Easter Friday

PRAISE THE LORD

From a sermon by St Augustine6

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Since it is the will of our Lord that we should see you during the time the

Alleluia is sung, we feel that we ought to say a word to you about the Alleluia. I

trust I shall not bore you by reminding you of something you already know, for

we delight in singing the alleluia every day. As you know, Alleluia in our

language means “praise the Lord.” By this word we encourage one another to

praise the Lord with one voice and one heart. Only that person can rightfully

praise Him who is free from all that could displease Him. During this time of

our earthly pilgrimage we sing the Alleluia for our solace on the journey. Now

the Alleluia is our pilgrim’s song on the way to the resting place of our true

country, where all our striving must be left behind and only the song of Alleluia

will endure.

What great happiness the virtue of hope engenders in us! But what will

the realization itself be like? We hunger and we thirst and it is necessary that

we have our fill. Yet now on the pilgrimage there is famine and only in the

heavenly home will there be plenty. When, then, are we to be satisfied? “I shall

be satisfied when your glory shall appear.” But now the glory of our God, the

glory of our Christ is hidden, and along with it our glory, too, lies concealed. But

“when Christ shall appear, who is your life, then you also shall appear with

him in glory.” Then the Alleluia will be a thing of reality; now it is simply a

matter of hope. Now it is hope that sings Alleluia, and love also, of course. Then

it will be love, too, that will sing Alleluia, however a love that will know

fulfillment, whereas now it is a love that remains unsatisfied.

What is the Alleluia, my brothers and sisters? I have already told you that

it is the praise of God. Now when you hear the word, you take delight in its very

sound, and in this delight you are already rendering homage. If now you love

the drop of dew, how much more will you love the rushing fountain itself? If

faith now prompts us to render praise, how much more will the vision of the

reality intensify our praise?

Since in the life to come we shall lack nothing, for that very reason we

shall be happy. We shall be fully satisfied – but with God. He will take the place

of all that we so ardently desired here on earth. Do you now have a craving for

food? God will be your food in the life to come. Do you now yearn for fleshly

caresses? “But it is good for me to adhere to my God.” Is your heart set on riches

here? How will it be possible for you to lack anything when you are going to

possess Him who is the Creator of everything? To strengthen your assurance,

let me quote the words of the apostle, who says of the future life: “That God may

be all in all.

6 Selected Easter Sermons of Saint Augustine. Commentary by Philip T. Weller. B. Herder Book Co. St. Louis, MO.

1959. p. 127.13