Chapter 17

Of the Fast and Temptations of Christ. Also of His Return to His Mother. Of Four Means of obtaining Purity of Heart. Of Prayer and its Many Fruits. Of resisting Gluttony. Why and for whom God worked Miracles

After the Lord Jesus was baptized, He went immediately into the desert to a certain mountain, named “Quarantania,” about four miles distant, and there fasted forty days¹ and forty nights, and, according to S. Mark, “was there with the wild beasts.”² Here, then, attentively consider and behold Him ; for He affords you the pattern of many virtues. He goes forth alone ; He fasts, prays, and watches ; He lies and sleeps on the bare ground, and lives amongst the brute beasts. Pity Him, then ; for here, even more than at other times, His life is full of pain and bodily affliction ; and from His example learn to exercise the self-same discipline. Foi here four things are enumerated, which pertain to the exercises of the spiritual life, and wonderfully help each other ; namely, solitude, fasting, prayer, and bodily mortification. And it is by means of these principally, that we are able to attain to purity of heart, which purity is to be so greatly longed for, inasmuch as it in a certain way comprises all virtues. For it includes charity, humility, patience, and the other virtues, and withdrawal of all vices; for in company with vices or with defect of a virtue, purity of heart cannot continue. And therefore, in the Conferences of the holy Fathers, we are taught that the whole object of a religious person ought to be the attainment of purity of heart, for it is that by which man obtains the sight of God, as the Lord says in the Gospel, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.,,³ And according to S. Bernard, the clearer a man is, the nearer he is to God. To be clear from every stain is to have attained. But in order to reach this state, frequent and constant prayer is of great importance, concerning which you shall be more fully taught hereafter. But prayer, accompanied with intemperance and gluttony, or with ease and idleness, is not of much avail And then, fasting and bodily mortification are necessary, but with discretion, for the lack of discretion will mar every good action. But besides these, and to turn all these to account, there must be retirement ; for in the midst of noise and tumult, it seems hardly possible for prayer to be performed aright ; and many things cannot be seen and heard without danger to purity of heart. For death enters through our windows into our souls,⁴ and therefore our Lord has taught us by His example, that we should go into solitude, that is, as much as possible, withdraw ourselves from the companionship of others, and be alone, if we wish to be united to Him, and through purity of heart see Him. Shun also gossiping, and especially with worldly persons. Do not seek to form new attachments and friendships, and do not fill your eyes and ears with that which is vain and unreal And all those things which disturb the quiet of the soul and the repose of the mind, avoid as so much soul-destroying poison. For it was not without cause that the holy Fathers sought out woods and most retired spots, far from the haunts of men, for their dwelling-places. It was not without cause that they recommended those who remained in religious communities to be blind, and deaf, and dumb. But that you may understand this the better, hear what S. Bernard says upon it : “Do you, I say, if you are moved to follow the attractions of the Holy Ghost, and if you begin to burn with the desire of making your soul fit to become the spouse of God, according to the words of the prophet,⁵ sit alone / 1 for you have raised yourself above yourself, wishing to be espoused to the Lord of angels. Are you not, indeed, above yourself, if you cleave to God, and are one spirit with Him ? Sit, therefore, solitary like the turtle, have nothing to do with the crowd, nor with the multitude, forget also thy own people and thy father’s house, and the Lord shall desire thy beauty.⁶ O holy soul, be alone, that thou mightest serve Him alone, Whom out of all thou hast chosen for thyself. Shun the public gaze, avoid also sometimes thine own household, withdraw also from thy friends and intimate companions, even those nearest to you. Do you not know that your Spouse is bashful, and that He will not vouchsafe His presence, when you are in the company of others ? Withdraw, then, but in mind, not in body ; withdraw, then, that is, as far as intention is concerned, with devotion, and in spirit. For Christ the Lord is present with you in spirit, and spirit requires not solitude of body. Nevertheless, it is not without profit sometimes to withdraw yourself in body also, when opportunity offers, especially in time of prayer.” And again : “You are alone, if your thoughts are set on the one thing needful, if you are not affected by what is passing around you, if you despise what the multitude prizes, if you have a distaste for what the multitude relishes, if you avoid, strife, if you are insensible to injuries, and retain no remembrance of affronts; otherwise, though you may be quite alone outwardly, you are not really alone. Do you see, that you may find solitude in the midst of a crowd, and yet not find it when you are by yourself alone ? You are alone however great the number of persons may be with whom you converse, if you only avoid inquisitiveness, or passing a censorious judgment on what is said .”⁷ Thus far S. Bernard. You observe, then, how necessary a thing is solitude, and how retirement of body is of no avail without solitude of spirit ; and further, that bodily retirement is most effective in producing mental solitude, for it prevents the mind from going forth to external things, and enables it to hold undistracted communion with its Spouse. Therefore endeavour with your whole heart, as far as in you lies, to imitate your Lord and Spouse, Jesus Christ, in withdrawal from the world, in prayer, in fasting, and in discreet mortification of the body.

