Ecclus. 45:1–6 & Matt. 19:27–29
III Classis | Tempora: Sabbato infra Hebdomadam Septuagesimæ
In the quiet shadows of Septuagesima, the Church, like a wise mother, invites us to meditate upon vocation, detachment, and divine reward. The liturgical texts chosen for this Saturday are rich in meaning and profoundly apt as we journey toward the holy combat of Lent. Under the gentle yet austere inspiration of St. Romuald, Abbot and reformer of monastic solitude, the readings from Ecclesiasticus and the Gospel according to St. Matthew speak with a singular voice about the electing love of God and the renunciation that sanctifies.
“Beloved of God and men, whose memory is in benediction.” (Ecclus. 45:1)
The Church in her wisdom places before our eyes the figure of Moses, type of Christ and servant of the Most High. In the sacred text of Ecclesiasticus, Moses is extolled as one “beloved of God and men,” exalted above his peers and adorned with “a glorious crown.” Yet this glory is not self-derived; it flows from divine election: “He made him to hear His voice, and brought him into a cloud.” (v. 5)
St. Gregory the Great, in his Homilies on Ezekiel, teaches that the cloud symbolizes the mystery of contemplation, in which the soul, drawn into divine obscurity, hears the voice of God not with bodily ears but in the silence of inward union. “The Lord speaks in the cloud because He is heard in obscurity; He is not perceived clearly by the carnal mind, but is grasped in the veiling of faith.”
So too St. Romuald, whose feast we anticipate today, was called into that same cloud. Leaving behind worldly comforts and the laxities of monastic life in his time, he sought the lonely wilderness where God speaks heart to heart. Like Moses, he climbed the mountain—figuratively and sometimes literally—and there received the law of divine intimacy, inscribed not on stone, but in the heart tempered by silence, fasting, and solitude.
“Behold, we have left all and followed Thee: what then shall we have?” (Matt. 19:27)
The Gospel takes us to the lips of St. Peter, bold and impetuous as ever. In his question lies both the tremor of human nature and the hope of divine promise. Our Lord does not rebuke his question, but transfigures it: “Everyone who has left house or brethren… for My name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting.”
St. John Chrysostom remarks on this passage: “Christ does not merely promise a reward, but an abundant one—an hundredfold. And lest anyone think this life is sufficient, He adds eternal life, for He knows the longing of our hearts stretches beyond this world.” (Hom. on Matthew, 64)
St. Romuald’s life is a luminous answer to Peter’s question. He left wealth, nobility, and security, following Christ into the deserts of Italy. In founding the Camaldolese order, he joined the eremitical and cenobitic traditions, calling his sons to “sit in their cell as in paradise,” that they might one day enter the true paradise promised to the faithful.
Indeed, St. Jerome said that “though the path to the kingdom is hard, yet the reward is beyond estimation.” The holy monk who sits in solitude, burning in prayer, is not wasting his days, but storing up treasure where rust does not corrupt.
A Word for Septuagesima
As we approach Lent, these readings are not merely historical recollections but spiritual promptings. God still calls His servants into the cloud. He still asks us to leave behind what is lesser for what is eternal. Not all are summoned to the hermitage, but all are summoned to detachment. In a world of noise, vanity, and spiritual torpor, the voice of Christ echoes with clarity: “Follow Me.”
Let us then, in the spirit of St. Romuald, begin to withdraw into the cell of our heart. Let us enter the cloud, the prayer, the holy silence. Let us forsake not only material things but sinful affections. For those who leave all for Christ shall not be disappointed, but shall receive a hundredfold, and life everlasting.
Prayer
O God, who didst raise up Thy blessed Confessor Romuald to renew the ancient fervor of monastic discipline, grant, we beseech Thee, that by his intercession we may be enabled to deny ourselves and to follow Christ with generous hearts, so that we may merit to be sharers of His glory who liveth and reigneth world without end. Amen.