But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and you shall go forth, and grow up like calves of the stall.
Read Chapter 4
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Because Jacob’s faith and devotion were unconquerable, the Lord revealed his hidden mysteries to him by touching the side of his thigh. For it was by descent from him that the Lord Jesus was born to a virgin, and Jesus would be neither unlike nor unequal to God. The numbness in the side of Jacob’s thigh foreshadowed the cross of Christ, who would bring salvation to all by spreading forgiveness of sins throughout the whole world and would give resurrection to the departed by the numbness and torpidity of his own body. On this account the sun rose on holy Jacob, for the saving cross of the Lord shone brightly on his lineage, and at the same time the Sun of justice recognizes God, because he is himself the everlasting light. But Jacob limped because of his thigh. “On account of this the children of Israel do not eat the sinew even to the present day.” Would that they had eaten it and believed! But because they were not about to do the will of God, therefore they did not eat. There are tho...
Do not, therefore, without due consideration put your trust in the sun. It is true that it is the eye of the world, the joy of the day, the beauty of the heavens, the charm of nature and the most conspicuous creation. When you behold it, reflect on its author. When you admire it, give praise to its creator. If the sun as consort of and participant in nature is so pleasing, how much goodness is there to be found in that Sun of justice? If the sun is so swift that in its rapid course by day and night it is able to traverse all things, how great is he who is always and everywhere and fills all things with his majesty! If that which is bidden to come forth is deemed worthy of our admiration of whom we read, “Who commands the sun and it rises not!” If the sun which the succession of the seasons advances or recedes is mighty, how mighty must he be also who “when he emptied himself” that we might be able to see him, who “was the true light that enlightens every man who comes into this world!”...
But in case the evidence presented to your eyes may appear to be scanty, cleanse your ears and apply it to the heavenly oracles: “On the word of two or three witnesses every word is confirmed.” Hear God speaking: “Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth.” Who says this? God says it. And to whom is he speaking, if not to his Son? Therefore God the Father says, “Let the sun be made,” and the Son made the sun, for it was fitting that the Sun of justice should make the sun of the world. He therefore brought it light. He illuminated it and granted it the power of light. Therefore the sun was made. For this reason it is also a subject, since it has been said, “You have founded the earth and it continues. By your ordinance the day goes on, for all things serve you.” .
The elderly Elizabeth gave birth to the last of the prophets, and Mary, a young girl, to the Lord of the angels. The daughter of Aaron gave birth to “the voice in the desert” and the daughter of King David to the Word of the heavenly king. The wife of the priest gave birth to “the angel of his face” but the daughter of David to the strong God of the earth. The barren one gave birth to him who remits sins, but the Virgin gave birth to him who takes them away. Elizabeth gave birth to him who reconciled people through repentance, but Mary gave birth to him who purified the lands of uncleanness. The elder one lit a lamp in the house of Jacob, his father, for his [lamp] itself was John, while the younger one [lit] “the Sun of justice” for all the nations. The angel announced to Zechariah, so that the slain one would proclaim the crucified one and that the hated one [would proclaim] the envied one. He who was to baptize with water [would proclaim] him who would baptize “with fire and with th...
Wings. The sun is represented with wings, to imply celerity. The appearance of the Lord will be most acceptable to the virtuous. (Calmet)
Look up, for your redemption is at hand, Luke xxi. 28.
Herd. Protestants, "stall. "Hebrew marbek, (Haydock) "fattened "though some explain it of oxen treading out corn: they would not however leap, nor fatten so much. (Calmet)
“This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.” The Lord has made all days, of course, but other days may belong as well to the Jews, and heretics too; they may even belong to the heathens. The Lord’s day, however, the day of the resurrection, the day of Christians, is our day. It is called the Lord’s day because on this day the Lord ascended to the Father as victor. But when the heathen call it the day of the sun, we are most happy to acknowledge their title, for today has risen “the Sun of justice with its healing wings.” Does the sun really have wings? Let the Jews answer, and those who, like them, accept only a literal interpretation of holy Writ. We say, whoever has been under the wings of this sun who has said in the Gospel, “How often would I have gathered the children together, as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but thou would not,” shall be safe from the devil hawk, safe under the great wings of that mighty eagle in Ezekiel, and all the wounds o...
A person who has no knowledge of the sea could not sail in full daylight with such confidence and ease as the helmsman sails in the middle of the night, when the sea shows itself in a more formidable mood. Why is this? The helmsman is wideawake and quite calm as he puts to practice his skill in sailing. He keeps careful watch not only on the pathways of the sea and the courses of the stars but also on the assaults of the winds. The helmsman’s wisdom and knowledge are great. So it is that many a time when the blast of a more violent gale has struck his ship and is about to swamp it, he has the wisdom to make many a quick change in the angle of his sails. He runs before the wind and puts an end to all danger from the gale. By pitting his skill against the violence of the winds’ blasts, he snatches his vessel from the storm. Those sailors voyage over waters we can see and hear and feel. Although they are searching for this world’s goods, they continuously keep their minds watchful and ale...
It is not without any reason or by any chance that we worship toward the east. On the contrary, since we are composed of a visible and an invisible nature, of an intellectual nature and a sensitive one, that is, we also offer a twofold worship to the Creator. It is just as we also sing both with our mind and our bodily lips, and as we are baptized both in water and in the spirit, and as we are united to the Lord in two ways when we receive the sacrament and the grace of the spirit. And so, since God is spiritual light and Christ in sacred Scripture is called “Sun of justice” and “Orient,” the east should be dedicated to his worship. For everything beautiful should be dedicated to God, from whom everything that is good receives its goodness. Also, the divine David says, “Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth; sing you to the Lord, who mounts above the heaven of heavens, to the east.” And still again, Scripture says, “And the Lord had planted a paradise in Eden to the east; wherein he p...
