A glimpse of the chambers of the south; Angels: Day 252

St. Gregory the Great reads “the chambers of the south” in Job as symbolic of the depths of Heaven. Just as the climate gets warmer the farther south we go, so the deeper we are in Heaven the more we are filled with the heat of  the Holy Spirit.

“(W)ho made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south” ( Job 9:9).

“The chambers of the south” are those unseen orders of angels, and those unfathomed depths of the heavenly country, that are filled with the heat of the Holy Spirit. There the souls of the saints are brought—both at the present time removed from the body, and afterward restored to it anew. Like stars they are concealed in hidden depths.

There all day, as at midday, the fire of the sun burns with a brighter luster, because the brightness of our Creator, which is now obscured by the mists of our mortal state, is made visible more clearly. There the beam of the orb seems to raise itself to higher regions, because Truth from himself enlightens us more complete- ly and thoroughly. There the light of interior contemplation is visible without the intervening shadow of change. There the heat of the supreme Light is felt without any dimness from the body. There the unseen bands of angels glitter like stars in hidden realms, which mortals cannot see now, because they are so deeply bathed in the flame of the true Light. –St. Gregory the Great,  Moralia in Job, 9.17

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .

Do I feel the heat of the Holy Spirit burning in me, as it does in all the orders of angels? Or is it chilly where I am now?

CLOSING PRAYER

Lord, teach me to imitate the ardor of your angels, and bestow on me the rich gifts of your all-holy Spirit.

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