8. Be to us, we beseech thee, holy Malachy, another Moses, or another Elijah, like them imparting of thy spirit[1183] to us, for thou hast come in their spirit and power.[1184] Thy life was a law of life and knowledge,[1185] thy death the port of death and the portal of life,[1186] thy memory the delight of sweetness and grace, thy presence a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord[1187] thy God. O fruitful olive tree in the house of God![1188] O oil of gladness,[1189] giving both anointing and light, cherishing with favours, resplendent with miracles,[1190] make us partakers of that light and graciousness which thou enjoyest.[1191] O sweet-smelling lily, blossoming and budding evermore before the Lord, and spreading everywhere a sweet and life-giving savour,[1192] whose memorial is blessed[1193] with us, whose presence is in honour with those who are above, grant to those who sing of thee that they may not be deprived of their share in so great an assembly.[1194] O great luminary[1195] and light that shinest in darkness,[1196] illuminating the prison, making glad the city[1197] by the rays of thy signs and merits, by the lustre of virtues put to flight from our hearts the darkness of vices. O morning star,[1198] more brilliant than the rest because thou art nearer the day, more like to the sun, deign to go before us, that we also may walk in the light as children of light, and not children of darkness.[1199] O thou who art the dawn breaking into day upon the earth, but the noon light[1200] illumining the higher regions of heaven, receive us in the fellowship of light, by which illuminated thou sheddest light far without, and sweetly burnest within, by the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit reigneth One God, world without end.—Amen.
[1005] The evidence that this discourse was delivered on the day of Malachy's death is cumulative. (1) The opening words of § 1, and the closing sentences of § 8 (note "this day"). (2) The statement in § 5, "He said to us, 'With desire I have desired,'" etc., implies that those who tended Malachy in his sickness were present (see Life, § 73). The first person plural in § 2 suggests the same conclusion. (3) In § 6, "dwelling among them up to this time" implies that his death was not long past. (4) The striking parallels with Letter iv.; for which see the notes on it. (5) The tone of the sermon—in marked contrast to that of Sermon ii.—indicates that the community was crushed with sorrow for a recent bereavement. See R.I.A. xxxv. 255 ff.
[1006] damnum uestrum ... damnationem meam.
[1007] Lam. iv. 4 (inexact quotation).
[1008] Acts ii. 23.
[1009] Cp. Matt. x. 29.
[1010] Cp. St. Bernard, De Laud. Virg. i. 1 (P.L. clxxxiii. 56): "For if neither a leaf from a tree falls on the earth without cause, nor one of the sparrows without the heavenly Father, am I to suppose that a superfluous word flows from the mouth of the holy evangelist?"
[1011] Matt. xii. 42.
[1012] See Life, § 67.
[1013] See Life, § 69.