Vigils Reading – 4th Sunday ORD
BLESSED ARE
THE POOR IN SPIRIT
From a commentary by Symeon the New Theologian
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When holy Scripture is being read we should look at ourselves as though
in a mirror and consider our state of soul. Let me explain what I mean. We hear
the Lord saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. This must make us always examine and test ourselves whenever we
suffer humiliation, whenever we are insulted, dishonored, and treated with
contempt, to see whether or not we possess the virtue of humility. A person who
has it bears everything without feeling hurt or taking offense. His heart is not
wounded by anything that happens to him.
If he is slightly wounded he is not completely upset; on the contrary,
because of that heart wound, simply for having been slightly pained instead of
accepting what happened with joy, he is distressed and thinks himself
despicable, he grieves and weeps. Withdrawing into the inner chamber of his
soul or his cell, he falls down before God and confesses to him as though he had
completely forfeited eternal life.
Then again we hear: Blessed are those who mourn. Notice that the Lord
does not say those who have mourned, but those who continually mourn.
Concerning this too, then, we must examine ourselves to see whether we mourn
every day, for if we have been made humble by repentance, obviously we shall
not pass a single day or night without tears, without mourning, and without
compunction.
And again: Blessed are the gentle. Can anyone who mourns every day
continue to live in a state of anger and not become gentle? Just as water
extinguishes a blazing fire, so mourning and tears extinguish anger in the soul
so completely that a person who had long been given over to it sees his irascible
disposition transformed into perfect serenity.
Again we hear: Blessed are the merciful. Who, then, are the merciful?
Those who give away their possessions or who feed the poor? No. Then who
are they? Those who have become poor for the sake of him who became poor for
our sake, those who have nothing to give, but who in a spiritual way are always
mindful of the poor, the widows, the orphans, and the sick. Seeing them
frequently, they have compassion on them and shed burning tears over them.
Such was Job, who said: I wept over every infirmity. When they have anything
they cheerfully give alms to them, as well as ungrudgingly reminding all of how
they can save their souls, thus obeying the one who said: What I learned with
pure intention I pass on without grudging. These are the ones the Lord calls
blessed, the ones who are truly merciful, for such mercy is like a step by which
they ascend to attain perfect purity of heart.
In virtue of this God then proclaims the pure of heart blessed, saying:
Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. The purified soul sees God
in everything and is reconciled to him. Peace is established between God our
creator and the soul, his erstwhile enemy, and it is then called blessed by God for
being a peacemaker: Blessed are the peacemakers, he says, for they shall be
called children of God.