XXIII. On Silence

SERMON XXIII.

ON SILENCE.

The Annunciation.

“And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the LORD, and my spirit hath rejoiced in GOD my SAVIOUR.  For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” –S. Luke i. 46-48.

     At length does the hitherto silent Mary speak; and her word, full of the Spirit, flows and sparkles like a stream, ascends and exhales a sweet perfume-like incense, shines and illuminates like lightning. The words which we have just read, the commencement of the triumphal song, uttered by her when Elizabeth for the first time saluted her with the name of “Mother of the LORD,” how much do they contain?  She glorifies GOD, and lifts up to Him not her voice alone but her very soul: “My soul doth magnify the Lord.” She rejoices and her gladness becomes a prayer and a spiritual sacrifice: “my spirit hath rejoiced in GOD my SAVIOUR." She humbles herself and proclaims the condescension of the Most High: “For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden.”  <267>  She prophesies and  her prophetic eye pierces throughout all time unto its very end: “from henceforth  all generations shall call me blessed.” For it behoved her, in whom henceforth  the Word  had taken His abode, to become herself mighty in word; before the time that the Word should come forth from her as the fruit of her womb, it manifesteth itself in  her,  as the fruit of her lips, which confess the LORD: “and Mary said.” 

     The words of Mary are wondrous, and her silence also is sublime.  Let the devout and the attentive themselves ponder the deep significance of her song, which is so often heard in our churches; and let us turn our attention towards that which is not brought so forcibly under our notice.  Let us penetrate Mary’s silence, and let us be taught by her to use carefully the treasure of speech. 

     Of the silence in  which  the holy  Virgin  grew and was brought up,  I shall not speak,  because this is hidden  by  the silence of the holy  Evangelists.  He who has heard what tradition relates of it, has the most perfect type of a godly education, and can judge, whether the distractions so freely granted to children in our time answer to this model and give promise of blessed fruit. 

     The day  of the Annunciation, that is,  of the joyful tidings of the approaching time of the incarnation of the SON of GOD,  is the first revelation of the life of the Mother of the LORD, of a life until then hidden in <268>GOD.  The word of the angel makes manifest in her the virtue of silence.  He breaks suddenly upon her solitude, and says to her, “Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” [S. Luke i. 28.] How many questions must have crowded at this moment on the wondering Mary!  Who is this unknown one?  What right has he to break into the solitude of a virgin?  What signifies this unheard of salutation which elevates an obscure virgin above all the women in the world?  But nothing can draw her out of her habitual silence.  She feels the emotion of the spirit, but her lips move not. She is in no haste to answer the salutation, but remains silent and thoughtful.  “She was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.” [Ib. 29.] 

     The angel having  quieted her spirit by one word, “ Fear not,”—for the words of the heavenly  powers are full of might, and do not remain inefficacious,— proceeds with the commenced  annunciation.  To explain the name of “highly favoured,” he adds, that she has “found favour with GOD.”  Then he foretells the conception and birth of a Son, His saving name, His divinity, His miraculous reign, His everlasting kingdom.  How many more subjects of inquiries and converse.  But the “ highly favoured” desires not to  inquire into  the mysteries of grace,  “The blessed”  dares not to  speak  of that which  is above <269> words,  and  above understanding.  She had  not even now broken her silence, had not her love for virginity torn from her heart this short saying, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” 

