Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
All Commentaries on Matthew 5:4 Go To Matthew 5
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
Serm. in Mont., i, 2: Otherwise; mourning is sorrow for the loss of what is dear; but those that are turned to God lose the things that they held dear in this world; and as they have now no longer any joy in such things as before they had joy in, their sorrow may not be healed till there is formed within them a love of eternal things. They shall then be comforted by the Holy Spirit, who is therefore chiefly called, The Paraclete, that is, “Comforter;’ so that for the loss of their temporal joys, they shall gain eternal joys. Suitably, therefore, consolation is promised to them that mourn, that he who has sorrow at this present may have joy hereafter. But the reward of the mourner is greater than that of the pooror the meek, for “to rejoice” in the kingdom is more than to have it, or to possess it; for many things we possess in sorrow.
