Question 181. How does she comprehend in herself the third blessing of Balaam?

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QUAESTIO CLXXXI. Qualiter comprehendat in se benedictionem tertiam Balaam?

Tertia benedictio Balaam principalis est haec, Numer. XXIV, 5 et seq.: Quam pulchra tabernacula tua, Jacob! et tentoria tua, Israel! Ut valles nemorosae, ut horti juxta fluvios irrigui, ut tabernacula quae fixit Dominus, quasi cedri prope aquas. Fluet aqua de situla ejus, et semen illius erit in aquas multas. Tolletur propter Agag, rex ejus, et auferetur regnum illius. Deus eduxit illum de Aegypto, cujus fortitudo similis est rhinocerotis. Devorabunt gentes hostes illius, ossaque eorum confringent, et perforabunt sagittis. Accubans dormivit ut leo, et quasi leaena, quam suscitare nullus audebit. Qui benedixerit tibi, erit et ipse benedictus: qui maledixerit, in maledictione reputabitur.

In hac benedictione novem benedictiones sunt comprehensae. Prima est multiplicatio ecclesiasticarum actionum, et hoc intelligitur per hoc quod dicit: Quam pulchra tabernacula. Secunda est pulchritudo religionis, et hoc est: Et tentoria tua, Israel. Tertia est ordo et institutio praedicatorum, et hoc est quod dicitur: Fluet aqua de situla ejus. Quarta est Judaici regni destructio, et hoc est: Propter eum tolletur Agag, rex ejus. Quinta est regni gentium Ecclesiae subjectio, et hoc est, quod devorabunt gentes hostes illius. Sexta est daemonum confractio, et hoc est: Ossaque illorum confringent. Septima est Anti-Christi interfectio, et hoc est: Perforabunt sagittis. Octava est a somno mortis resurrectio, et hoc est: Accubans dormivit ut leo. Nona est malorum et bonorum remuneratio, et hoc intelligitur, ibi, Qui benedixerit tibi, etc.

QUESTION 181. How does she comprehend in herself the third blessing of Balaam?

The third principal blessing of Balaam is this, Numbers 24:5 and following: How beautiful are your tabernacles, Jacob, and your tents, Israel! Like wooded valleys, like gardens watered beside rivers, like tabernacles which the Lord has fixed, like cedars near waters. Water will flow from his bucket, and his seed will be in many waters. Because of Agag, his king will be taken away, and his kingdom will be removed. God led him out of Egypt; his strength is like that of the rhinoceros. The nations will devour his enemies, and they will break their bones and pierce them with arrows. Lying down, he slept as a lion and as a lioness, whom no one will dare to rouse. Whoever blesses you will also himself be blessed; whoever curses will be reckoned in curse.

In this blessing nine blessings are comprehended. The first is multiplication of ecclesiastical actions, and this is understood through what he says: How beautiful are the tabernacles. The second is the beauty of religion, and this is: And your tents, Israel. The third is the order and institution of preachers, and this is what is said: Water will flow from his bucket. The fourth is the destruction of the Jewish kingdom, and this is: Because of him Agag, his king, will be taken away. The fifth is the subjection of the kingdom of the nations to the Church, and this is that the nations will devour his enemies. The sixth is the breaking of demons, and this is: And they will break their bones. The seventh is the killing of Antichrist, and this is: They will pierce with arrows. The eighth is resurrection from the sleep of death, and this is: Lying down, he slept as a lion. The ninth is the remuneration of evil and good persons, and this is understood there: Whoever blesses you, etc.

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Sumatur istarum benedictionum sufficientia in hunc modum. Ecclesiae benedictio, vel in praesenti vita, vel in futura. Si in hac vita, est collatio boni, vel est multiplicatio actionum vel contemplationum, vel utrorumque donorum: et secundum hoc sunt tres primae, scilicet multiplicatio ecclesiasticarum actionum, pulchritudo religiosorum, abundantia praedicatorum. Si autem est mali ablatio, vel est cum mutatione, et sic est regni Judaici translatio: vel est destructio, et hoc vel daemonum, vel hominum, vel Anti-Christi qui est homo plenus daemoniis: et secundum hoc sunt tres, illae scilicet, regni gentium subjectio, daemonum confractio, Anti-Christi interfectio. Si post hanc vitam est, vel omnium communis resurrectio, vel bonorum remuneratio, et malorum damnatio: et sic sunt duae ultimae benedictiones.

Qualiter autem istae benedictiones conveniunt benedictissimae Virgini Mariae, facile est declarare. Summa enim fuit, ut saepius dictum est, in actione, in contemplatione, et in doctrina. Ipsa quoque in suo partu transtulit regnum Judaeorum, quia regem genuit Christianorum, et per consequens regnum destruxit Gentium et daemonum et Anti-Christi, quem Filii sui ore interficiet: et omnes bonos et malos remunerabit, quia remuneratorem omnium generavit, et ipsum bonis in praemium donavit.

Et sic patet qualiter novem benedictiones istae in benedictione superbenedictissimae Virginis sunt inclusae.

The sufficiency of these blessings is to be taken in this way. The blessing of the Church is either in the present life or in the future. If in this life, it is a bestowal of good, or it is a multiplication of actions or contemplations or of both gifts; and according to this are the first three: multiplication of ecclesiastical actions, beauty of religious persons, and abundance of preachers. But if it is the removal of evil, either it is with change, and thus it is the transfer of the Jewish kingdom; or it is destruction, and this either of demons, or of human beings, or of Antichrist, who is a human being full of demons; and according to this there are three, namely the subjection of the kingdom of the nations, the breaking of demons, and the killing of Antichrist. If it is after this life, it is either the common resurrection of all, or the remuneration of the good and the damnation of the evil; and thus there are the two last blessings.

But how these blessings belong to the most blessed Virgin Mary is easy to declare. For she was supreme, as has often been said, in action, in contemplation, and in teaching. She also in her childbirth transferred the kingdom of the Jews, because she gave birth to the king of Christians, and consequently destroyed the kingdom of the Gentiles and of demons and of Antichrist, whom she will slay by the mouth of her Son; and she will remunerate all the good and the evil, because she generated the remunerator of all and gave him to the good as their reward.

And thus it is clear how those nine blessings are included in the blessing of the most super-blessed Virgin.