     To  understand  these words rightly, it is essential, firstly, to suppose, as it stands in tradition, that Mary had yet still earlier bound herself by a vow to  keep her virginity throughout her whole life.  For, not being bound by such a vow, and espoused to a husband, what reason would she have had to question the possibility of bringing forth a son: “How shall this be?”  Secondly, it behoves us to take into consideration the law of Moses, (Numb, xxx.) according to which the vow either of a virgin or of a wife could be annulled by one word from the father or the husband; and the vow could only then stand when either father or husband  had  heard and not forbidden  it.  We may conclude therefrom, according to tradition, that the vow of virginity which on the prediction of the birth of a son, caused Mary to say, “How shall this be?” was already known to Joseph, and approved by him; and also that he had espoused the pure Virgin that he might be enabled, under the name of husband, to be the guardian of her virginity, which  it was necessary to hide under the outward cover of marriage amidst a people, which seduced by the visible blessing of marriage, was not able to  comprehend  the sublimity  of virginity.  In these circumstances, how far soever Mary might be from unbelief, or doubt, or gainsaying, <270> or inquisitiveness, she was yet forced to question the angel, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?”  Although I have a husband  according  to  the rite of marriage, still I have no husband in obedience to my vow of virginity; that vow has been  pronounced  and confirmed, and however much I may desire to break it, even  so  much  does the law forbid  it,  which  says, “If  a  man  vow a vow unto the LORD,  or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.” [Numb. Xxx. 2.]  The LORD breaks not His laws, then how shall it come to pass that the vow of chastity be kept, the law fulfilled, and a son brought forth?  Do you perceive now that extreme necessity alone breaks the sacred tie of her silence, or rather grace itself flows from her lips? the mystery  of her marriage with  Joseph is revealed, that under that mystery may be hidden  the other, the deeper one of her espousal to  GOD; Mary’s renunciation  of an earthly  husband  gives the angel the occasion  to  proclaim her dignity as the Bride of the LORD, to which she was predestined,  “The HOLY GHOST shall come down  upon thee, and the power of the  Highest shall overshadow thee.” 

     The annunciation is received, the angel has departed, the Word is made flesh, the Virgin has conceived; the tokens of conception have appeared, she was “found with child of the HOLY GHOST.” [S Matth. i. 18.]  “Of <271> the HOLY GHOST,” writes the Evangelist S. Matthew, but for a long time this mystery was not revealed to Joseph, and he knew no more than was made evident by the womb, “she was found with child.”   For if he had known the secret of the Bride of the LORD, could he have thought of “making her a public example,” could he have been “minded to put her away?”  Whereas he thought of the former, and almost decided on the latter.  “And not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.” 

     We see here so many miracles of silence, that I know not if I shall find words in which to explain that silence.  Joseph perceives in Mary what he had not expected, and what he cannot comprehend; but he is silent, and does not question her.  Mary sees herself in danger of being exposed to a heavy suspicion and even judgment, and yet she is silent, and reveals not her secret.  Where is the Angel, the messenger to Mary? wherefore is he silent, and  does not calm her in  her new trouble?  And where is Joseph’s guardian angel?  Why does he tarry so long and forewarns not the just man, when his pure soul may so easily be darkened by an unjust thought, and even by a blasphemous suspicion?  And, if it be not too daring to  ask  this,—Wherefore is He Himself, the Sender of Angels, so long silent?  Wherefore does He delay to enlighten His just man, and to save her in whom dwelleth the salvation of the world?  “Observe,” <272> exclaims S. Chrysostom, speaking of Joseph in these circumstances, “Observe that man’s meekness, he not only did not punish her, but spoke to none, not even to her whom he suspected, and revolved it in his own  mind, striving even to hide the cause of his trouble from the Virgin herself.  Neither does the Evangelist say, that Joseph wished to cast her out, but only ‘to put her away.’  So meek and gentle was the man,” And  again, “as he deemed  it unlawful to keep  her in  his house; while to  make her a public example and give her to  judgment, was to doom her to  death; he does neither, but sets himself above the law.  For it behoved that at the advent of grace, there should already be manifested signs of a higher wisdom.” [Med. On the Gospel of S. Matth., Serm iv.] 

     Indeed, it is evident, that the heart of the just man had already a presentiment of the commandment of CHRIST, that the “eye be single,” [S. Matth. vi. 22.] and “judge not, that ye be not judged.” [S. Matth. vii. 1.] Therefore although seeing the signs of motherhood, yet he is not willing to give way to suspicion concerning the Virgin; a law exists empowering him as a husband, and yet he is not willing to judge his wife; “and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.” 

