35. Certainly we are to contemplate in Christ Himself, the chief instruction and pattern of virginal purity. What further precept then concerning humility shall I give to the continent, than what He saith to all, “Learn of Me, in that I am meek and lowly of heart?”96    Matt. xi. 29 when He had made mention above of His greatness, and, wishing to show this very thing, how great He was, and how little He had been made for our sakes, saith, “I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, in that Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto little children. Even so, O Father, in that so it hath been pleasing before Thee. All things have been delivered unto Me of My Father: and no one knoweth the Son, save the Father; and no one knoweth the Father, save the Son, and he to whom the Son shall have willed to reveal Him. Come unto Me, all ye who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, in that I am meek and lowly of heart.”97    Matt. xi. 25–29 He, He, unto Whom the Father hath delivered all things, and Whom no one knoweth but the Father, and Who alone, (and he, unto whom He shall have willed to reveal Him), knoweth the Father, saith not, “Learn of Me” to make the world, or to raise the dead, but, “in that I am meek and lowly of heart.” O saving teaching? O Teacher and Lord of mortals, unto whom death was pledged and passed on in the cup of pride, He would not teach what Himself was not, He would not bid what Himself did not. I see Thee, O good Jesu, with the eyes of faith, which Thou hast opened for me, as in an assembly of the human race, crying out and saying, “Come unto Me, and learn of Me.” What, I beseech Thee, through Whom all things were made, O Son of God, and the Same Who was made among all things, O Son of Man: to learn what of Thee, come we to Thee? “For that I am meek,” saith He, “and lowly of heart.” Is it to this that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Thee98    Col. ii. 3 are brought, that we learn this of Thee as a great thing, that Thou art “meek and lowly of heart?” Is it so great a thing to be little, that it could not at all be learned unless it were brought to pass by Thee, Who art so great? So indeed it is. For by no other way is there found out rest for the soul, save when the unquiet swelling hath been dispersed, whereby it was great unto itself, when it was not sound unto Thee.

CAPUT XXXV.

35. Humilitatem Christus a se disci jubet. Certe praecipuum magisterium et virginalis integritatis exemplum in ipso Christo contuendum est. Quid ergo amplius continentibus de humilitate praecipiam, quam quod ille qui omnibus dicit, Discite a me quoniam mitis sum et humilis corde? cum magnitudinem suam supra commemorasset; et idipsum volens ostendere , quantus propter nos quantillus effectus est: Confiteor, inquit, tibi, Pater , Domine coeli et terrae, quoniam abscondisti haec a sapientibus et prudentibus, et revelasti ea parvulis. Ita, Pater, quoniam sic placitum est coram te. Omnia mihi tradita sunt a Patre meo, et nemo cognoscit Filium, nisi Pater; et nemo cognoscit Patrem, nisi Filius, et cui voluerit Filius revelare. Venite ad me, omnes qui laboratis et onerati estis, et ego vos reficiam. Tollite jugum meum super vos, et discite a me quoniam mitis sum et humilis corde (Matth. XI, 25-29). Ille, ille cui omnia tradidit Pater, et quem nemo agnoscit nisi Pater, et qui Patrem solus agnoscit, et cui voluerit revelare, non dicit, Discite a me mundum fabricare, aut mortuos suscitare; sed, quia mitis sum et humilis corde. O doctrinam salutarem! o Magistrum Dominumque mortalium, quibus mors poculo superbiae propinata atque transfusa est! Noluit docere quod ipse non esset, noluit jubere quod ipse non faceret. Video te, bone Jesu, oculis fidei, quos aperuisti mihi tanquam in concione generis humani clamantem ac dicentem, Venite ad me, et discite a me. Quid, obsecro te, per quem facta sunt omnia, Fili Dei, et idem qui factus es inter omnia, Fili hominis; quid ut discamus a te, venimus ad te? Quoniam mitis sum, inquit, et humilis corde. Huccine redacti sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae et scientiae absconditi in te (Coloss. II, 3), ut hoc pro magno discamus a te, quoniam mitis es et humilis corde? Itane magnum est esse parvum, ut nisi a te qui tam magnus es fieret, disci omnino non posset? Ita plane. Non enim aliter invenitur requies animae, nisi inquieto tumore digesto, quo magna sibi erat, quando tibi sana non erat.