Lesson at Matins – Isaias xix. 1‒2
The burden of Egypt. Behold the Lord will ascend upon a light cloud: and will enter into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt will be moved at His presence, and the heart of Egypt will melt in the midst thereof: and I will set the Egyptians to fight against the Egyptians, and they will fight brother against brother, and friend against friend, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.Thanks be to God.
Dom Prosper Guéranger:
The Egypt which the Lord is here represented as visiting, and whose idols and empire He will overthrow, is the City of Satan which is to be destroyed and give place to the City of God. But how peaceful is the divine Conqueror’s entrance into His conquest! It is on a cloud, a light cloud, that He comes, as on His triumphal chariot. How many mysteries in these few words! “There are three Clouds,” says Peter of Blois, “the first, the obscurity of the Prophets. The second, the depth of the divine Decrees. The third, the prodigy of a Virgin Mother.” First, as to the obscurity of the Prophets, it is essential to every Prophecy that it be thus veiled, to the end that man’s free will may not be interfered with. But under this cloud the Lord comes at last, and when the day comes for the Prophecy to be accomplished, all things are clear enough. Thus was it with the first Coming, so will it be with the second. Then, as to the Decrees of God, as they are ordinarily made manifest by second, that is, by created causes only— it almost always happens that the extreme simplicity of the means employed by the divine Wisdom takes men by surprise. Never was this so observable as in the grand event of the Incarnation. Men would naturally expect that, in restoring a fallen world, a power equal at least to that which first created it would be displayed, and all they are told about the portent is: “You will find the child wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger!” O almighty power of God, how dazzling is your light through this Cloud! How strong are you in this apparent weakness! But there is the third Cloud: it is the Virgin Mary. A light cloud, “for,” says Saint Jerome, “neither concupiscence, nor the burden of earthly marriage, weigh upon her.” A Cloud, too, laden with a refreshing Dew, since it holds the Just One who is to be rained down on us that our seething passions may be quenched and the soil of our spiritual life made fertile. How sweet is the majesty of our divine King when seen thus through this beautiful Cloud! O incomparable Virgin! The whole Church of God recognises thee in that mysterious Cloud which the Prophet Elias (3 Kings xviii. 42, 43) from the summit of Mount Carmel, saw rising up from the sea, little, at first, like a man’s foot, but sending at last such a plentiful rain that all Israel was refreshed by its abundance. Delay not, we pray you. Give us that heavenly and divine Dew which you possessed within you. Our sins have made the heavens as brass, and we are parched. You alone of creatures are just and pure! Beseech our Lord, who has set up His Throne of mercy in you, to come speedily and destroy our enemies and bring us peace.
