So the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it. And He commanded him, saying: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you must not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die.” And the Lord God said: It is not good that the man should be alone. Let us make him a help meet for him. So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them to Adam, to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called every living creature, that was the name of it. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to every fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a help meet for him. the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam. And while he slept, He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead of it. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from Adam made He a woman, and brought her to Adam. And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she will be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man must leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife. And they joined will be one flesh.Thanks be to God.
Dom Prosper Guéranger:
The serpent’s promises had stifled, in Eve’s heart, every sentiment of Love for the God that had created her and loaded her with blessings: she ambitions to be god like Him! Her Faith, too, is wavering. She s not sure but what God may have deceived her by threatening her with death should she disobey His command. Flushed by pride, she looks up to the Forbidden Fruit. It seems good to eat, and it is fair to her eyes (Genesis iii. 6), so that her senses too conspire against God, and against her own happiness. The sin is already committed in her heart. It needs but a formal act to make it complete. She cares for nothing but self. God is no more heeded than if He did not exist. She stretches forth her daring hand. She plucks the Fruit. She puts it to her mouth and eats! God had said that if she broke His commandment, she should die. She has eaten, she has sinned, and yet she lives as before! Her pride exults at this triumph, and convinced that she is too strong for God’s anger to reach her, she resolves on making Adam a partner in her victory. Boldly she hands him the Fruit which she herself has eaten without any evil coming to her. Whether it were, that he was emboldened by the impunity of his wife’s sin, or that from a feeling of blind affection he wished to share the lot of her who was the flesh of his flesh and the bone of his bones — our First Father, also, forgets all he owes to his Creator and, as though there had never been anything of love between him and his God, he basely does as Eve suggests — he eats of the Fruit, and by that act ruins himself and all his posterity.
No sooner have they broken the tie which united them with God than they sink into themselves. As long as God dwells in the creature whom He has raised to the supernatural state, his being is complete. But let that creature drive his God away from himself by sin and he finds himself in a state worse than nothing — the state of evil. That soul which a moment before was so beautiful and pure, is a hideous wreck. Thus was it with our First Parents: they stand alone. Creatures without God, and an intolerable shame seizes them. They thought to become gods, they aspired at Infinite Being. See them now: sinners, the prey of concupiscence. Hitherto their innocence was their all-sufficient garb. The world was obedient to them. They knew not how to blush, and there was nothing to make them fear. But now they tremble at their nakedness, and must needs seek a place in which to hide! The same self-love that had worked their ruin had made them forget the greatness and goodness of God and despise His commandment. Now that they have committed the great sin, the same blindness prevents them from even thinking of confessing it, or asking the forgiveness of the Master they have offended. A sullen fear possesses them. They can think of nothing but how and where to hide!
