Just as he in whom the fire of cupidity burns, if he has ceased from evil work, is quickly set aflame with the fire of charity: this signifies that if we refresh God in this world by our good works, He will refresh us in the world to come with His own gifts; according to that which is written in the Gospel: Come, ye blessed, take possession of the kingdom: for I was hungry, and you gave me to eat (Matthew 25:34); and, As long as you did it, etc. That therefore we may deserve to be freed from that evil hearing, in which it must be said: Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire (ibid. 41), and may be able to hear that desirable voice: Come, ye blessed, take possession of the kingdom;
let us preserve in ourselves peace of heart and chastity of body, and let us bestow more generous alms upon the poor: because He does not lie who said: Blessed are the merciful, for they themselves shall obtain mercy (Matthew 5:7). Again and again, dearly beloved brethren, I commend to you the strangers and the poor, hoping that this supplication may prevail with you on their behalf, and that our admonition or preaching may not be in vain. For at Christ's command we conduct the embassy of the poor before you; and if your Charity willingly hears me pleading for the poor, Christ without doubt will hear me praying for you. God has set me as a kind of mediator between you and the poor:
it seems to me that in whatever manner my plea for the want of the strangers is heard by you, in the same manner your prayer will be heard by Christ; as He Himself also promised, saying: Forgive, and you shall be forgiven; give, and it shall be given to you (Luke 6:37-38). May He deign to grant this, who lives and reigns unto the ages of ages. Amen. SERMON 231. On the Dedication of a Church or the Consecration of an Altar, III. And on the words of 3 Kings, chapter 10: But the queen of Sheba also, having heard the fame of Solomon, etc. 4. The various figures of the Church. Rightly do they keep the feasts of the Church, who recognize themselves to be the children of the Church. For she is the mother of all believers, who bears children unto death, but regenerates them unto salvation.
She was indeed called after the Synagogue, yet was promised before the Synagogue. For she was already prefigured in the first man. For as Eve was fashioned from the side of Adam, so from the body and wound of Christ the redeemed Church grew. She, preserved within the ark while the flood overflowed, prefigured the benefit of the cross and the mystery of Baptism. Her did Sarah, barren and despaired of, foresing in her old age made fruitful by a single pledge: for the Church begot a single, that is, most-beloved people to God, when the world was already growing old. This is that queen of whom it is said to the Lord: The queen stood at thy right hand in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety (Psalm 44:10); that is, encompassed with the precious beauty of diverse virtues. 2.
The queen of Sheba represents her in manifold ways. The doctrines of the Church handed down by Christ. This is that queen who came from the regions of Ethiopia to hear the wisdom of Solomon. But she came not so much from one region as from all parts of the world, to bring forth kings, as the evangelist also relates: The queen of the south came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. The Church came to her Redeemer and Instructor, that from the folly of error she might receive the doctrine of truth, concerning which, as we have heard, the History of the Kingdoms has written more fully, saying thus:
And the queen entered Jerusalem with a great retinue and with riches, with camels bearing spices, and gold exceedingly abundant, and precious gems; she came to Solomon, and spoke to him all that she had in her heart. Therefore under the figure of this queen the Church came from among the Gentiles and from the ends of the earth, putting an end to earthly cupidities and vices; that she might hear the wisdom of Solomon, that is, of our true peaceable Lord Jesus Christ, who made both one, dissolving in His flesh the enmities between God and man (Ephesians 2:14).
She came, after ancient and profane superstitions, to hear and to learn concerning the illumination of faith and the judgment to come, concerning the immortality of the soul, concerning the hope of resurrection and of glory. She came therefore into Jerusalem with a great retinue, that is, no longer with only one people, the Jews, as formerly the Synagogue had the Hebrews alone; but with the peoples of the whole world and diverse nations. She came therefore presenting gifts worthy of Christ, gold and precious gems; and this borne by camels, that is, by those coming from the Gentile people, who formerly had been twisted by the foulness of vices, and bent under the burden of evils, and deformed by the perversity of sins.
With these as gifts this queen enters in to the peaceable king Christ, presenting the gold of faith, the precious incense of purity, and the splendours of gems, that is, the marks of good character and the ornaments of the virtues. And she spoke to him all that she had in her heart; that is, she opened her heart to him, made manifest to him the secrets of her conscience in confession and in penitence for her former sins. 5. The Church marvels at the wisdom of Christ. In the fashioning of the world. In the house which He built through the incarnation. In the foods of His table; and what the foods of Christ are. Let us see what this queen does.
The queen of Sheba, it says, seeing all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built, and the foods of his table, and the holocausts which he offered in the house of the Lord, had no longer any spirit in her. What reason was there that a most powerful queen should so greatly marvel at a house, expenses, and royal foods? Therefore in this passage we ought to inquire into something greater. The Church therefore, gathered from the Gentiles, saw the wisdom of Christ: that is, after the carnal institutions of the Gentiles, after the human and animal doctrine of the philosophers, she received the understanding of salvation and of life, she beheld the marvels of spiritual goods, she recognized the true Maker of heaven and earth, and the most mighty Founder of the human race;
of whose wisdom it is said: Thou hast ordered all things in measure and weight and number (Wisdom 11:21). She saw also the house which He had built, that is, the incarnation of the assumed man, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. She saw also the foods of Solomon's table, that is, those of which the Lord said: My food is to do the will of the Father who sent me (John 4:34). For the food of Christ is our salvation; He is refreshed by heavenly banquets, by our progress. We are His food, when, acquired, we pass over into the members and body of the Church. Or His food is the heavenly sacraments of the altar, of which it is said: He gave them bread of heaven, man ate the bread of angels (Psalm 77:24-25).
She saw also His holocausts, that is, without doubt the mysteries of prayers and supplications; and she was astounded when she saw the inestimable riches of her Lord. 4. When the Church has seen the glory of the Lord, she will confess it greater than had been told. And she said to the king: True is the report which I had heard in my own land concerning thy sayings and concerning thy wisdom; and I did not believe those who told me, until I myself came, and saw with my own eyes, and proved that not the half had been reported to me. Thy wisdom and thy works are greater than the rumour which I had heard. When therefore this queen, whether the Church, or any holy soul, arrives at the eternal Jerusalem, that is, the vision of peace, and has entered into the blessed rest and glory of the heavenly promises;
she will perceive far more and more magnificent things than have been announced to her in this land through the sacred words, through the Prophets and Apostles. For now it is as in a mirror and in an enigma, but then she will see with her own eyes, that is, face to face. Then the blessed and illustrious soul, set amid the astounding riches of her Rewarder, will be able to use to God the ineffable words of this queen, saying: True is the report which I heard in my own land concerning thy sayings. Thy works are greater than the rumour which I heard. And indeed that which God prepares for those who love Him is not comprehended by faith, not attained by hope, not grasped by charity; it surpasses desires and vows: it can be acquired, it cannot be estimated.
She will have the fruit of enjoyment, she will not have the weariness of satiety. To which good things may He bring you, who lives and reigns unto the ages of ages. Amen.