Blessed Guerric of Igny (c.1080-1157), Cistercian abbot(cf. SC 202, p.211f.)
"Happy are all who take refuge in him!"
(Ps 2,12)Blessed may he be who let his hands, his feet and side be pierced that I might make my nest “in the clefts of the rock” (Sg 2,14). Blessed may he be who has fully opened himself up to me so that I might go in to the sanctuary of God (cf Ps 42[41],5) and “conceal myself in the shelter of his tent” (Ps 27[26],5). This rock is our refuge… the doves’ sweet place of rest, since the sanctifying holes of those wounds covering his body hold out forgiveness to sinners and grant grace to the just. It is a sure abode, my brethren, “a tower of strength against the enemy” (Ps 61[60],4), when we dwell within the wounds of Christ our Saviour by means of loving and constant meditation, when we seek a sure shelter for our souls in faith and love for the Crucified: a shelter against the rebellion of the flesh, the tempests of the world, the attacks of the devil. The protection of this sanctuary lifts it above all worldly esteem…So enter into this rock, hide yourself…, take refuge in the Crucified… What is the wound in Christ’s side if not the door of the ark, open to all who will be rescued from the flood? Noah’s ark, however, was only a symbol; here is the reality. In this case it is no longer a question of restoring mortal life but of receiving the immortal…Thus it is wholly right that today Christ’s dove, his beautiful one (Sg 2,13-14),… should joyfully sing his praise. From the remembrance or the imitation of the Passion, from meditation on the holy wounds as from the clefts of the rock, his sweetest voice resounds in the Bridegroom’s ears (Sg 2,14).
"Happy are all who take refuge in him!"
(Ps 2,12)Blessed may he be who let his hands, his feet and side be pierced that I might make my nest “in the clefts of the rock” (Sg 2,14). Blessed may he be who has fully opened himself up to me so that I might go in to the sanctuary of God (cf Ps 42[41],5) and “conceal myself in the shelter of his tent” (Ps 27[26],5). This rock is our refuge… the doves’ sweet place of rest, since the sanctifying holes of those wounds covering his body hold out forgiveness to sinners and grant grace to the just. It is a sure abode, my brethren, “a tower of strength against the enemy” (Ps 61[60],4), when we dwell within the wounds of Christ our Saviour by means of loving and constant meditation, when we seek a sure shelter for our souls in faith and love for the Crucified: a shelter against the rebellion of the flesh, the tempests of the world, the attacks of the devil. The protection of this sanctuary lifts it above all worldly esteem…So enter into this rock, hide yourself…, take refuge in the Crucified… What is the wound in Christ’s side if not the door of the ark, open to all who will be rescued from the flood? Noah’s ark, however, was only a symbol; here is the reality. In this case it is no longer a question of restoring mortal life but of receiving the immortal…Thus it is wholly right that today Christ’s dove, his beautiful one (Sg 2,13-14),… should joyfully sing his praise. From the remembrance or the imitation of the Passion, from meditation on the holy wounds as from the clefts of the rock, his sweetest voice resounds in the Bridegroom’s ears (Sg 2,14).
