Advent at the School of St. Bernard (14)

Jesus at the age of twelve teaching in the Temple – Ludovico Mazzolino
It is the coming of such great majesty, of such deep humility, of such charity, and of such great glory for us, that the entire Church solemnly commemorates each year.
Ah! Please God that it be celebrated now as it will be celebrated in eternity! It would be much better. What folly is it not, after the arrival of such a great King, to want or dare to occupy ourselves with any other interest, rather than forgetting everything else, and devoting ourselves with worshiping Him and thinking only of Him in His presence?
But no all men are among those of whom the Psalmist said: “they shall publish the memory of the abundance of thy sweetness” (Ps. 144:7), there are so few who taste this sweetness! Now one cannot exhale the taste and the odor of what one has not tasted or of what one has hardly tasted. The mouth exhales the odor only of fullness and satiety of the stomach. This is how men of a worldly mind and life never exhale the good smell of this ineffable sweetness, even when they celebrate its memory. They celebrate these holy days simply from custom, devoid of devotion, devoid of piety, and in a type of aridity.

Jésus à douze ans enseignant au Temple - Ludovico Mazzolino
Illustration :
Title : Jésus à douze ans enseignant au Temple
Artist : Ludovico Mazzolino
Date : 1524