27. Moses also taught that if a pregnant woman is trampled by two fighting men, she should quickly have an abortion (Exod. XXI, 22). Therefore, a virtuous woman should avoid litigation and seek peace so that she can complete her pregnancy. She should not wait for the full nine months, for the timing of childbirth depends not on time but on the fullness of diligence. On the other hand, an unfinished soul is quickly trampled and loses the word it conceived (Sap. IV, 13). But woe to him who scandalizes one of these little ones! Woe to him who tramples upon a pregnant woman! For if he has expelled an as yet unformed offspring, there is loss of money; but if it is formed, he shall render life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand.
28. But why, when the fetus has both a hand and an eye, does it matter if it is expelled? From this it is clear that each one should be condemned in the same way that they harm. For if someone expels a catechumen or a heretic or a schismatic as if from the womb of the soul or the Church, they are punished less severely: if it is a believer, more severely. And therefore, one must be careful not to trample on the Church when contending with such people; for foolish fights and pointless arguments should be avoided, knowing that they give rise to lawsuits, by which the Church, like a pregnant woman, is crushed by the trampling of the whole body (2 Timothy 2:16).
So quickly fill your stomach, so that you can give birth faster. Listen to how you fill it, and with what you fill it: He says, 'A man filled his stomach with the fruit of his mouth: but he will be satisfied with the fruit of his lips.' (Prov. XVIII, 20).
30. He also taught me that sublime judgment of Solomon and that contention between two women, namely that even though they have already given birth to their children and have experienced the pain of childbirth, they still fear for the safety of their offspring. This is because the sleep of the nourisher can be overtaken by drunkenness and the mother, in her stupor, may accidentally smother her little one, denying her own child and seeking another's. But even she who does not kill her son is still in danger because her judgment remains uncertain (III Kings 3:25).
31. Therefore, let us also, so that the day of judgment or death does not find us like unfinished parents of our works, we hasten to wean our little ones. Isaac, when he was weaned, was not subject to the sleep of his mother; and therefore Abraham prepared a great feast when he weaned his son (Gen. XXI, 8). David, when he was weaned, hopes for the reward of his soul (Psal. CXXX, 2); for he was not, like the Corinthians in the beginning of faith, still weak with stronger food, but had already grown up with solid bread to the fullness of perfect age (I Cor. III, 2). Therefore, it is not enough to have care for procreation unless there is the ability to nourish.
Therefore, let the word of God grow in you, just as it did in Mary, and may wisdom and age advance. This happens when you keep all the words of righteousness in your heart and do not wait for the time of old age. Instead, in your youth, be betrothed to a righteous man and quickly conceive, quickly give birth, quickly nurture wisdom without the corruption of your body. See for yourself Paul, who was persecuting yesterday, believing today, and preaching tomorrow (Acts 9:21).
33. Pray that your flight may not be in winter, or on a sabbath (Matthew, XXIV, 20). Since the Lord will come on the day of judgment, before whom the fire will burn; but fire either burns the same or more quickly in summer: how then does He advise us to pray that our flight may not be in winter; unless it be because one who flees to the mountains ought to fear the cold and ice, the storms and hailstorms of his sins, and desire the calmness of the summer light, lest the unsteady steps of his weak body slip on a slippery path.
34. And then she, now secure in her progress, now rejoices supported by firm roots, saying: Winter has passed, the time of pruning has come (Song of Songs 2:11-12); for in the winter the wind strips the trees of their honor, and the harshness of the cold kills the delicate leaves like the appearance of death; but in truth the seeds rise again, and like a new summer, the youth of the flourishing nature grows. In truth, Easter is when I am saved; Pentecost is in the summer, when we celebrate the glory of the resurrection as if it were the future.
35. It should also be prayed that on the Sabbath, that is, coming upon you while you are at rest from work, the Lord may find you. And therefore, according to the Law, work day by day, and be fervent in spirit, and diligent in labor. Do not consider it idle, because it is written: On the Sabbath you shall humble your soul (Lev. 16:29); and because the people endured captivity for seventy years, then religion was violated, liberty was crushed, and chastity was wounded. Therefore, it is then that you must migrate from this life, when virtues flourish, vices are held captive; not when the soul is captive, the body lacks strength and virtue, and sins reign.
(Vers. 25.)
(Verse 25) And there will be signs in the sun, and moon, and stars.
36. And the true series of prophecies, and the complete cause of the mystery, that both the captive Jews will be led for the second time into Babylon and Assyria, and captives will be in the whole world, because they denied Christ: and Jerusalem, which is visible, will be trampled by a hostile army, with the Jews falling by the edge of the sword: and all of Judea will be subjected to the nations believing in the spiritual sword, which is the sharp word: and different signs will occur in the sun and moon and stars.
