Proverbial Piety

Published in The Compass, March 1, 2010, vol. 5, issue 2

            This feature of the Compass offers some brief reflections on the spiritual life, taking as it’s parting point, each time, some verse in the scriptures, especially from the book of Proverbs. The translations are my own, from the Greek Septuagint; you may find some differences with the English Bible you use at home, and this is the reason why.

10:7 The memory of just men are among songs of praise,
            but the name of wicked man is quenched.

             We begin with a note or two about the translation of this proverb, after which we will begin our spiritual reflection.

            I have translated “songs of praise” for a Greek word (enkomion), but something else might do, like “praises” or “eulogy” which are nice and short – but we usually refer to “eulogies” in English as something for the dead, which doesn’t fit here. Or, longer but more exact like expressions would be fine, such as “songs in honor of a conqueror.”

            The fact that the Greek term brings to mind an association to a “conqueror” is interesting. Those who survive the trials of this life are the “just men” of whom this proverb speaks, and they who enter eternal life are called “conquerors,” where it says in the book of Revelation: 

“to the conqueror (to nikonti) I will give the right to eat from the tree of life (Rev 2:7)… [he] shall not be harmed by the second death (2:11) … I will give some of the hidden manna; I shall also give a white amulet upon which is inscribed a new name (2:17)… I will give authority over nations, etc. (2:26)… [he] will be dressed in white, and I will never erase his name from the book of life, etc. (3:5)… I will make [him] into a pillar in the temple of my God, etc. (3:12)… the right to sit with me on my throne (3:21).” 

            This month’s proverb paints a delightful picture, of memories of saints pacing about in a spiritual realm, surrounded by many songs. Who sings these songs? The saints, the Angels, and Mary the Mother of God. So great is the mercy of God towards sinners, that the repentant should be treated with so much undeserved glory!

            The next verb, “quenched,” is that which is done to fire. Men, of course, are not fire; therefore, the verb is used in analogy. The attributes common to both men and fire, by which one and the other could potentially be quenched, are growth (or prosperity), warmth and light. When a man’s, or men’s, growth is eliminated, his warmth deleted, and his light stopped, one can say that he is exterminated, destroyed, become extinct, dead. More interpretive translations will replace the verb quench with one of these metaphorical substitutes.

            Good, that said about the translation, let us now begin our spiritual reflection.

            The first antithesis is that which stands between memory (of just men) and the name (of the wicked). There is a relationship between the memory and man’s name. When a person’s name is said, all men have the experience of “knowing who it is,” because they remember that person. If one’s memory is damaged, by injury or a sickness in old age, the man can be standing before him who has the memory problem, and even though the impaired one sees the man with his living eyes, he will say, “I don’t know him.” If he could remember, he would know the man even were the man absent.

            This is why in heaven, God gives a new name to those who are saved (cf. Rev. 2:17), for God does not know the evil doer (Mt 25:12), but He knows the man recreated by grace in the Sacraments. For after the resurrection, all that is now will pass, and there will be a new universe (cf. Rev. 21:4-5). This cannot be described in terms of contemporary chemistry, astronomy, or any of the other physical sciences, for these presume the created thing, and ask not about the nature of creation itself or the manner in which the Trinity sustains all things within himself.

            This verse does not directly address, however, the substantive existence of those who are good or evil, but only addresses their glory. Men can have glory in this life or in the afterlife. When this glory is evil, it is called his bad memory, his bad name, his bad fame, or infamy. Glory, then, is distinguished from infamy, and is the knowledge of another’s good coupled with the praise of that good.

            Not addressing the men themselves, but only their renown, this psalm brings us to meditate upon the example of the great saints, and to praise them. This is contrary to the Protestant error by which they accuse Catholics of adoring the saints, or by which they assert that the glory given to the saints somehow detracts from the glory due to God Himself. The moral imperative implicit in this song is that we remember the saints and forget about the evildoers of history – not in the sense of an academic knowledge of them and of their deeds, a history from which human wisdom can be deduced by the wise mind, but a forgetting in the sense of spiritually, mentally associating with such perverse men.

            We are also to forget, after baptism, and again after sacramental reconciliation, the name of the old man (cf. 1 Cor 5:17; Eph 4:22-24); then think about being the new man, which is a creation of grace.

            From the memory of the saints, we are to raise up songs of victory, for they are the nikontes, the conquerors, worthy of praise and great praise. This praise is to fill our hearts with hope to obtain such praise by the grace of God with which sinful man collaborates in his daily spiritual battle and in the carrying of his daily cross.

            Often souls are tormented with memories of problems. These memories bring discouragement upon their souls. There can be regret or shame towards the past, or memories of problems can bring fear regarding the future. A purification of the memory is necessary, therefore, for the living of supernatural hope; and a memory which is not purified is an obstacle to hope. Much depression, anxiety, discouragement, pessimism, anger, mediocrity and other similar evils could be effectively overcome by an assiduous and dedicated effort to purify the memory.

            The purification of the memory is done in all of four ways.

1. First, there is the memory and meditation upon the works of God in the history of salvation.
2. Second, there is the memory of the teachings and actions of the Son of God.
3. Third, there is the memory of the saints, through whose teachings and example God gives hope to sinful men.
4. Fourth, there is the memory of God’s mercy upon one’s own soul throughout one’s whole life, starting from the most insignificant material good, to the beauty of creation, beyond the unmerited blessings of one’s life, unto the freedom from sin and sanctification of life which God pours out upon all poor sinners who abandon themselves to his mercy.

There is a risk with the fourth point, that upon remembering God’s merciful grace and graces upon one’s life – by which I mean sanctifying grace and actual graces – a sadness can settle upon the soul. About this St. John of the Cross spoke in the Noche oscura, (c. 1, decl. 2; book 2, ch. 7). The soul who is in the dark night of purification, according to his paradigm, feels affliction upon remembering present evils and past spiritual prosperity, while all the time experiencing loneliness, abandonment and helplessness in his relationship with God. So this fourth manner of purifying the memory requires great spiritual discipline, and that maturity which God praises for the pleasant and unpleasant, and can thank for past spiritual consolations when they are no longer present.

For God’s mercy alone is the limit and insurmountable boundary of all evil.