     Do you perceive now what high virtues are contained in the silence of Joseph?  But Mary’s silence is still more sublime.  He alleviates another’s difficulty <273> by his silence, and  finds at the same time a means to  put an end to his own  difficulty; whereas she bears her danger silently, and with every day her silence increases her difficulty. What then does this wonderful silence signify?  It is that Mary is a perfect vessel of grace.  For as a material vessel is worthless when it leaks, even so is a spiritual vessel worthless if it preserves not the grace poured into it in inviolable meek silence, but on the contrary allows it to filter and evaporate, needlessly and uselessly, in words either idle or wanton, impatient or vain.  Whereas a perfect material vessel would be such as would hold not only that which was poured into it, but even its very perfume, and which could neither be broken by a blow, nor impaired by atmosphere or fire.  Thus a perfect spiritual vessel is he “who holds the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience,” [1 Tim. iii. 9.] in a peaceful heart, and in the silence of his whole being; who keeps the grace entrusted to  him with  a firmness which  neither strokes of misfortune can shake, nor passion, nor trial destroy.  If Mary spoke of her secret with Elizabeth, it was because this mystery had already been revealed unto Elizabeth by the HOLY GHOST, and that He Himself had spoken through the lips of both. Whereas if she had spoken of this to Joseph, it must have been either from a human trust, or from a human fear, and consequently not from divine impulse would she have spoken of the divine mystery.  But now she conceals <274> herself from him to whom probably more than to any one else on earth  her heart lay  open,  for she had chosen  him to  be the guardian  of her virginity; she conceals herself, in evident danger not only of  “being  made a public example,” but, as S.  Chrysostom explains, in danger of judgment and death.  Such a silence is the surest testimony that she holds strongly the Word conceived in her womb, keeps it perfectly, loves it more than her chosen and espoused husband, more than any earthly joy, more than life itself,—this silence is a constant, a pure, a glorious sacrifice unto GOD the Word.  No wonder that even divine revelation should be silent for a time to allow such exalted virtues to ripen and to be revealed unto our edification.  The silent sacrifice of Mary was made perfect; the mind of Joseph had conquered all passion; and then only was the time come for the word of heaven to crown this work of silence by putting an end to Mary’s difficulty, and by revealing unto Joseph the great mystery of godliness.  “But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the HOLY GHOST.” 

     Whosoever will have sufficiently constant attention to follow Mary throughout the whole course of her life, will constantly observe in her this same character of profound silentness, of perfect calm, of deep inward <275> concentration, which nothing could  disturb, in short, a life hidden with GOD.  Neither the highest joy, nor the deepest woe could alter this chief characteristic of her spirit. 

     The Word is born; angels sing praises, shepherds preach.  Is it possible for the Mother of the Word to remain silent, and not to utter words of triumph?  Yet she remains silent, does not lavish words, but keeps all these sayings in her heart.  “But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.” [S. Luke ii. 19.] 

     Does Simeon pierce her soul by a threatening prophecy; does JESUS Himself, still young in years, leave His Mother, and seeming to deny her, exclaim, that “He must be about His FATHER’S business;” the Mother of the Word demurs not, and  remains silent; “ but His Mother kept all these sayings in  her heart.” [S. Luke ii. 49, 51.] 

     At last “she stands by the cross” [S. John xix. 25.] of her beloved Son, and  the sword  foretold  by  Simeon  is actually piercing  through her soul.  Strangers could not remain indifferent; and  even  then when He was but bearing His cross, “there followed Him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented  Him;” and  after His crucifixion, “all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts and <276> returned.” [S. Luke xxiii. 27, 48.]  What might be expected from the Mother of the Crucified One standing' by His cross?  Weepings, lamentations, wailing, and heart-rending?  But we neither see nor hear anything of the kind: an eyewitness does not tell us even of a single word from her.  She suffered undoubtedly, as none had ever suffered upon earth, save the Crucified One, but the flood of her woe neither overcame, nor overwhelmed her, sinking as it were unceasingly into an immeasurable depth of patience, meekness, faith, hope, unconditional resignation unto the decrees of GOD. 