37. The signs that are expressed more clearly according to Matthew are: Then, he says, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall (Matt. 24:29). Indeed, with many people lacking religion, the clear faith will be obscured by the cloud of unbelief; because for me that heavenly sun is either diminished or increased by my faith. Just as if many people were to look at the rays of the worldly sun, it appears either paler or brighter according to the capacity of the viewer: so for each believer, a spiritual light is infused according to their devotion. And just as when the moon is in opposition to the sun, it disappears through the regular flow of the menstrual cycle or through the alignment of the earth, so too the holy Church, when the vices of the flesh oppose the heavenly light, cannot receive the divine radiance of Christ's rays. For in persecutions, the love of this life often excludes the light of God alone.
38. The stars will fall, those certainly shining with the glory of resurrection, those men like luminaries in the world holding the word of life, those men of whom it was said to Abraham, 'For as the sky shines and the stars, so shall his descendants be' (Gen. XIII, 16). Therefore, the patriarchs will fall to men, the prophets will fall, if the bitterness of persecution increases: which must happen until the Church is filled with all virtues and fullness in each; for in this way the good are proven, the weak are revealed. Therefore, the various passions of the soul will be so heavy that with the multitude of sins, the guilty conscience and the fear of the future judgment, the sacred dew of the fountain within us will dry up; for deceit drips, faith drips.
(Vers. 26, 27.)
(Verse 26, 27.) For the powers in heaven will be shaken, and then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds.
Perhaps, just as the coming of the Lord is awaited, so that his presence may be experienced in the whole world or in the whole human race, which certainly happens in individuals when they receive Christ with all their feelings, in the same way, with the coming and return of the Savior, the virtues of the heavens must necessarily obtain an increase of grace, for the Lord is the source of virtues, and they must be moved closer by the overflowing of divinity in order to reach their fullness.
There are also virtues of the heavens that declare the glory of God (Psalms 19:1), which are moved by a more complete infusion of Christ, spiritual virtues, which see Christ. David taught us how these virtues are moved, saying: Come to him, and be enlightened (Psalms 33:6). Paul also taught us how to see Christ (2 Corinthians 3:16); for when you are converted to the Lord, the veil is taken away, and you see Christ.
You see him in the clouds. Indeed, I do not think that Christ comes in a dark gloom and rainy horror; for when clouds are seen, they certainly obscure the sky with a terrifying gloom. And how can he place his tabernacle in the sun, if his coming is rainy?
But there are clouds which, because it is necessary, cover the brightness of heavenly mystery: they are clouds from which the moisture of spiritual grace is sought. Behold the cloud in the Old Testament: In a pillar, it is said, the cloud spoke to them (Psalm 98:7). It certainly spoke through Moses, through Joshua, who stopped the sun (Joshua 10:12); in order to receive the brightness of fuller light. Therefore, Moses and Jesus are clouds. Behold that holy men are clouds, who fly like clouds and like doves with their young. Super me nubes sunt Esaias, Ezechiel, qui mihi per Cherubim et Seraphim sanctitatem divinae Trinitatis ostendunt (Esai. LX, 8). Nubes sunt omnes prophetae: in his nubibus venit Christus. Venit in nube in Canticis canticorum, serena nube, et Sponsi refulgens laetitia (Cant. III, 11). Venit et in nube levi incarnatus ex Virgine; vidit enim propheta sicut nubem venire ab Oriente (Esai. XIX, 1). And he said that he would lift up a cloud, which earthly things would not weigh down. See the cloud, into which the Holy Spirit came upon, and the power of the Most High overshadowed (Luke 1:35).
43. Therefore, when Christ appears in the clouds (Matthew 24:30), the tribes of the earth will fall; for there is a certain order of crimes and a series of sins that will be dissolved by the advent of Christ.
(Vers. 29, 30.)
(Verse 29, 30) Look at the fig tree and all the trees, when they already bear fruit from themselves, you know that summer is near.
Indeed, in different ways, the opinion of the Evangelists seems to converge on one point; for Matthew spoke only of the fig tree, when its branch is tender (Matt. XXIV, 32): here it is about all the trees. But whether the fruit grows in all the trees and the fig tree is already fruitful and blooming, so that every tongue confesses to God, including the people of the Jews confessing; we should hope for the coming of the Lord, in which, like in the summer seasons, the fruits of resurrection will be harvested: or whether the branch of the synagogue, like the leaves, will put on a light and fragile boasting of the man of iniquity, we should conclude that the judgment is approaching: for the Lord rewards faith and is eager to bring an end to sinning.
Therefore, this fig tree has a dual nature, either when the harshness softens or when sins abound. For through the faith of the believers, which was withered before, they will flourish, and through the grace of the sins, the sinners will boast: here is the fruit of faith, there is the lasciviousness of unfaithfulness. The cultivation of the Evangelical fig tree promises fruit to me, the farmer: we must not despair if sinners have covered themselves with the leaves of deceit, so as to veil their conscience: therefore, suspicious leaves without fruit. And they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. (Gen. III, 7).