Chapter XII.
The vine is praised, and compared with the Church: and moreover its example is set before us for imitation.
Indeed, just as you know that perishable things are common to you with flowers, so also joyful things are common to you with vines, from which wine is produced, which gladdens the heart of man. And I hope, O man, that you imitate the example of this kind, so that you yourself may bear fruit of joy and delight! The sweetness of your grace is within yourself, it sprouts from you, it remains in you, it is within you, that is, the joy of your conscience is to be sought within yourself. Therefore, it says: Drink water from your own vessels, and from the fountains of your own wells (Prov., V, 15). First of all, nothing is more pleasing than the scent of a blooming vine. For, from the flower of the vine, a juice is extracted to make a kind of drink that is both delightful and healthful. Then, who would not marvel at how the vine, starting from the grape, climbs all the way to the top of the tree's summit, as if it were embracing it, and binds it with certain branches, and surrounds it with its arms, adorns it with its tendrils, and crowns it with clusters of grapes? This, resembling our own lives, first establishes a living root, then because it is flexible and perishable by nature, it binds whatever it grasps with certain branches and also with little key-like appendages, and raises and lifts itself up with them.
50. This people of the Church is similar, which is planted as if with a certain root of faith, and is restrained by the shoot of humility, of which the Prophet says beautifully: You have transplanted a vine from Egypt, and have planted its roots, and have filled the earth. Its shade has covered the mountains, and its branches the cedars of God. You have stretched out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the river (Psalm 79:9). And through Isaiah the Lord himself spoke, saying: A vineyard has been made for my beloved in a fertile place. And I have enclosed it with a wall, and have dug around the vineyard of Sorech, and have built a tower in its midst (Isaiah 5:1-2). For it has surrounded her like a wall of celestial precepts, and the guardianship of angels. For the angel of the Lord will encamp around those who fear Him. He has placed her in the Church like a tower of the apostles and prophets and teachers, who are accustomed to defend the peace of the Church. He has dug around her, when he has relieved her of the burden of worldly anxieties. For nothing burdens the mind more than the solicitude and desire for wealth or power in this world. What is shown to you in the Gospel (Luke 13:11) when you read, that the woman who had a spirit of infirmity was bent over and could not look up. For her soul was crooked, inclined to earthly gains, and she did not see heavenly grace. Jesus looked at her, called her, and immediately the woman laid down her earthly burdens. He demonstrates that those who were burdened also had those desires, to whom he says: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you (Matthew 11:28). Therefore, that woman's soul, as if surrounded, breathed and stood up.
But the same vine, when it has been dug around, is pruned and raised up so that it does not hang down to the ground. Some of the branches are cut off and others are propagated: those branches that grow excessively are cut off, while those that the good farmer judges to be fruitful are propagated. Should I describe the ranks of supports and the arrangement of the vines, which truly and clearly teach that equality must be preserved in the Church, so that no one exalts himself because of wealth or honor, and no one casts aside the poor or despairs because of ignobility? Let there be equal and unified freedom for all in the Church, let common justice and grace be shared with all. Therefore, there is a tower in the midst, which serves as an example for the common farmers and fishermen, who have deserved to hold the fortress of virtues: let our emotions be elevated by their examples, and not lie low as base and despised; but let each person's mind strive for higher things, so that they may dare to say: But our conversion is in heaven. Wherever one may be shaken by the storms of the world and led astray by the tempest, they are embraced by those key and circular bonds as if in the arms of love, and find rest in their union. Therefore, it is charity that connects us to the higher realm and joins us to heaven. For whoever remains in charity, God remains in them. Hence, the Lord says: Abide in me, and I in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches (John, 15:4).
52. Therefore, the vine has clearly indicated itself as an example to be drawn upon for the establishment of our way of life, which is first said to bud when warmed by the temperature of spring: then to produce fruit from the very joints of its branches, from which the budding grape is formed, and gradually growing, it retains the bitterness of its immature offspring, and can only become sweet when fully ripe and cooked. Meanwhile, the vine is covered with flourishing tendrils, which provide considerable support against the cold and protect it from the heat of the sun. But what is more pleasing to me, or more delightful than a spectacle, than to see wreaths hanging like beautiful rural necklaces, to pluck grapes shining with a golden or purple color? You think the hyacinths and other gems sparkle, the Indian gems flash, and the grace of the white ones gleam. Do not overlook the warning in these, O man, lest your final days find your fruits premature, or the time of a full life make your unfinished works disgraceful. For bitter fruit tends to be more unpleasant; and it cannot be sweet unless it has reached the maturity of perfection. To this perfect man, neither the cold of dreaded death nor the sun of iniquity usually does harm because he is overshadowed by spiritual grace and extinguishes the fires of all worldly desires and bodily lusts. Let all who behold you praise you, and let the ranks of the Church marvel at you like a garland of palm branches. Let each one behold the beautiful necklaces of the faithful souls; let them delight in the maturity of prudence, the splendor of faith, the beauty of confession, the loveliness of justice, and the abundance of mercy, so that it may be said to you: Your wife is like a fruitful vine on the sides of your house (Ps. CXXVII, 3); because you imitate the abundance of a fruitful vine and the bountiful gift of generosity.