The Happiness of Brotherly Love and Concord
Explanation of the Psalm
1 Such is the language of those who begin to feel the sweetness as well as the advantage of perfect charity. He calls it “good” by reason of its advantages, and “pleasant” by reason of its sweetness; for though some things are good without being pleasant, such as penance; and pleasant without being good, such as sin; still, both are found combined in the peace and harmony of “brethren dwelling together.” For virtue so combined is greater and stronger, and is easier and better preserved, which thus tends to their mutual advantage; and where many are so united by charity as to form “one heart and one soul,” everyone rejoices in the happiness of the others as well as he does in his own, and thus tends to increase the mutual pleasure of all.
2–3 He explains the pleasure and the advantages of living together by two similes; first, comparing the pleasure to the precious ointment used for anointing the head of the high priest, which was most highly perfumed, as appears from Exodus 30, and which dropped from his head on his beard, and from thence on the upper fringe of his robe; not on the lower, as the word skirt would seem to imply, which is quite plain in the Greek and Hebrew, and which common sense seems to indicate. We have to observe here, that the ointment on the head could be communicated to the parts only in connection with the head; for if the beard had not been united to the head, it would have received none of the ointment as it fell; and so with the garment, if that had not been in connection with the head, it too would have caught none of the ointment; and thus the ointment was communicated to all through their union with each other; and thus it becomes necessary for “brethren to dwell together,” and to be united by the bond of love, in order to get the supernatural graces that flow from Christ, as the head, and from him on the prelates of the Church, who are indicated by the beard, and through them on the faithful in general, indicated by the fringe of his garment. He then compares such union of brethren to the dew that falls on the mountain, which confers no pleasure thereon, but certainly great benefits; for the dew causes the grass to spring up, and clothes the mountain with verdure. He names two mountains, Hermon and Sion, considerably distant from each other; one of them a very high mountain, Hermon, and the other a very low one, Sion, as if the Holy Ghost would have us infer therefrom, that the union, most pleasing to God, is that of the heart and not of the body, as we read in the Acts, of the first Christians, of whom it is said, “And the multitude of the believers had but one heart and one soul.” He, therefore, says, that the advantage of brethren living together is like “the dew of Hermon which descendeth upon mount Sion;” but how the dew of Hermon can descend upon Sion, at such a distance, cannot be easily explained, though attempted by many. I imagine that Hermon, being a lofty and extensive mountain, and Sion a low and small one, that Hermon, to a certain extent, shared its dew with Sion, inasmuch us the dew falling on Sion would seem to have come from Hermon; and such precisely should be the system of brethren living together, one sharing with the other, for brethren in such harmony may be well compared to the hill of Sion, on whom a heavenly dew falls from Hermon; that is, from Christ, who is so elevated, and so abounds in such heavenly dew; and, therefore, St. John said, “And of his fulness we have all received.” Christ, however, does not share his grace and glory with us to the extent in which he enjoys it himself, but in a similar, though inferior manner. “For there the Lord hath commanded blessing and life for evermore.” He now assigns a reason why an assembly of brethren, living together in peace and concord, should enjoy so many blessings. “For there the Lord hath commanded blessings,” because the Lord sends his blessing to such; and that is, the source of all blessings, and numberless favors always flow from the Lord’s blessing. As nothing, then, is more gratifying to God than to see brethren living together, united in peace and harmony, he pours down all manner of favors on them; and those not temporary or transient favors, but eternal; and it was for such reason that to the blessing he adds, “And life for evermore,” all of which blessings we enjoy here in hope; and when we get to our country, we shall enjoy in the reality. We, therefore, had good reason to say, in the beginning of this Psalm, how appropriate it is to us, pilgrims, here below, on our journey to our country above, for it is there we are to look for perfect harmony; there the ointment of perfect love constantly flows from Christ, the head on all the members, and the dew of the light of glory from mount Hermon on all the hills of Sion. Hermon means a light on an elevated place, and Sion means a watch tower, a lookout; and, therefore, most justly, does a share in that divine light, or in other words, the Lord’s blessing, which means an abundance of all imaginable goods, descend on those who are worthy to “look out” on God, face to face. And there, in conclusion, is “life for evermore,” never to have an end.