Great travail is created for every man, and an heavy yoke is upon the sons of Adam, from the day that they go out of their mother's womb, till the day that they return to the mother of all things.
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Sirach 40:1 Go To Wisdom of Sirach 40
Quodvultdeus
AD 450
God said to the woman, "Multiplying, I will multiply your groaning and your pain." The prophet David confirms that the children of transgressors are born in this way. "I was conceived," he says, "in iniquity, and in the midst of sins my mother fed me at her breast." Solomon also attests to the same thing. "Heavy," he says, "is the yoke on the children of Adam, from the day they come forth from their mother"s womb until the day of their burial in the mother of all." And similarly, "And I, when born, inhaled the common air and fell on the same earth, and like everyone else I emitted my first sound with tears. I was raised in swaddling clothes, with great care. No king, in fact, has begun existence differently, because there is only one entrance into life for all and only one exit." And a little later, "They were an accursed race from the beginning." And Isaiah, "Evil race, wicked children, you have abandoned the Lord." Job also says, "No one is immune from defilement, not even a baby whose life on earth has been but a single day." And again, "No one can make pure what has been conceived of an impure seed, except you alone, who are pure." To expiate the curse of this seed and to purify the impurity of both the woman who has given birth and the child, the Law instituted sacrifices until the kingdom of Christ, who, his body offered in sacrifice, saves the small and the great.
