THE FOURTH IMAGE
THE INFERNAL BLESSING, OR THE BLESSING BENEATH US
Thus far we have considered the blessings which are ours, and are
found within ourselves; let us now turn to those blessings that
are without us, and are found in others. The first of these is
found in those who are beneath us, that is, the dead and damned.
Do you wonder what kind of blessing can be discovered in the dead
and damned? But the power of the divine goodness is everywhere so
great that it grants us to descry blessings in the very greatest
evils. Comparing, then, these poor wretches, first of all, with
ourselves, we see how unspeakable is our gain; as may be gathered
from the corresponding image of evils.[58] For great as are the
evils of death and hell that we see in them, so great certainly
are the gains that we behold in ourselves. These things are not
to be lightly passed over, for they forcibly commend to us the
magnificent mercy of God. And we run the danger, if we lightly
esteem them, of being found ungrateful, and of being condemned
together with these men, and even more cruelly tormented.
Therefore, when we perceive how they suffer and wail aloud, we
ought so much the more to rejoice in the goodness of God toward
us; according to Isaiah lxv: "Behold, my servants shall eat, but
ye shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall
be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be
ashamed; behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye
shall cry for sorrow of heart; and shall howl for vexation of
spirit. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my
chosen." [Isa. 65:13 ff.] In short, as I have said,[59] the
examples of those who die in their sins and are damned are
profitable unto us for admonition and instruction, as St. Gregory
also observes in his Dialogues;[60] so that
Happy are they who caution gain
From that that which caused another's pain.
This blessing, indeed, affects us but little, because it is so
common and well known; nevertheless, it is to be ranked among the
very highest blessings, and is comforted of no slight value by
those who have an understanding heart; and many are the passages
of Scripture that bear upon it, those, namely, which treat of the
wrath, the judgments, and the threatenings of God. These most
wholesome teachings are confirmed to us by the examples of those
wretched men; and their examples only then have their effect on
us, when we enter into the feelings of them that endure such
things, and put ourselves as it were in their very place. Then
will they move and admonish us to praise the goodness of God, Who
has preserved us from those evils.
But let us also compare them with God, that we may see the divine
justice in their case. Although this is a difficult task, yet it
must be essayed. Now, since God is a just Judge, we must love and
laud His justice, and thus rejoice in our God, even when He
miserably destroys the wicked, in body and soul; for in all this
His high, unspeakable justice shines forth. And so even hell, no
less than heaven, is full of God and the highest good. For the
justice of God is God Himself; and God is the highest good.
Therefore, even as His mercy, so must His justice or judgment be
loved, praised, and glorified above all things. In this sense
David says, "The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the
vengeance; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked."
[Ps. 58:10] It was for this reason that the Lord forbade Samuel
to mourn any longer for Saul (I. Samuel xvi), saying, "How long
wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from
reigning over Israel?" [1 Sam. 16:1] As who should say, "Does My
will so sorely displease thee, that thou preferrest the will of
man to Me?" In short, this is the voice of praise and joy
resounding through the whole Psalter,--that the Lord is the judge
of the widow, and a father of the fatherless; that He will
maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor;
that His enemies all be confounded, and the ungodly shall perish;
[Ps. 68:5, 149:12] and many similar sayings. Should any one be
inclined, in foolish pity, to feel compassion for that bloody
generation, that killeth the prophets, yea, the Son of God
Himself, and for the company of wicked men, he will be found
rejoicing in their iniquity, and approving their deeds. Such a
one deserves to perish in like manner with them whose sins he
would condone, and will hear the word, "Thou lovest thine
enemies, and hatest thy friends." [2 Sam. 19:6] For thus Joab
said unto David, when he grieved too sorely over his impious and
murderous son.
Therefore, in this image, we ought to rejoice in the piety of all
the saints, and in the justice of God which justly punishes the
persecutors of their piety, that He may deliver His elect out of
their hands. And so you may see no small blessings, but the very
greatest, shining forth in the dead and damned; even the avenging
of the injuries of the saints, and of your own as well, if you be
righteous with them. What wonder, then, if God, by means of your
present evil, should take vengeance also on your enemy, that is,
the sin in your body! You ought the rather to rejoice in this
work of the high justice of God, which, even without your prayer,
is thus slaying and destroying your fiercest foe, namely, the sin
that is within you. But, should you feel pity for it, you will be
found a friend of sin, and an enemy to the justice that worketh
in you. Of this beware; lest it be said also to you, "Thou lovest
thine enemies, and hatest thy friends." Therefore, as you ought
joyfully to consent to the justice of God when it rages against
your sin, you should do even the same when it rages against
sinners, those enemies of all men and of God. You see, then,
that in the greatest evils may be found the greatest blessings,
and that we are able to rejoice in these evils, not on account of
the evils themselves, but on account of the supreme goodness of
the justice of God our Avenger.