Meditation 27
Growing Remembrance of God at the Altar
The second step
causes a person to search for God unceasingly. When the bride said that
seeking him by night in her bed (when in accord with the first step of
love she was languishing), she did not find him, she added: I will rise
up and seek him whom my soul loves [Sg 3. 1-2] . . . Since the soul is
here convalescing and gaining strength in the love found in the second
step, it immediately begins to ascend to the third through a certain
degree of new purgation in the night. [1]
Here at the altar of burnt offerings in the courtyard of the Tabernacle of our heart we ask by the help of the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph's, the Community of the Church, St. Michael the Archangel (our favored saint) and the Celestial Choir of the Archangels, that the Holy Spirit infuses into our hearts the virtue of the remembrance of God in order to make us able to put the wood of our sensuous disposition on the griddle of the altar and thus enkindle the fire of the prayer in our growing participation in Christ like humility on our walk along the Sacred Way in the grace of our Royal Image of Glory. Amen.
Here at the altar of burnt offerings in the courtyard of the Tabernacle of our heart we ask by the help of the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph's, the Community of the Church, St. Michael the Archangel (our favored saint) and the Celestial Choir of the Archangels, that the Holy Spirit infuses into our hearts the virtue of the remembrance of God in order to make us able to put the wood of our sensuous disposition on the griddle of the altar and thus enkindle the fire of the prayer in our growing participation in Christ like humility on our walk along the Sacred Way in the grace of our Royal Image of Glory. Amen.
The second “memorial stone” which we take out of the river
of death to make a garland or a Gilgal (circle) around the Tabernacle
of our hearts is the skin colored sardonyx. By its illumination it
directs the soul's awareness to the shining white linen breeches
covering the loins of the priests which reached down to their knees,
covered thus the genitals, the symbol of the creative power,
In ancient times the Hebrews believed that the emotions were connected to the kidneys. The linen breeches emphasize that the soul is obliged to walk the Sacred Way in the light of faith instead of following her emotional inclination. If she neglects this she will paralyze her creative power, that is her capacity to be a co-worker of God in her sanctification. It is this lesson which the soul will learn at the altar of burnt offerings in the prayer of outer recollection when she turns her awareness to the altar and grasps its message and learns the first letters in the spiritual alphabet of the prayer life.
As has already been stated above the courtyard of the Sanctuary refers to the northern quarter of the Tetramorph as a place of purification. In His holy humanity as our Archetype in the live of grace Jesus revealed this truth to us by His temptations in the desert (Mt 4. 1-11). Thus He desires to show us how we can rise up like eagles in the live of grace. This is only possible by going the way of the desert prayer from the altar of burnt offerings to the bronze laver. On this Sacred Way the soul have thus to go through the first phase of the dark night of its senses, to learn to judge things rather in accordance with the light of faith than in accordance with her sensuous disposition. This takes place in the prayer of outer recollection.
He who is the purity itself incarnated resisted the impure temptations of the evil one and gives us thus in His mercy a lesson and share in His own purity by clothing the soul in the shining white tunic of the priests in the prayers of Outer and Inner recollection. “He contends you with good things all your life, renews your youth like an eagle” (Ps 103. 5).
The eagle which is the standard of arms in the northern quarter reveals the core of the mystery taking place here in the purification of the night of the senses. Thus God spares us the sad fate of becoming stagnant in the live of grace as prefigured by the Nazirite and Levite above. The Nazirite represents a soul who only enters the live of grace in her own terms, but the Levite a soul who is fettered by her sensuous disposition.
The prayer of recollection in the courtyard is frequently symbolized by the pharisee: one who is perfect in outer conducts but does not clean the vessel within. The eagle gives us an account of how the soul accomplishes this purification by the help of God by gazing at Him. In ancient times men believed that the king of the air – the eagle – was the only bird able to gaze straight at the sun without loosing its sight. This lesson the soul learns here by comparing her own impurity to the purity of the Pure One at the bronze laver.
Gradually the soul begins to realize the fact that her exterior senses are hazardous guides in the live of grace, a fact, which the French philosopher Bergson pointed to when he described how the rational or natural intellect picks only up what awakes its interest from the flood of reality and makes itself a virtual reality to its own liking. Bergson compared the logical methodology of the reason with a film studio where lifeless photographs are on display showing the stream of ever changing reality. By these lifeless snapshots which are in no conformity with the living reality of the spiritual world the soul makes images of this continuous stream of life. The natural intellect uses exactly the same method in the live of grace and produces a virtual reality of the faith and considers itself fit to make itself an independent scale of value judgment founded on the same dubious facts as its outer existence. Thus the natural intellect in cooperation with its sensuous ego forms its own “reasonable” deductions and make them as a proof of the existence of its false ego.