     Contemplate, thou Christian soul, this sacred image of spiritual silence offered thee by the Gospel, partly in the person of Joseph, but above all in the person of Mary; and learn to understand the hidden, sublime glory of her soul, of which the prophet has written, “the king’s daughter is all glorious within.” [Psalm xlv. 13.]  Learn to appreciate and to love this spiritual beauty; love it, and  strive to  be clothed, at least in  part, with  that glory of the king’s daughter, and, following her virtue, to attain to her beatitude; “the virgins her companions that fallow her shall be brought unto  the king.” [Psalm xlv. 14.] 

     Meetest thou something incomprehensible in faith? Do not hasten to scrutinise or to gainsay, but hearken unto  the word  of faith in silence, and abide patiently the time when He Who is speaking in parables will <277> deign to reveal them unto thee in living words and experience. 

     Dost thou mark in thy neighbour's words or acts something strange, or that appears to thee irregular?  Do not hasten to convict or to judge him, if thou art not called to do it as a father, a pastor, a tutor, or an elder.  Be thou not righteous like the Pharisee, who found himself to be alone such throughout the whole world; “I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust;” [S. Luke xviii. 11.] but be thou “a just man” like Joseph, “that is,” as explains S. Chrysostom, “good and meek.” Fearest thou that some deed of love or faith of thine may be exposed to unjust judgment or blamed?   Proclaim not thy virtue, that preserving its glory, thou mightest not impair its purity.  “Commit thy way,” not unto man by proclamation, but “unto the LORD,” by prayer; “trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass.  And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday,” [Psalm xxxvii. 5, 6.]

     If happiness visit thee, and joy enlarge thy heart, do not “open thy mouth wide” [Psalm lxxxi. 10.] unto vanity, but keep in a thankful heart the works of a bountiful Providence. 

     If misfortune attain thee and sorrow fill thy soul, do not multiply wailings and lamentations in the multitude of which there are heard but echoes of rebellion against the decrees of the Most High. “Be of good <278> courage, and He shall strengthen your hearts, all ye that hope in the LORD.” [Psalm xxxi. 24.] 

     In no case mayest thou lavish words foolishly, thou rational creature of the Creating Word.  If GOD has created everything by His Word, and man was made in the image of GOD, then what glorious works had it behoved the word of man to work.  In  truth, it has healed the diseased, raised the dead, has brought down fire from heaven,  has stopped  sun and moon, and, what is more important than  all,  having  become the instrument of the Incarnate Word  of GOD,  it has changed, and  still changes men  corrupted  by sin into new, pure, and holy beings. Such is the power of the human word when having been closely kept in the furnace of reverential silence, and warmed by secret inward prayer, it acquires the purity and power which are natural to it, or rather participates of the power of the Word of GOD and of the HOLY GHOST.  And is it this powerful, creating, sacred instrument which is turned by us to impure, destructive, sacrilegious ends,—into evil-speaking, calumny, blasphemy, or that we reduce in our thoughtlessness into light dust, and scatter to the wind in idle talk? 

     A certain man has said of himself, “There be nine things which I have judged in mine heart to be happy, and the tenth I will utter with my tongue.” [Eccl. Jesus Son of Sirach xxv. 7.] So careful are those who know the price of words. At least, thou Christian, “be not rash with thy <279> mouth;” [Eccl. Of Solom. v. 2.] bethink thyself, if the word  which  thou wilt bring forth shall be for thy good or for the good of ethers, for howsoever small or insignificant it may appear,  it  will  stand  until  the  Judgment Day, and  will appear  there  as a witness either for thee or against thee.  Follow  the  Apostle’s counsel,—“Let no corrupt  communication  proceed  out  of  your  mouth, but that  which  is  good  to  the  use  of  edifying, that  it may  minister grace unto the  hearers.  And grieve not the HOLY SPIRIT of GOD, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” [Eph. Iv. 29, 30.]  Amen.