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| Chapter VIII. Of the main effort towards the contemplation of things and an illustration from the case of Martha and Mary.
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Chapter VIII.
Of the main effort towards the contemplation of things
and an illustration from the case of Martha and Mary.
This then should be our
main effort: and this steadfast purpose of heart we should constantly
aspire after; viz., that the soul may ever cleave to God and to
heavenly things. Whatever is alien to this, however great it may be,
should be given the second place, or even treated as of no consequence,
or perhaps as hurtful. We have an excellent illustration of this state
of mind and condition in the gospel in the case of Martha and Mary: for
when Martha was performing a service that was certainly a sacred one,
since she was ministering to the Lord and His disciples, and Mary being
intent only on spiritual instruction was clinging close to the feet of
Jesus which she kissed and anointed with the ointment of a good
confession, she is shown by the Lord to have chosen the better part,
and one which should not be taken away from her: for when Martha was
toiling with pious care, and was cumbered about her service, seeing
that of herself alone she was insufficient for such service she asks
for the help of her sister from the Lord, saying: “Carest Thou
not that my sister has left me to serve alone: bid her therefore that
she help me”—certainly it was to no unworthy work, but to a
praiseworthy service that she summoned her: and yet what does she hear
from the Lord? “Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled
about many things: but few things are needful, or only one. Mary hath
chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from
her.”1091
| 1091 S. Luke x. 40–42. The reading which Cassian here follows
is found in אBC,2 but has
not much Latin authority. It is however followed by Jerome Ep: ad
Eustochium, xxii. 24, though the Vulgate has simply Porro unum est
necessarium. For Mary as the type of the contemplative life, and Martha
of the practical, compare S. Gregory the Great. Moralia VI. c.
xxviii. | You see then that
the Lord makes the chief good consist in meditation; i.e., in divine
contemplation: whence we see that all other virtues should be put in
the second place, even though we admit that they are necessary, and
useful, and excellent, because they are all performed for the sake of
this one thing. For when the Lord says: “Thou art careful and
troubled about many things, but few things are needful or only
one,” He makes the chief good consist not in practical work
however praiseworthy and rich in fruits it may be, but in contemplation
of Him, which indeed is simple and “but one”; declaring
that “few things” are needful for perfect bliss, i.e., that
contemplation which is first secured by reflecting on a few saints:
from the contemplation of whom, he who has made some progress rises and
attains by God’s help to that which is termed “one
thing,” i.e., the consideration of God alone, so as to get beyond
those actions and services of Saints, and feed on the beauty and
knowledge of God alone. “Mary” therefore “chose the
good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” And this must
be more carefully considered. For when He says that Mary chose the good
part, although He says nothing of Martha, and certainly does not appear
to blame her, yet in praising the one, He implies that the other is
inferior. Again when He says “which shall not be taken away from
her,” He shows that from the other her portion can be taken away
(for a bodily ministry cannot last forever with a man), but teaches
that this one’s desire can never have an end.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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