Moreover, from His remaining among the wild beasts, learn to live humbly amongst others, and to bear patiently with those who seem sometimes to behave themselves unreasonably. Often pay your Lord a visit during this time of His solitude. Behold Him, how He converses there, and especially how He lies upon the ground night after night. For every faithful soul ought to visit Him in spirit at least once every day, mostly from Epiphany to the end of the forty days’ sojourn in the desert. Now, when the forty days were completed, the Lord hungered. Then the Tempter came to Him, wishing to put Him to the trial, whether He were the Son of God or not ; and he tempted Him with gluttony, saying, “If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread .”⁸ But he could not deceive the Master, for He replied in such a manner, as neither to yield to the temptation, nor to let the adversary know what He wanted. For He neither denied nor asserted Himself to be the Son of God, but convicted him by the authority of Scripture. And note here, from the example of our Lord, how gluttony ought to be resisted, and that we must begin with it, if we would overcome other vices. For it seems, that he who is overcome by gluttony, in vain attacks other vices because of his weakn ess. For there, the commentator upon this passage in S. Matthew says, “unless gluttony be first overcome, in vain do we struggle with other vices.” Then the devil took Him up, and carried Him to Jerusalem, about eighteen miles. I merely give distances in this book on hearsay, and not from personal knowledge of the parts herein mentioned. Consider, then, the goodness and patience of our Lord. For He suffers Himself to be borne and handled by that savage beast, who thirsted for His Blood, and for that of all His loving followers. Then, having placed Him on a pinnacle of the Temple, He tempted Him with vainglory, wishing, as before, to put Him to another test ; but here again he was met by the authority of Scripture, and his intention frustrated. As our Lord had during these two temptations given no sign of Divinity, the Enemy, according to S. Bernard, came to the conclusion that He was mere man, and framed the third temptation accordingly. Thence the devil, then, took Him unto a high mountain about two miles from Quarantania, and there he tempted Him with avarice ; but here the murderer was again foiled. You have seen how the Lord Jesus was handled and tempted ; are you, then, surprised if we are tempted ? He endured temptations, too, at other times. Whence S. Bernard says, “Those who reckon but three temptations of our Lord are ignorant of Scripture, for therein we read the life of man upon earth is continual temptation.⁹ And the Apostle says that¹⁰ He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin/” a

