But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go you rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
All Commentaries on Matthew 25:9 Go To Matthew 25
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
The wise answered, &c. The Arabic Isaiah , we have not enough. S. Augustine says of these words of the prudent virgins, "This is not the answer of persons giving advice, but of those who decide. For they were not wise of themselves, but the wisdom in them was that of which it is written ( Proverbs 1:24), "Because I called, and ye refused . . . I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh, when that whereof ye were afraid cometh upon you."" And as S. Jerome says upon this passage, "In the Day of Judgment no one"s virtues will be able to give any assistance to other men"s faults." And the Interlinear Gloss adds, "The wise say this not from covetousness, but from fear. For in that day the testimony of each shall scarcely suffice for himself, much less for himself and his neighbour also." S. Gregory adds, "The sellers of oil are flatterers. For they who, when any favour has been received, offer with their vain praises the brightness of glory, sell, as it were, oil. This is the oil of which the Psalmist says, "Let not the oil of the sinner make fat my head"" (Vulg.).
But whilst they were going . . . with him to the marriage. Syr. to the house of the choir, because at weddings there were choirs of singers and dancers. This, too, is a figure of speech, signifying that in this life is the time for repentance and good works. And this time is ended by death. "For," says S. Augustine, "after judgment there is no place open for prayers or merits." And Origen says, "They who, when they ought to have learned what was profitable, neglected to do Song of Solomon , at the close of life, when they wish to learn, are seized by death." He adds that they who sell are Teachers; buying is receiving: the price is perseverance. Moreover, because marriage joy Isaiah , among men, the chief of all, the celestial happiness of the elect is here likened to it. Wherefore S. Hilary says, "Marriage is the putting on of immortality, when the soul is united to the Word of God as her Bridegroom."
Hear what S. Adelinus relates of S. Opportuna, the Abbess. "When S. Opportuna was very sick, there came to her SS. Cecilia and Lucy. "Hail, Cecilia and Lucy, my sisters," she cried; "what does the Virgin Mary, the Queen of all, bid her handmaid do?" "She is awaiting," they answer, "your presence in Heaven, that you may be united to her Son. Therefore you must be decked with a crown of glory, and meet, with burning lamp, the Bridegroom and the Bride." When, therefore, she beheld the Virgin coming to her, and, as it were, embracing her, she gave up her spirit into her hands, to be beatified with everlasting glory."
But, last of all, come the other virgins, &c. (Vulg.). "But what does it profit," says S. Jerome, "to invoke with your voice Him whom you deny by your works?" It means, then, that the reprobate will, at that time, be struck with the utmost anxiety and terror, and turn themselves in every direction, now with prayers imploring mercy of the Judges , now deploring the negligence of their life past, now giving up hope of salvation. As Auctor Imperfecti says, "There will be no profit in the confession, forced by necessity, of him who never once voluntarily confessed." Read the pathetic wailings of the reprobate, graphically depicted by the wise man ( Wisdom of Solomon 5:1 , &c.).