In her growing remembrance of God which the soul asks the Holy spirit to infuse into her heart in the Prayer of the Sparkling Jewels she begins to discern the message of the altar in the light of faith. The word altar or mizbe'ah in Hebrew is derived from the root zbh which means to “execute” or “kill.” The altar was thus literally speaking a place of execution: the mortuary of the fleshly and sensuous disposition. The altar was made of wood of the acacia,
This fact sheds light on the nature of the Royal Image in the live of grace, but God choose the acacia purposefully in this context,
Thus Jesus grew up like any other human being under the motherly care of Mary and Joseph in their humble home and as He grew up He began to learn to be a carpenter under the guidance of Joseph, His step-father. God's intention is also to make us to be good carpenters in the live of grace in order to be able to build the Sanctuary in our own hearts. In His holy humanity Jesus was not enchanted by the glory of the flesh which makes itself different ideas regarding kingship. Such souls go to the palace of Herod to pay him a homage. This is how the Spirit illuminates the second gem of our sanctification – the skin colored sardonyx – here at the altar of burnt offerings. Nothing of the radiance of the sardonyx awakes the interest of a proud heart in this image of incarnated meekness on earth.
You will also make them
linen breeches reaching from waist to thigh, to cover their bare flesh.
Aaron and his son will wear these when they go into the Tent of Meeting
and when they approach the altar to serve in the Sanctuary, as a
precaution against incurring mortal guilt. This is a perpetual decree
for Aaron and for his descendants after him (Ex 28. 42, 43).
In ancient times the Hebrews believed that the emotions were connected to the kidneys. The linen breeches emphasize that the soul is obliged to walk the Sacred Way in the light of faith instead of following her emotional inclination. If she neglects this she will paralyze her creative power, that is her capacity to be a co-worker of God in her sanctification. It is this lesson which the soul will learn at the altar of burnt offerings in the prayer of outer recollection when she turns her awareness to the altar and grasps its message and learns the first letters in the spiritual alphabet of the prayer life.
As has already been stated above the courtyard of the Sanctuary refers to the northern quarter of the Tetramorph as a place of purification. In His holy humanity as our Archetype in the live of grace Jesus revealed this truth to us by His temptations in the desert (Mt 4. 1-11). Thus He desires to show us how we can rise up like eagles in the live of grace. This is only possible by going the way of the desert prayer from the altar of burnt offerings to the bronze laver. On this Sacred Way the soul have thus to go through the first phase of the dark night of its senses, to learn to judge things rather in accordance with the light of faith than in accordance with her sensuous disposition. This takes place in the prayer of outer recollection.
He who is the purity itself incarnated resisted the impure temptations of the evil one and gives us thus in His mercy a lesson and share in His own purity by clothing the soul in the shining white tunic of the priests in the prayers of Outer and Inner recollection. “He contends you with good things all your life, renews your youth like an eagle” (Ps 103. 5).
The eagle which is the standard of arms in the northern quarter reveals the core of the mystery taking place here in the purification of the night of the senses. Thus God spares us the sad fate of becoming stagnant in the live of grace as prefigured by the Nazirite and Levite above. The Nazirite represents a soul who only enters the live of grace in her own terms, but the Levite a soul who is fettered by her sensuous disposition.
The prayer of recollection in the courtyard is frequently symbolized by the pharisee: one who is perfect in outer conducts but does not clean the vessel within. The eagle gives us an account of how the soul accomplishes this purification by the help of God by gazing at Him. In ancient times men believed that the king of the air – the eagle – was the only bird able to gaze straight at the sun without loosing its sight. This lesson the soul learns here by comparing her own impurity to the purity of the Pure One at the bronze laver.
Gradually the soul begins to realize the fact that her exterior senses are hazardous guides in the live of grace, a fact, which the French philosopher Bergson pointed to when he described how the rational or natural intellect picks only up what awakes its interest from the flood of reality and makes itself a virtual reality to its own liking. Bergson compared the logical methodology of the reason with a film studio where lifeless photographs are on display showing the stream of ever changing reality. By these lifeless snapshots which are in no conformity with the living reality of the spiritual world the soul makes images of this continuous stream of life. The natural intellect uses exactly the same method in the live of grace and produces a virtual reality of the faith and considers itself fit to make itself an independent scale of value judgment founded on the same dubious facts as its outer existence. Thus the natural intellect in cooperation with its sensuous ego forms its own “reasonable” deductions and make them as a proof of the existence of its false ego.
In her growing remembrance of God which the soul asks the Holy spirit to infuse into her heart in the Prayer of the Sparkling Jewels she begins to discern the message of the altar in the light of faith. The word altar or mizbe'ah in Hebrew is derived from the root zbh which means to “execute” or “kill.” The altar was thus literally speaking a place of execution: the mortuary of the fleshly and sensuous disposition. The altar was made of wood of the acacia,
He made the altar of
burnt offerings of acacia wood (Ex 38. 1).
This fact sheds light on the nature of the Royal Image in the live of grace, but God choose the acacia purposefully in this context,
Like a sapling he grew
before him, like a root in arid ground. He had no form or charm to
attract us, no beauty to win our hearts (Is 53. 2).
Thus Jesus grew up like any other human being under the motherly care of Mary and Joseph in their humble home and as He grew up He began to learn to be a carpenter under the guidance of Joseph, His step-father. God's intention is also to make us to be good carpenters in the live of grace in order to be able to build the Sanctuary in our own hearts. In His holy humanity Jesus was not enchanted by the glory of the flesh which makes itself different ideas regarding kingship. Such souls go to the palace of Herod to pay him a homage. This is how the Spirit illuminates the second gem of our sanctification – the skin colored sardonyx – here at the altar of burnt offerings. Nothing of the radiance of the sardonyx awakes the interest of a proud heart in this image of incarnated meekness on earth.
[1].
The Dark Night, II. 19, 2.