When He had completed the victory, Angels came and ministered unto Him. Here diligently attend, and behold our Lord as He is eating, and Angels encircling Him, and consider carefully all things which happened, for they are full of beauty and calculated to excite devotion. And what, I ask, did the angels bring Him to eat after so long a fast ? The Scriptures do not tell us. We may, therefore, picture this victorious repast as our devotion leads us. And indeed, if we regard the matter in point of power, the question is solved. For He could create whatever He willed, or have whatever He chose of that which was already created. But we do not find Him exerting this power either for Himself or for His disciples ; for the multitude, however, He did employ it, whom He fed in large numbers on two occasions¹¹ with a few loaves. But of His disciples we read, that in His Presence they plucked the ears of com from hunger, and did eat them ! Likewise, when, wearied with His journey, He sat by the well talking with the Samaritan woman,¹² it is not said that He created food, but that He sent His disciples into the city to buy food. Neither is it likely that He worked a miracle for Himself in the wilderness, for He wrought miracles for the edification of others, and in the presence of many witnesses. But here none were present but the Angels. What line of thought, then, should we pursue about this? Here was no human dwelling-place nor any food prepared. It must have been, then, that the Angels brought Him viands already prepared, as they did to DanieL For when Habakkuk the prophet had prepared pottage for his reapers, the Angel of the Lord is said to have carried him by the hair of his head from Judaea to Babylon to Daniel, that he might eat, and afterwards in a moment brought him back.¹³ Let us pause a while, and look at the subject in this manner, and delight ourselves with our Lord in this His repast, and enter into the sentiments of joy which His most excellent mother would feel, if she heard of the triumph of her Son. As soon as Satan is repulsed, angels throng the air, coming in vast multitudes to our Lord Jesus Christ, and prostrating themselves before Him, saying, “Hail, Lord Jesus, our God and our Lord !” And our Lord humbly and benignly receives them, and bows His head, mindful that as man He was made a little lower than the Angels. The Angels say to Him, “O Lord, Thou hast fasted much ; what wilt Thou that we shall make ready for Thee ?” And some have imagined Him replying, “Go to My dearest mother, and if she has anything prepared, bring it to Me ; for of no food do I eat with such pleasure as of that which comes from her hand.” Then two of them set out, and in a moment are with her; and when they had saluted her, and informed her for what end they had come, the same legend says they bore away some pottage which she had prepared for herself and Joseph, and some bread, with a table-cloth, and other necessaries ; and perhaps the Blessed Mother purchased a few small fish, as far as her means allowed, which also we can imagine that they took with them. On their return the Angels place the viands on the ground, and solemnly pronounce words of benediction. Here regard Him carefully in all that He does. He sits down on the ground composedly, and He partakes of the repast with decorum and sobriety. The Angels stand around, ministering to their Lord. One serves Him with bread, another with wine, another makes ready the small fishes, and others sing one of the songs of Zion, and rejoice and keep festival before Him. If it may be said, however, their festival was mingled with the deepest commiseration, which should mar us also to tears. For they reverently behold Him, and — seeing Him their God and Lord, the Creator of the whole world, “who giveth food to all flesh,”¹⁴ thus humbled, and needing to be sustained with bodily food, and eating as the rest of mankind, they are touched with pity. And you, too, cry out and say, “0 Lord, what great things hast Thou done ? all Thy works are marvellous ; help me, that I may suffer something for Thee, who hast borne so many and so great things for me.” Surely this alone ought to kindle in you a fervent love for Him.

At length the repast was ended, and angels, perhaps, report to His mother what had taken place, and announce to her that He would soon return. And, having accomplished His commands, He said to all, “Return to My Father, and to the land of true joy, for I must for a while continue My pilgrimage; and I pray you, remember Me to My Father, and the whole court of Heaven.” And they, prostrating themselves, begged for His benediction, which, when they had received, they returned to their country, and fulfilled His bidding, and noised abroad His victory, so that the whole court of Heaven rejoiced at their tidings. But the Lord Jesus, wishing to return, began to come down from the mountain. Behold Him again attentively ; how He walks alone and barefoot — He, the Lord of all — and excite a lively compassion for Him. On His arrival at Jordan, John saw Him coming to him, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world .”¹⁵ This is He upon whom I saw the Holy Spirit rest, when I baptized Him. And on the next day, when he saw Him walking near Jordan, he said again, “Behold the Lamb of God.” Then Andrew, and also another of John’s disciples, went after Jesus. And the loving Lord, thirsting for their salvation, in order to inspire them with confidence in Himself, turned Himself to them, and said, “What seek ye?” and they replied, “Master, where dwellest Thou ?” Then He led them to the house to which He was wont to return in those parts, and they abode with Him that whole day. After that, Andrew brought Peter, his brother, to Jesus, whom He gladly received; for He knew what He intended to make of him. And He said to him, “Thou shalt be called Cephas ;”¹⁶ and then our Lord’s intimacy and acquaintance with them commenced. After this, the Lord Jesus willed to return into Galilee, and He accordingly left those parts and commenced His journey. Once more pity Him, and in spirit accompany Him, for He walks barefooted and alone all the way, about fourteen miles. When He reached His home, doubtless His mother, seeing Him, arose at once to greet Him with inexpressible delight, and received Him in her arms with the closest embraces ; and He next greeted her, and also His foster-father Joseph, and, perhaps, abode with them as of yore a brief while.

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Footnotes

1. S. Matt. iv. i-ii ; S. Luke iv. 1-13. ↩

2. S. Mark L 13. ↩

3. S. Matt. v. 8. ↩

4. Jer. ix. 21. ↩

5. Lam. iii. 28. ↩

6. Ps. xlv. 10. ↩

7. Serm. xL in Cant. ↩

8. S. Matt. iv. 2. ↩

9. Job vii. i» V. ↩

10. Heb. iv. 15. ↩

11. S. Matt xiv. 15 ; xv. 32 ; S. John vi. 5. ↩

12. S. John iv. ↩

13. Bel and the Dragon, 33-39. ↩

14. Ps. cxxxvi. 25. ↩

15. S. John i. 29 . ↩

16. S. John i. 42. ↩