de uno humiliatus, de altero roboratus fortitudinis suae humerum ad omnem laborem libenter inclinavit, et in acquirenda divina gloria non sua, vero regi tributum persolvit. Unde, Psal. LXXII, 23: Ut jumentum factus sum apud te. Item, Propter te mortificamur tota die ⁵. Quia hujus vitae bona ad necessitatem non respuebat, hanc terram penitus non deserebat: quia futurae vitae non nisi novissima quaedam capere poterat, illam omnino non apprehendebat: et ideo inter terminos habitabat. Istam tolerabat ad necessitatem, illam concupierat ad jucunditatem. Satagebat penitus istam deserere, nec poterat: ambiebat in illam totus intrare, nec valebat. Fecit igitur quod potuit, inter terminos habitavit. Quotidie ad illam nitebatur, quotidie ad istam relabebatur, et in hunc modum inter terminos morabatur. »

QUESTION 172. How does she comprehend in herself the blessing given to Issachar?

The blessing of Issachar follows, of which it is said in Genesis 49:14 and 15: Issachar is a strong ass lying down between the boundaries; he saw rest, that it was good, and the land, that it was best; and he put his shoulder under to carry, and he became serving under tribute.

The Gloss says: “Rightly after the birth of Gad and Asher Leah bore such a son, because unless through abstinence and patience the human mind does not reach true joy. Therefore one who wishes to rejoice in truth must exclude not only false delight but also vain disturbance. And this son is called Issachar, that is, reward, because we await that true joy as the reward of all labors ¹.” And below: “We know that just as the sea is always tossed, but the earth stands forever, so also the other elements are always in motion, and while the earth alone stands, the others do not know how to stand. For we know that a mind which is tossed by various desires, which the storm of worldly cares still drives about, is not admitted to that inward joy, and is not given to drink from that torrent of pleasure; how much less is it made drunk ².” And below ³: “This is that truly blessed land, namely tranquility of mind, when the mind is wholly gathered within itself and fixed immovably in one desire of eternity. This is that land which Truth was promising when he said: Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth ⁴.” And below: “Issachar, made an ass and strong for the sake of this land, gladly put his shoulder under to carry and became serving under tribute. He had suddenly become very vile to himself, who considered himself an ass, that is, an animal of punishment, viler than the rest. He greatly desired the land which he saw, for which he endured strongly for every labor. Indeed he had seen that, in comparison with the beauty of that land, all our justices were as the cloth of a menstruous woman. He had seen nonetheless that the sufferings of this time are not worthy of the future glory that will be revealed in us. Therefore made vile to himself in the one, made strong in the other, humbled by the one and strengthened by the other, he gladly bent the shoulder of his fortitude to every labor, and in acquiring divine glory, not his own, he paid tribute to the true king. Whence Psalm 72:23: I was made like a beast before you. Likewise, For your sake we are put to death all the day ⁵. Because he did not reject the goods of this life for necessity, he did not wholly leave this land; because he could grasp only certain last things of the future life, he did not wholly apprehend that one; and therefore he dwelt between the boundaries. He tolerated this one for necessity; he had desired that one for delight. He strove wholly to leave this one and could not; he was eager to enter wholly into that one and was not able. Therefore he did what he could: he dwelt between the boundaries. Daily he strove toward that one, daily he slipped back to this one, and in this way he remained between the boundaries.”

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Ex his colligitur, quod per Issachar gaudium aeternum interpretatur, cujus in his verbis decem proprietates exprimuntur. Prima est, quod falsam delectationem excludit. Secunda, quod per vanam perturbationem elidit. Tertia est, quod est merces laboris. Quarta, quod mentem stabilitat. Quinta, quod hominem humiliat. Sexta, quod animam roborat. Septima, quod animam in suspendium elevat. Octava, quod terram prospicit. Nona, quod requiem sentit. Decima, quod Deo gloriam adscribit et reddit.

Istae igitur sunt proprietates interni gaudii in quibus consistit benedictio Issachar. Sed beata Virgo habuit internum gaudium in summo: ergo et proprietates ejus in summo. Minor patet supra de beatitudinibus super illam quae est: Beati qui esuriunt ⁶. Et in tractatu de fructibus supra posito.

From these things it is gathered that through Issachar eternal joy is interpreted, of which ten properties are expressed in these words. The first is that it excludes false delight. The second, that it strikes out through vain disturbance. The third is that it is the reward of labor. The fourth, that it makes the mind stable. The fifth, that it humbles the human being. The sixth, that it strengthens the soul. The seventh, that it raises the soul into suspension. The eighth, that it looks out upon the land. The ninth, that it feels rest. The tenth, that it ascribes and renders glory to God.

Therefore these are the properties of inward joy in which the blessing of Issachar consists. But the blessed Virgin had inward joy in the highest degree; therefore she also had its properties in the highest degree. The minor is clear above concerning the beatitudes on that one which is: Blessed are they who hunger ⁶. And it is clear in the treatise concerning the fruits set down above.

Notes

Richard of Saint Victor, Book on the Preparation of the Soul for Contemplation, chapter 36. (Richardus de S. Victore, Lib. de Praeparatione animi ad contemplationem, cap. 36.) ↩
In the same work, chapter 38. (Ibid., cap. 38.) ↩
In the same work, chapter 39. (Ibid., cap. 39.) ↩
Matthew 5:4. (Matth. V, 4.) ↩
Psalm 43:22; Romans 8:36. (Psal. XLIII, 22; ad Roman. VIII, 36.) ↩
Matthew 5:6. (Matth. V, 6.) ↩