Meditation 4
The Distinctive Ornament of the High Priest
In the letter to the
Hebrews we see how is referred to the high priest of the Old Covenant
as a prefiguration of Christ, “But now Christ has come, as the high
priest of all the blessings which were to come. He has passed through
the greater, the more perfect Tent (Tabernacle), not made by human
hands, that is, not of this created order; and has entered the
Sanctuary once and for all” (Heb 9. 11, 12). He has so in His
boundless mercy opened a new way into the Holy of Holies of the
Heavenly Tabernacle for the Royal Priesthood of the New Covenant. It is
His Sacred Heart which is our gate to heaven in its purity. This truth
the holy fathers emphasized continuously as Hesychius of Jerusalem (5th
century) when he wrote,
So also the purity of the heart reveals gradually the divine vision of the Celestial City, or again by Hesychius words,
This is in full accordance with the promise of our Lord and Redeemer, “Blessed are the pure in heart: they shall see God” (Mt 5. 8). This takes place in God's “sweet embrace in the depth of the substance” of the soul – in her heart – when He reveals His strength in love, as John of the Cross said,
where in secret you dwell alone;
So the heavenly Architect and Tabernacle builder restores His hidden abode in the substance of the soul or by the words of Gregory of Nyssa,
And thus He impresses His image on the soul as Ruysbroeck emphasized so properly and rightfully,
The distinctive
ornament of the high priest in the Old Covenant was the image of heart
which incites us to pay attention to the plate of our heart, lest it be
blackened by sin, so that we should hasten to cleanse with tears,
repentance and prayer. [1]
So also the purity of the heart reveals gradually the divine vision of the Celestial City, or again by Hesychius words,
In the beginning you
will find it a ladder, then a book which you will read and, finally,
progressing further and further, will find the city, the heavenly
Jerusalem. And you will actually see with your mental vision the Christ
of Israel, the Lord of Hosts, together with His Consubstantial Father
and the Holy Spirit Who is worshipped with Them. [2]
This is in full accordance with the promise of our Lord and Redeemer, “Blessed are the pure in heart: they shall see God” (Mt 5. 8). This takes place in God's “sweet embrace in the depth of the substance” of the soul – in her heart – when He reveals His strength in love, as John of the Cross said,
In revealing his
powerful strength and his good love to it in gentleness and not in
furor, he communicates strength and love from his heart, going out to
it from his throne, which is the soul itself, like the Bridegroom from
his bridal chamber [Ps 29. 5], where he was hidden and turned toward
it, touching it with his scepter embracing it as a brother. There we
find the royal garments and their fragrance, which are God's admirable
virtues, there, the splendor of gold, which is charity; there the
glittering of the precious stones of knowledge of the higher and lower
substances; there the face of the Word, full of graces, which shines on
the queen, which is the soul, and clothes it in such a fashion that,
transforming in these attributes of the heavenly King, it is aware of
having become a queen, and that what David says of the queen can indeed
be said of it: The queen stood at the right in garment of gold and
surrounded with varieties [Ps 45. 9]. Since all this occurs in the
intimate substance of the soul, its add:
where in secret you dwell alone;
The soul says he
dwells in its heart in secret because this sweet embrace is wrought in
the depths of its substance. [3]
So the heavenly Architect and Tabernacle builder restores His hidden abode in the substance of the soul or by the words of Gregory of Nyssa,
Who is this builder
of the temple, who laid its foundations on the holy mountains, that is,
on the prophets and apostles? He built it, as the Apostle says [Eph
2.20], upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, who are living,
animated stones. Such stones are rounded with a view to the harmony of
the walls themselves, according to the prophet [Zach 9. 16,
Septuagint], so that fitted together into the unity of faith and
growing in the bond of peace, they might become a holy temple, a
dwelling of God in the Spirit. [4]
And thus He impresses His image on the soul as Ruysbroeck emphasized so properly and rightfully,
This always happens
whenever we turn to Him with our whole will; for at that very moment,
Christ comes to us and is in us, both with means and without means,
that is, with the virtues and above the virtues. And He impresses His
image and His likeness in us, namely Himself and His gifts: and He
redeems us from sin, and makes us free and like unto Him. [5]
[1]. Philokalia, On the Prayer of the Heart, p. 319.
[2]. Ibid, p. 302.
[3]. The Living Flame of Love.
[4]. Commentary on the Song of Songs, 2.
[5]. The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage, LVIII.
[1]. Philokalia, On the Prayer of the Heart, p. 319.
[2]. Ibid, p. 302.
[3]. The Living Flame of Love.
[4]. Commentary on the Song of Songs, 2.
[5]. The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage, LVIII.
