Home · Xmas 2011 · St. Bonavneture: On the Circumcision, and Weeping of the Lord...
St. Bonavneture: On the Circumcision, and Weeping of the Lord
"MADE UNDER THE LAW."
The Child was circumcised on the eighth day. Two great mysteries were wrought on that day. One was the revelation of the Name of salvation, which had been given Him from all eternity, and by which the angel had said He should be called, before He was conceived in the womb — that Name this day was declared and made known. And they called His name Jesus; but Jesus means Saviour, "which Name is above every name." (Phil. 2:9) Nor is there, as the Apostle Peter says, any "other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)
The other is, that on this day it came to pass that the Lord Jesus began to shed His most sacred blood for us. Early in life did He begin to suffer for us; He who did no sin, for us to-day began to bear the penalty of sin. Call out compassion for Him, and weep with Him, for to-day He wept much. In these solemnities we have indeed great cause to rejoice at our salvation; yet we ought also to have a tender sorrow and pity on account of His anguish and sufferings. You have heard what affliction and poverty He endured at His Birth; and besides what has been mentioned, tradition says that when His mother laid Him in the manger she had nothing but a stone on which to raise His head, putting perhaps a little of the hay upon it. I had this from a devout brother who is said to have seen it, and to this day the stone appears in the wall as a memorial of this event . You can conceive with what delight that Blessed Mother would have placed a soft cushion under His head, had she one; but having nothing but a stone, with bitter grief she laid His head upon it.
THE FIRST BLOOD-SHEDDING.
And on this day you hear how He shed His Blood; for His Flesh was cut with the stony knife. Ought we not, then, to be moved with compassion for Him? Yes; and assuredly for His mother too. The child Jesus cried most piteously at the sharp pain He endured in His Flesh; for His Flesh was as real and capable of suffering as that of other infants. But when He wept, think you that His mother's eyes were dry? She wept, indeed, too, on seeing Him weep as He lay upon her lap; and we may depict Him lovingly laying His hand upon her lips and face, as if imploring her not to weep, for He loved her so tenderly that He would fain dry up her tears. Similarly His mother, deeply moved at the sight of the tears of her Son, comforted Him with signs and words; for she, as a most wise mother, was able to comprehend the unspoken desires of her Son.
THE TEARS OF INFANCY.
We might imagine her saying, "My Son, if you would have me cease from weeping, cease from it yourself. For how can I but weep, if You weep?" And then out of pity for His mother, her Son may have restrained His sobs. Then His mother wiped away His tears, and pressed her face to His, and gave Him suck, and in every way, as far as she could, comforted Him. And thus she quieted Him whenever He began to cry again, which haply after the manner of infants He did, to show the misery of human nature which He had truly assumed, and to conceal Himself, that the devil might not know Him. For concerning Him the Church thus sings: "Bitter the tears the Infant shed Laid, straiten'd in the manger-bed." On this day the circumcision of the flesh ceases; and we now have Baptism instead of it—a rite of greater grace and less pain. But still we ought to have the circumcision of the spirit, which consists in divesting ourselves of all that is superfluous, and which therefore commends poverty; for he alone is truly circumcised in spirit who is truly poor. This doctrine, according to S. Bernard, the Apostle delivers in few words, when he says, "Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content." Spiritual circumcision ought also to extend to all the senses of the body, so that we should exercise self-restraint in seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, but, most of all, in speaking.
THE GUARD OF THE TONGUE.
Talkativeness is one of the worst vices, odious to God and man, and injurious. We ought then to be circumcised in tongue; that is, speak but little, and to edification. It is a sign of levity to speak much; therefore, on the contrary, silence is a virtue, and not without cause is ordered in Religious rules. S. Gregory speaks thus on this subject: "He truly knows how to speak, who has first learnt well how to be silent; for the observance of silence is as it were the proper nutriment of speech." Again, in another place he says: "Those who are of a weak character, are rashly forward in speaking; for what a light fancy conceives, a lighter tongue gives out." S. Bernard also says thus in a sermon on the Epiphany, which begins with the words — "In the works of the Lord." "Who knows not how much we are denied by vain speaking, by lies, by flatteries, by words of malice or boastfulness? For all this we have need of the fifth water pot, viz. silence, the sentinel of religion, in which lies our strength." And again, in another place the same Saint says: "Idleness is the mother of frivolity, but the step-mother to virtues. Frivolous talk in the mouths of lay people become almost blasphemous in the mouths of Priests. Such jokes may sometimes be taken, but they should not be brought up again. Thou has consecrated thy mouth for the Gospel; open it not for unseemly jokes."
01.01.2012. 15:23