Every Sunday, Matins in the Benedictine Office is celebrated as something of a mini-Easter Vigil, with a set of psalms focused on the Resurrection, and a third nocturn consisting of three canticles. In Eastertide, the celebration of the Resurrection becomes even more intense, with the canticles particularly focused on that subject. Accordingly, this post takes a look at the first of the three, which comes from Isaiah 63.
Isaiah 63:1-5
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Quis est iste, qui venit de Edom, * tinctis véstibus de Bosra?
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Who
is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra
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Iste
formósus in stola sua, * grádiens in multitúdine fortitúdinis suæ?
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This
beautiful one in his robe, walking in the greatness of his strength.
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Ego
qui loquor iustítiam, * et propugnátor sum ad salvándum.
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I,
that speak justice, and am a defender to save.
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Quare
ergo rubrum est induméntum tuum, * et vestiménta tua sicut calcántium in
torculári?
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Why
then is thy apparel red, and thy garments like theirs that tread in the
winepress?
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Tórcular
calcávi solus, * et de géntibus non est vir mecum;
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I
have trodden the winepress alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a man with
me
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Calcávi
eos in furóre meo, * et conculcávi eos in ira mea:
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I
have trampled on them in my indignation, and have trodden them down in my
wrath
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Et
aspérsus est sanguis eórum super vestiménta mea, * et omnia induménta mea
inquinávi.
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and
their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my apparel.
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Dies
enim ultiónis in corde meo, * annus redemptiónis meæ venit.
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For
the day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my redemption is come.
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Circumspéxi,
et non erat auxiliátor; * quæsívi, et non fuit qui adiuváret:
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I
looked about, and there was none to help: I sought, and there was none to
give aid:
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Et
salvávit mihi bráchium meum, * et indignátio mea ipsa auxiliáta est mihi.
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and
my own arm hath saved for me, and my indignation itself hath helped me.
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This is one of those texts whose connections
to the Resurrection looks, at first glance at least, obscure to modern
eyes.
Yet its association with it is attested
to by Scripture itself, for Revelation 19 draws heavily on this canticle (see
also Rev 14:19-20):
"11 Then, in my vision, heaven
opened, and I saw a white horse appear. Its rider bore for his title, the
Faithful, the True; he judges and goes to battle in the cause of right. 12 His
eyes were like flaming fire, and on his brow were many royal diadems; the name
written there is one that only he knows. 13 He went clad in a garment deep dyed with blood, and the name by which
he is called is the Word of God;14 the armies of heaven followed him,
mounted on white horses, and clad in linen, white and clean. 15 From
his mouth came a two-edged sword, ready to smite the nations; he will herd them
like sheep with a crook of iron. He
treads out for them the wine-press, whose wine is the avenging anger of
almighty God. 16 And this title is written on his cloak, over his
thigh, The King of kings, and the Lord of lords." (Knox translation)
Decoding
the canticle
Unsurprisingly then the passage was the
subject of numerous commentaries by the Fathers, including Tertullian (d. 220),
Origen (d. 254), Cyprian (d. 258), Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386), Cyril of
Alexandria (d. 444) as well as many of the later Fathers. Accordingly, it is worth drawing
on their decoding of the key references.
In verse 1, Edom
The 'dyed garments' of verse 1 (red in
verses 3&7) are Christ's bloodstained clothing.
The references to his beauty in strength in
verse 2 were generally interpreted as references to the attributes of his risen
body (cf 1 Cor 15:44).
The justice that saves of verse 3 is the
Gospel, and Christ's intervention on our behalf.
The image of the winepress (v5) gives us
the image of Christ alone working to achieve the hard-fought victory: he was
abandoned by all of his disciples (v5, 9).
The final verse, then, takes us to the victory of
the Resurrection.
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