Vigils Reading

THE LIFTING UP

OF HIS HANDS

From a sermon by St Aelred of Rievaulx

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We read in the Old Testament that, after the people of Israel left Egypt

with Moses at their head, the Amalekites, a savage race, came and did battle

against them. Moses sent an army against them, while he himself went up on to

a mountain to pray for them and raised his hands to the Lord. And it came to

pass that while he kept his hands raised, the people of Israel were triumphant

but whenever he lowered his hands Amalek started to win. Why was it, do you

think, that the raising of his hands possessed such grace? Without doubt God

usually takes more account of the attachments of the mind than of the postures

of the body.

Why was it then? Did his prayer have no effect before God unless he raised

his hands? That lifting up of his hands had such an effect that their enemies

could not withstand the Israelites. The reason why this lifting up of hands had

such force was that it signified the raising of the hands of him who said in the

psalm, The lifting up of my hands is like an evening sacrifice. For, when evening

had already come upon the world, his sweetest hands were stretched out on the

Cross and there was offered up that evening sacrifice that took away the sins of

the whole world.

So that raising of Moses’ hands signified the Passion of our Lord Jesus

Christ who went up on to a mountain to pray because he ascended into heaven

to plead our cause with the Father. There he lifts up his hands so that Amalek –

that is, the devil – will not be able to vanquish us. For there he appears in God’s

sight on our behalf and represents to him the Passion that he underwent for us.

As for us, brothers, as long as we are in this wretched life which is a trial

upon earth, as long as our fight is against the principalities and powers,

against the rulers of the dark things of the world, against the spiritual

forces of evil in the heavens, we need to have our Lord lifting up his hands

within us – that is to say, the remembrance of his Passion should be continually

present in our minds. We can be quite sure, my brothers, that as long as the

memory of his Passion is in our heart, as long as our hope is directed to where C

hrist is pleading our cause at the right hand of the Father, the spiritual

Amalek – that is, the devil – will not be able to vanquish us.

And therefore, my brothers, let us see that this attachment, this

remembrance, does not through some negligence on our part grow lukewarm in

us. For then we shall immediately grow faint and our enemy will gain the upper

hand and cause us distress.